Your Status Hijacking Game Is NOT About Cancer Awareness

For a while I’ve been seriously annoyed with the types of cancer awareness people choose to have on social media. Amongst the causes I support, cancer is the one that really tugs at my heartstrings. Cancer takes whomever, whenever it wants and too many times ends the ‘relationship’ with a kiss of death. I’ve lost family members and friends to this disease and there is just no stopping it. It is for this reason that I don’t feel that cancer awareness should have a ‘flighty’ campaign.

Believe me with a sense of humour like mine, I have no problem updating my status to: “Just used my boobs to get out of a speeding ticket.” (Heck, knowing me, I’d probably do it real life too.) The problem I do have is that we don’t often discern the ways we go about awareness campaigns.

A few weeks ago I volunteered at the CANSA shaveathon and it was the saddest and most humbling experience. Majority of the supporters were survivors, victims, their familes and friends. I believe that a little goes a long way but at the same time I was made aware how many people simply just don’t care about it. You can’t blame them for it either. Most people don’t feel it unless it’s hit close to home. What I did learn that day is that many people still have the notion that cancer is ‘something that happens to other people’. When in fact cancer does not discriminate against race, age or pedigree.

I could go on and on but the point of this is to share what Dave Luis (who also happens to be my favourite blogger right now) has to say about the social media cancer awareness ‘game’. I hope it gives you some food for thought.

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