Activism: A Passion Driven Pastime

In a world dominated by Web 2.0, it's a bit difficult to find yourself NOT surrounded by some level of advocacy. I find myself pulled into a world of literary advocacy, the words of Margaret Atwood and Jane Austen who long ago put the proverbial pitchfork in my keyboard knobbed fingers. Literary advocacy, a practice in supporting various forms of literature promoting educational ideals, expression, and opinions on culture and society, is a very powerful platform.

Look at breast cancer awareness. Mobilization of likeminded individuals through social media platforms can be one type of cyberactivism. Breast cancer awareness being one of the causes, not only women but men as well, in which you seem support for world wide. How do they do it though?

One of the most popular breast cancer Facebook cyberactivism campaigns was a private message request where females were asked to choose a color that was the same as the bra that they were wearing. The status simply read: NAME, COLOR (i.e., “Melissa, black”, “Rebecca, red”). The idea was that men would log onto Facebook, see that their female friends had these bizarre single-color statuses and become confused. This activity was designed to raise awareness for breast cancer (Albanesius, 2010).

Seems a little bizarre to raise awareness for something and not hint at what it is or what the purpose of the campaign is for. However off centered it may have seemed at the time, the platform was hoisted to give voice to women who may be struggling with something they may not yet be ready to broadcast publicly and supporters for those voices.

Don't ever think that a single ripple out into the Web 2.0 cyberspace can't turn tide into a roaring wave.