As the world continues to evolve, we become more digitally dependent. You can look around and see at least five people scrolling on social media or surfing the net in a matter of seconds. It is now easy and common for us to purchase just about anything online from anywhere. Recently, many people have also used digital spaces to become activists for one or more causes. This is called cyberactivism or digital activism, which Psychology Today explains as the process of using internet-based socializing and communication techniques to create, operate, and manage activism of any type. A great example of this is in the Case Study: Breast Cancer Meme.
What’s the Breast Cancer Meme?
Every month has a special holiday or cause that people like to shed light on. In October, it happens to be a month where people and organizations spread awareness for breast cancer. During this month, many people will wear pink or clip pink ribbons onto their clothes.
In the Breast Cancer Meme Case Study, the author describes how groups on social media became cyberactivists on Facebook to spread awareness for breast cancer. One of the most popular memes related to this was a private message request where women were asked to name a color as their status update. The message asked women to pick a color that was the same as the bra they were wearing and the status would read something like: Name, Color (Samantha, green). This was already crazy to me, personally, but the purpose of the meme was that male Facebook users would see the statuses of their female friends and become confused.
Other forms of the Breast Cancer meme consisted of women changing the locations of where they liked to put their purse. For instance, women said they “like it behind the couch,” “like it on the counter,” and some even “like it on the floor,” which is crazy as a woman if you know the superstition to putting your purse on the floor. Messages similar to these continued to oversexualize the meme and somewhat distract from the cause itself. These memes were stated to be successful at getting people to participate because it was personalized fun.
Does Cyberactivism Actually Help Bring Awareness?
After reading the examples above, you’re probably scratching your head on if memes like that are actually effective at bringing awareness to certain causes. Well, the answer is kind of because campaigns like this are not linked to real life action, but they do allow people who want to get involved in some way to put some effort towards the cause. Digital America states that cyberactivism is a great way for organizations to help bring awareness to their causes through the use of petitions, campaigns, and other posts, which can also be direct influences with policy making. It coordinates a community of supporters and activists to amplify their voices for collective action.
Just in case you were wondering, there are also times when cyberactivism wasn’t enough and didn’t complete its purpose of bringing awareness to a cause. If you all remember back in 2014, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge took over social media and was viral and all platforms. This challenge was a global phenomenon initiated by Anthony Senerchia, Pete Frates, and Pat Quinn, all who were currently living with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). The goal was to raise awareness about ALS by having people dump ice water over their heads and then donate to the ALS organization. 17 million people, including celebrities like LeBron James took part in the challenge, and it raised $115 million.
Although the challenge was fun to partake in, there was a high level of slacktivism where many participants didn’t fully understand the cause or even knew what ALS was. Cyberactivism examples like the Facebook Breast Cancer memes and with the ALS Ice Bucket challenge fell short of mobilization because they weren’t tied to real-life practical efforts of the organization or the cause. Cyberactivism also isn’t a guarantee on making a substantial difference for an organization. If you’re like me, you will do your research before donating your time, money, and efforts towards it without understanding everything. On the other hand, if you prefer to participate in memes or challenges to bring awareness to causes without too much of a commitment, then cyberactivism is a good place to star.
One response to “Real Life and Cyberactivism”
-
Hey, Lashanda…great job with the post. You captured all the key points from the case study and made the impacts clear. When we look at the purpose of Social Media Marketing…and cyberatcivism specifically, we find that the deep-rooted purpose behind it is to create a behavioral change in consumers/customers/clients/etc.. As a male, I remember this trend clearly. While I fully support women’s right to have a community secret–something that is just for women, I felt the purpose in this case fell short. Yes, I saw all the posts and was confused. However, once I found out what it was all about, I felt like it wasn’t for me, so I basically tuned out. I guess you could say the meme was successful in creating an awareness, but it was in a sense preaching to the choir. Men were left out and never called on to act in any way. So awareness was brought to those already aware while isolating half the population. That does not feel like an effective campaign. Instead, I think it would have been a great idea to tie the campaign into showing men how they could offer real-world help. Something along the lines of “Now that you are aware of the serious nature of this disease, go make a difference by…(fill in list of ways people could offer real help). This would have created awareness and inspired behavioral change…it could have been a real win for all of us.
LikeLike
Lashanda Shepherd 
Leave a reply to vicetro380 Cancel reply