We often talk about the way social networking and the web can be used to the advantage of non-profit organizations and just when you think ‘we’ve seen it all now…’ something out the blue happens to knock your socks off and remind you just how powerful the web can be in critical non-profit activities such as fund-raising and creating awareness. One such event that shook the web towards the start of this year was the absolutely viral trend that just seemed to take over Facebook when women would update their status each day to simply state the color and style of the bra they’re wearing.
Interestingly, the statuses simply read vague colors like ‘pink’, ‘white’, champagne gold’ and when you see everyone doing this and have absolutely no idea what is going on but everyone seems to be in on it the effect is simple…you think….”I want in on it too!!!” So you turn to Google or Yahoo to see what’s going on and find that it’s linked to breast cancer awareness. While this is the point where unfortunately (or not) guys have to drop out of the game women jump on board with the trend and join the bandwagon by updating their own statuses, The end result may look like millions of people playing a silly game online but the effect was millions of people inadvertently becoming a little more aware about the seriousness of breast cancer. An article published in Dallas Morning News by Darla Atlas highlighted the effect of the trend for Komen Foundation For The Cure Of Breast Cancer whose Facebook page got 134,000 fans on the first day alone.
While this is not the most recent news, it’s still a a fantastic example of what the combination of social software and the work of non-profits and activities like creating awareness for a cause. The campaign which tapped into our curiosity and created awareness is a stroke of genius to say the least. Strangely it’s still not clear exactly who this genius is and where this all started. If only we did.
