Cyberactivism,Social Media, & Change

Let’s face it everyone wants to be that person who does something great. If you want to get your target audience motivated you mobilize them by giving them a reason to act socially responsible as well as showing that you support a cause or charity.

According to L. Meghan Mahoney and Tang Tang in their book Strategic Social Media from Marketing to Social change, “Humans want to do the right thing” (Mahoney & Tang, 2019). For instance in October National Breast Cancer Awareness is celebrated by organizations, individuals, and businesses. Social media is one of the most popular places where those who are advocating for a cure will post. Doing something great has been made easier because of the invention and innovation of the internet. People are now able to click on links, search the net for causes and charities to donate to with ease without leaving their homes.

In the case study Breast Cancer Meme in Mahoney & Tang’s book states that, “Various forms of Internet memes circulate on Facebook to help spread awareness” (Mahoney & Tang, 2019). What better way to garner support for social good than to be where there are according to Statista, “2.45 billion monthly active users” (Statista, 2019). In order for cyberactivism to succeed those who want to make sure their message goes viral and encourages behavior change go where the “people” are.

The campaign involved private messages being sent to women where they were asked to, “put a single color as their status update” (Mahoney & Tang, 2019). This color signified the color of the bra the women were wearing along with their name. This action mobilized women and brought awareness to breast cancer. According to The Susan G Komen Foundation began Friday 8th January with 135 fans on their Facebook page. By 5:30 in the evening, they had 135,000. As of today they now have 138,606 fans” (Macleod, 2010). Social media and cyberactivism go hand in hand. If you want to create a buzz about something you believe in the best place to post that would be by using social media.

References

Macleod, D. (2015, January 09). What color is your bra for breast cancer awareness. Retrieved November 23, 2019, from http://theinspirationroom.com/daily/2010/what-color-is-your-bra-for-breast-cancer-awareness/

Mahoney, L. M., & Tang, T. (2017). Strategic social media: From marketing to social change. Chichester, United Kingdom: Wiley-Blackwell.

Statista. (2019). Facebook users worldwide 2019. Retrieved November 23, 2019, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/264810/number-of-monthly-active-facebook-users-worldwide/