Social Media Helps Stand Up To Cancer

Jeremy Pepper snapped us out of our navel gazing recently with a well-deserved question. “Can Social Media Do What It Claims?”

One of the more exciting opportunities for social media is how it can enable non-profit organizations to boost awareness and support for their causes with powerful stories. Rather than a .org telling you how your support will help someone, the very people you are helping can show you.

So when I saw Tara Met Blog’s request via Peter Shankman’s HARO service, I was excited to participate in a project that will help answer Pepper’s question.

What Do You Stand For?
According to Tara: "My colleagues and I came up with the idea of showing a bunch of images of people holding signs that say why they are standing up to cancer…and why they are tired of this disease affecting their life and taking life. Thus, showing how we are all affected by cancer. After all, no one is immune to the effects."

To be clear, all I did is take a picture telling my story and send it in. The video below is the powerful result of Tara’s efforts.

This is one part of an effort for Stand Up To Cancer (SUTC) that culminates with a telethon on September 5th. You can get involved here. SU2C does not answer Jeremy’s question yet, but I suspect they’ll be able to show that social media can move the needle.

tags | SU2C | Stand Up To Cancer | social media | consumer-generated media

Comments

[Tara]

Thank you for being involved Kevin and for helping spread the word.

[Jeremy Pepper]

I read the same HARO request, and it bothered me because I could not figure out if she was doing it for her blog or for the PR firm she works at - and it was a astroturf campaign to get others to write about it.

But, I'm cynical that way.

[TheCannonGroup]

And just when I thought the internet was only about connecting semi-clad bodies in one form or another, someone comes through to show how powerful connections can truly be. Well done!

[Xav de Matos]

The power of social media has the ability to present ideas to people who may have never been able to see them before. While major corporations pump billions into advertising their products or mission the new wave of media - social media - is the next evolution in word of mouth advertising.

Traditionally people hate to be advertised to but in the world of social media it's possible that a campaign for awareness, like Tara Met's Blog, can affect people on a more personal level. Community and user customization is the crux of social media and if users are able to learn about a problem in their comfortable social bubble the mission and ideals of a campaign have a better chance of making them pay attention.

[cancer syndrome]

Cancer is a broad term that encompasses over one hundred different types of cancer. Although each type has its own set of characteristics, there are some cancer symptoms that occur in many types of cancer.

[liver cancer]

What is the scope of the liver cancer problem?

Liver cancer is the fifth most common cancer in the world. A deadly cancer, liver cancer will kill almost all patients who have it within a year. In 1990, the World Health Organization estimated that there were about 430,000 new cases of liver cancer worldwide, and a similar number of patients died as a result of this disease. About three quarters of the cases of liver cancer are found in Southeast Asia (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, and Japan). Liver cancer is also very common in sub-Saharan Africa (Mozambique and South Africa).