Lessons Learned - FB, Bra Colors, and Activism

I've had some time to think about the Facebook Bra Meme that made its way around the web in January. Amanda's discussion on the topic generated a number of comments and opinions about the subject. I've read numerous articles about the event - some consider it a joke gone wrong, others speculate a breast cancer foundation was behind it, and others felt it was no big deal.

I received more emails about this topic than I've received in quite some time. Even after taking some time to think about it, I'm still a little angry. I'm not alone. Here's some feedback on the meme:
My Bra: color me Furious
Bare your bra for breast cancer?

Do Bra Colors on FB Serve a Purpose?

Sexy Breast Cancer Ads: Provocative or Patronizing?

A few things I learned from the Facebook wardrobe malfunction:

- Awareness does not mean action
- It's possible to have too much awareness and not enough action
- There seems to be a growing backlash against the breast cancer movement

but, I have to say.... the number one thing I learned from the FB meme:

Awareness doesn't necessarily translate into Activism

Welcome to the new world of Slacktivism - the Lazy Man's Activism. I first read about "slacktivism" in The brave new world of Slacktivism. I think it accurately describes what occurred with the Face Book Meme. A status update takes only a few seconds and has the appearance of "awareness."

As Health Activists, we need to make sure that activism remains just that - ACTIVE.

Check out Amy's challenge on "Put the Active in Activist" and Janeen's post "Let's Talk about Activism." These are great articles on how to keep a community active and engaged in a cause.

Have you heard about slacktivism? What are you doing in your health community to make sure activism keeps moving?

Keep the conversation going!

Comment by Casey Quinlan - the Mighty Mouth on February 17, 2010 at 10:01am: This is why I removed the Causes app from my FB profile. I don't want to encourage clicking - the very essence of slacktivism - I want to encourage vocalizing. Speaking up/out in service of the following message: be the project leader of staying healthy yourself, and encourage the same level of engagement in others.

The current epidemics of heart disease and Type II diabetes will kill far more people than any 10 types of cancer combined. Drop the mouse. Pick up a microphone or a bullhorn.

Walk your talk.

Comment by nonsequiteuse on February 23, 2010 at 7:05pm: I tried to move from the bra meme to actual activism via my FB network, asking my contacts to sign up for Susan Love's Army of Women that connects breast cancer researchers to willing study participants. I didn't have a great way to check the progress other than watching the tally on their website rise - I keep checking in to see if there was an uptick in January, but of course don't know of other campaigns that might have been going on at the same time.You can see my post about it here: I'm in the Army Now.

In the process of trying to spread the word beyond my immediate network, I connected to a couple of new (to me) resources for activism and motivation, so I personally saw a benefit beyond getting a good number of my friends to sign up for the Army of Women. For me, that was just about the only good to come out of the bra color meme.

Lessons Learned - FB, Bra Colors, and Activism

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