I was nominated by my homegirl and long-time friend Joy Johnson to participate in a popular Facebook challenge, the 10-Day Selfie Challenge to raise Cancer treatment, cure and early detection awareness. It’s simple. You post a selfie daily for 10 days and each day you nominate at least one person to take the challenge as well. It’s very much like the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge a few years ago.Now I have to admit, when I first saw the selfie posts I wondered how taking photos of oneself was going to increase awareness? But when Joy nominated me for the challenge I accepted it at the very least as a sign of support for my dear friend who lost her father to stomach cancer and whose mother is a colon cancer survivor. Here’s a little bit of what she had to say on her final day of posting:“it is mandatory that we listen to our bodies! Do not allow nagging symptoms to go unchecked for fear of the diagnosis. Unfortunately, I lost my father because he ignored symptoms which allowed the cancer to do what it does…spread! Do not procrastinate!”
Half way through the challenge I was asked by a Facebook friend: “How does the selfie challenge promote cancer awareness?” Immediately I tried to reply with a short and sweet message but it turned into a too-lengthy-for-a-Facebook-post sort of response, and I decided to record my thoughts here on my blog. So… when I think about the connection of selfies to cancer awareness, I think of using some type of display or act to bring something to the forefront. I think of the meaning of the word awareness: “the knowledge and perception of a situation or fact; concern about and well-informed interest in a particular situation or development.” The Selfie Challenge is an act promoting “the knowledge and perception of Cancer.” This display is raising “a concern about and fostering a well-informed interest in the early detection, treatment and cure of Cancer.” Awareness in my opinion, begins with dialogue, the dissemination of information, and then moves into action. If people are talking about it, then all aspects of the issue will eventually be presented and even delved into by some if for no other reason than basic curiosity. Facebook currently has 1.71 billion active users. The visibility factor alone ensures greater awareness and increased pro-activity towards early detection, screenings, treatments and eventually a cure for this ravaging disease. It’s not just the vanity of a selfie. It’s more about the caption than the picture. Even without any detailed reasoning in the text portion of the post, simply stating the title causes one to stop and think about this awful disease that has affected so many of our friends and family. For me this selfie challenge is much like the hashtag phenomenon of social media. Hashtagging a particular issue, thought, movement, cause or name keeps it in the conversation and on the minds of people, which in turn motivates many to further action. It’s the consciousness of a thing; It’s the raising of consciousness of a thing, like social media PR. There are many who think this Selfie Challenge thing is just silly as they did the ALS Challenge. However, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge became the world’s largest global social media occurrence with more than 17 million uploads, viewed by 440 million people for a total of 10 billion times, and has since become an annual treatment and cure awareness-raising event. I certainly hope the results of the Selfie Challenge will mirror those results and beyond for Cancer Awareness!
For more information…
Click HERE for more information on the early detection and screenings for many types of Cancer
