Let’s Make the World a Better Place: Social Media Style

by Bri Sandoval

We all want to do some good in the world, right? Don’t we all want to add a little sparkle before we go?

Now does this mean we are all raking leaves for our elderly neighbor, volunteering at a soup kitchen, or drowning in puppy kisses at a shelter? Probably not.

In the fast paced world today, many are making a change by simply sitting on their couch, pantless, and fingers tapping away at a keyboard.

We are in the age of cyber activism and it looks quite a bit different than the ‘ol picking up trash on the sides of the road, but can be helpful all the same…

As long as it’s done correctly.

Social media can be used to promote different causes or charities. With the amount of time us human beings spend on our social apps (more than 2 and a half hours a day to be exact, according to Simon Kemp) it’s a lovely and bustling place to start a campaign.

Breast Cancer Awareness is a cause seen frequently on social media, and for good reason. According to Breastcancer.org, around 1 in 8 of U.S. women are going to develop invasive breast cancer in the course of their life. Awareness is crucial to early detection and intervention.

You may have seen the Facebook posts come each year in October. One of the most popular campaigns on Facebook was easily memorable with member’s statuses looking something along the lines of “Melissa, black” or “Rebecca, red”. Women were receiving private message requests through which they were asked to put a single color as their status update. The color had to resemble the bra that they were wearing. The status simply read: NAME, COLOR. According to Mahoney & Tang (2016), “The idea of the meme was that men would log onto Facebook, see that their female friends had these bizarre single-color statuses and become confused.” The activity was intended to raise awareness for breast cancer.

Sounds fun, right?

But unfortunately, cyber activism like this does little to help the actual cause. The “campaign” or activity wasn’t spreading useful information or resources. It didn’t give a call to action or provide users a place to donate. Sure, it stirred up a curious buzz, but it didn’t do much else.

For cyber activism to be successful, it must be linked to real-life mobilization. It must encourage behavior change and offer the resources to do so. So what exactly can we do to attract the same amount of attention but increase the actual effectiveness of our cause?

What type of content will make a difference?

Let’s turn to Katie Woods for help. She states “There are four main types of content social media marketers should consider when they’re joining—or starting—a social media movement.” But, luckily for us, she actually lists 5:

Educational: Educational content can answer questions, deep-dive into the topic, or give an overview of the problem to provide useful information.

Opinionated: Publishing point of view-driven content through clearly stating your belief with supporting evidence can start a dialogue with your audience and get the cause out there.

Actionable: Compel audiences to do something, like sign a petition, message a representative, donate to the cause or show up to a protest to benefit the cause.

Motivational: Encouraging posts with recognizing specific individuals, brands or organizations that are making a difference can inspire others to take action.

Interactive: Engage your audience and make your post interactive by answering questions, crowdsourcing ideas and responding to comments directly.

Start your post off with one of these (or two if you’re feeling real BOLD) and you’ll be off to a great start to an even greater change!

I’m going to end my post on the topic of breast cancer. Head over to bcpp.org for more information and ways to prevent breast cancer. Early detection and intervention is key!

I can’t wait to see all the positive changes we can make together!

Remember to always use social media for good.

Happy typing!

XOXO

-Bri Sandoval