So, I know when we were discussing social networking in class we briefly talked about status changes on facebook. And most of us have those people who update their status everyday and really want a response about it from their friends. We established that status changes can really be annoying. But can they be a good thing too?
As I'm sure everyone knows, it is breast cancer awareness month. And women all over facebook have begun posting their status as "I like it on the floor," "I like it on my dresser," etc. The "I like it" campaign is designed to raise awareness for breast cancer; it does so by having women post where they like to keep their purses in a provocative sounding way so that people will comment and ask questions about their status. They also had another campaign not too long ago where women were asked to post their bra color as their status. These campaigns helps get women to find out more about the disease and to get the proper examinations to screen for breast cancer. I personally think that these campaigns are a good way to remind people about the dangers of breast cancer but are probably not THE MOST helpful thing for the cause. But hey they don't really hurt either.
But are they really all that useful? I'm wondering what you guys think about this campaign. Lots of people think it's kind of pointless and doesn't help with the breast cancer issue. Do you think status updates are a good way to get out information about things like breast cancer? Any thoughts?
>>> Lots of people think it's kind of pointless and doesn't help with the breast cancer issue.
ReplyDeleteexactly. this is just a way for people to get attention, the location of the purse has nothing at all to do with breast cancer, and the bra thing is only slightly more relevant.. i dont see how either of these status updates helps with anything.. just sayin'
I think that if the status updates were more about breast cancer and less about being "provocative" or racy it might make more sense and have a greater impact. Perhaps dedicating your facebook status to facts about breast cancer to make people think. Like "Every 13 minutes a woman dies from it" or "77% of women who have it are over the age of 50". If people (male or female) made their Facebook status something like "1 in 8 women will have it within their lifetime" then their friends might be interested in what "it" is. But I think that trying to be sneaky or sexual about it to get attention is sort of....weird and not accomplishing much. Just my opinion..
ReplyDeleteI think its a good concept. It gets people curious about what's going on and can lead to more discussion about breast cancer. But that's just in theory...I don't see that actually happening. It's been more of a way to just keep boys in the dark about things, but they figure it out anyway. I like Ashley's idea of putting up the breast cancer stats and things better. I feel like there needs to be more to actually create awareness and to encourage women to check for it. Also something that raised money would also be more beneficial.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, it does seem to raise some sort of awareness. This story made the news the first time (with the bra colors) and probably again this year.
I don't know....I think it's a good idea but it could be execute better.
I agree with all of you guys on this one. I think the purse idea was a good concept but didn't do a very good job at getting the message across. I probably would never have figured out what all the status updates were about had I not gotten a message about it. I think these updates definitely made people aware of breast cancer awareness month, but not in the way that actually helps the cause. The point of making people aware of this cause is to make it known, which is what the purse placement idea failed to do. It left people guessing, which is no way to encourage people to contribute. I also think Ashley's idea about the stats is good, it would make people aware while also making important facts known about the prevalency of breast cancer in women.
ReplyDeleteSee, I just recently caught onto this whole "I like it here, I like it there" deal, and I'm having trouble seeing how it's related to breast cancer awareness. How does the location of your purse relate to breast cancer awareness? I guess I only have half of the story, but I bet there are better ways to raise awareness. I think Sarah's right in saying that once it became "common knowledge" that the status updates were designed to raise awareness, it did so. But at the same time I agree that it probably doesn't do much to help the cause. I think the bra color idea was closer to the target, it that it brings breasts to mind (and then breast cancer), but it still doesn't seem to do much in the way of motivating people to do much.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea what this status meant. It took asking a few people before I figured it out. To be completely honest, while it may have been a good idea at first, it really did not get the message across. I also think the that it would have been more effective for it to deal directly with breast cancer rather than being so ambiguous.
ReplyDeletethis is a good point. I always get annoyed at status updates and constant changing of the status (thats for twitter haha), but I actually participated in this. I think when it's for a good cause people should get more involved and facebook is a good way to reach so many people!
ReplyDelete