Art of Digital Influence

by Devon Hollawell

Have you ever shared something for a good cause, felt helpful for a second, and then kept scrolling?

I have. That uncomfortable question is what makes the Facebook breast cancer meme so interesting.

Women received private messages asking them to post coded statuses without explaining what they meant. One version paired their names with their bra colors. Another asked them to complete “I like it…” with wherever they kept their purses, creating answers such as “I like it on the bed.”

It was mysterious, playful, and slightly inappropriate. That is the exact combination social media has a hard time ignoring. It was also supposed to raise awareness about breast cancer.

The campaign clearly understood how to make people participate. The problem was that it did not give that participation anywhere useful to go.

Why Was It So Easy to Join?

The meme gave people several reasons to participate:

• Curiosity: If you were not part of the private-message chain, you wanted to know what everyone was talking about.
• Belonging: Participants became part of an inside joke.
• Convenience: Joining took seconds and required almost no effort.
• Identity: Posting gave people a public way to say, “I support this cause.”
• Entertainment: The suggestive wording made the campaign more fun to share.

That last point may feel strange considering the seriousness of breast cancer, but it helps explain why the campaign traveled so quickly. People rarely open Facebook hoping to receive a lecture. They respond to content that makes them curious, gives them something to discuss, or helps them connect with others.

The campaign also worked with Facebook’s structure. Each participant received the instructions privately, posted publicly, and then helped bring someone else into the game. Whoever started it did not need to manage every message. The audience distributed it for them.

From a marketer’s perspective, that kind of participation is impressive. From an activist’s perspective, though, it leaves a pretty important question: What changed after everyone posted?

Awareness Is Only the First Step

The meme created attention, but attention and impact are not the same thing.

Someone could join without learning anything about breast cancer, helping a patient, finding screening information, or donating to research. People outside the joke saw confusing statuses with no explanation. Men were deliberately left out, even though the American Cancer Society explains that men can develop breast cancer too.

That does not mean the people participating did not care. I think most probably did. The campaign simply made symbolic support much easier than meaningful action.

This is where social media metrics can become misleading. Thousands of statuses, reactions, comments, and shares would look great on a campaign report. None of those numbers would tell us whether anyone learned something useful, scheduled a screening, supported a patient, or contributed to the cause.

The campaign was built to spread. It was not built to mobilize.

Give Curiosity Somewhere to Go

The original idea did not need to be completely abandoned. Its mystery was clearly effective. A better version could have kept the playful opening and followed it with a purposeful reveal.

After posting, participants could have received one clear next step:

• Review trustworthy information about screening and early detection.
• Find free or low-cost screening services.
• Connect patients and families with the Susan G. Komen Patient Care Center.
• Donate, volunteer, advocate, or share a verified resource.

The campaign could then measure resource visits, screening searches, registrations, or donations instead of only counting how many people joined the joke.

That is the real lesson for marketers. 

Attention opens the door, but strategy gives people a reason to walk through it.

A campaign should not stop once the audience reacts. It should make the next step clear, relevant, and easy to complete.

The breast cancer meme proved that a clever message can travel. I just wish it had arrived somewhere more useful.

What do you think? Does sharing an awareness post genuinely help, or does it sometimes only make us feel like we helped?