Friday 2 February 2018
Wednesday 31 August 2016
My beef with the 2016 Breast Cancer Awareness 'Game'
As you've probably guessed by the title, this is not your normal catch-up with my activities over the last seven days. Although I have done a few things in the past week, one of them stuck out and has led me to writing this more in-depth blog that I do enjoy writing every now and then (or whenever I have something worth writing).
Last week, a Facebook friend of mine (who will not be named) posted a status exclaiming their delight at something they had 'achieved' recently. Naturally, I gave their status a 'Like' to congratulate them on their achievement, and continued with my day as normal.
A couple of hours later, I went back on Facebook to discover a direct message from that friend, which was along the lines of:
Last week, a Facebook friend of mine (who will not be named) posted a status exclaiming their delight at something they had 'achieved' recently. Naturally, I gave their status a 'Like' to congratulate them on their achievement, and continued with my day as normal.
A couple of hours later, I went back on Facebook to discover a direct message from that friend, which was along the lines of:
- Ha! You shouldn't have commented on/reacted to my post!
- It's your turn now - randomly post one of these statuses and pass on this message to anyone that comments on or reacts to it (statuses ranging from "diarrhoea again" to "used my boobs to get out of a speeding ticket" and "I think I'm in love with someone" to "I'm getting married")
- This the 2016 Breast Cancer Awareness game
- Don't be a spoil sport
- Don't let the secret out
In case you didn't know, I refused to follow any of the instructions and considered how such a 'game' supposedly raised awareness for breast cancer. I came to the quick conclusion that it did absolutely nothing for breast cancer awareness. Think about it. You've just congratulated a friend on their engagement and then realise you've just been baited into a 'game' that's part of a breast awareness campaign. You've now been through the fact that you already knew breast cancer existed, along with many other diseases and medical conditions of different types, and wonder how posting a random Facebook status will ever help. Welcome to my world.
I then took to Google and typed in "breast cancer awareness game" - and by 'typed in', I mean I just typed the first few letters of 'awareness' and the result already came up because of the number of people who had searched it before me. I found a lot of negativity towards the campaign, as well as a small handful of positive articles about it. I thought, "Good news first", so I clicked on one of the more positive ones. Apparently this started about half a decade ago and the first campaign managed to go viral and got a mention in the news. Whether this caused people to start donating towards Breast Cancer Research, I have no idea. But it seems as though the golden age of this game has been and gone. I found a negative article written by someone who found the game deeply offensive, given they had experienced relatives suffering from breast cancer and questioned the trivial nature of the game. I had to agree.
I've done plenty for charities in the past, and am intent on doing even more in the future. I've volunteered and run 10K and half marathon distances to raise money for them. Now that's what I'd call raising awareness and making a difference at the same time. I also did the ice bucket challenge for ALS/MND. While this was a campaign with similarities to the breast cancer awareness game, there was no hiding of what the ice bucket challenge was for. The only way you find out that the breast cancer awareness game is about breast cancer is if you react and get the message from whoever's post you reacted to.
All of this begs the question as to whether we're doing the right things to raise awareness or build a campaign around something. Unfortunately I've not got all day to write something (and you've not got all day to read my rubbish) so I'm going to have to leave that question hanging. If I were looking to run a campaign through social media, I'd have people doing something that is actually related to what the campaign's about. In the case of the breast cancer awareness 'game', you don't do anything related to breast cancer and it doesn't make you think for one second about it. It's going to take more than a few random, unrelated Facebook posts to gain support in society.
Ollie out.
Twitter: @Chowerz
Instagram: @chowerz
Wednesday 24 August 2016
Back from Italy!
Good evening and welcome to your weekly update in the life of the Chinese kid that you don't really care about.
The last week has been eventful and uneventful at the same time. It started off brilliantly on Thursday with a visit to Siena, about an hour's drive south of Florence. We bought the all-inclusive pass, giving us access to 5 parts of the Duomo for just €15 each. The cathedral was much more decorative than Florence's Duomo, and we saw the baptistry, an underground museum, another museum and then finished it off with the viewpoint opposite the Duomo. Surprisingly enough it actually rained whilst we were in the cathedral, making a stark contrast from the five cloudless days that had greeted us upon our arrival in Italy. Nonetheless, we had nothing to complain about given how nice a place Siena is. The picture below is of "Il Campo" in Siena.
Friday was our 'chill' day - we went for a walk, played cards, read books and went swimming. A good way to end our stay in the villa. We ate out at a local place that was comfortably the best meal we'd had all week. We shared a bruschetta platter and two pasta first courses before tucking into rabbit and chicken for the main. Absolutely stunning meal.
My brother and I flew back on Saturday lunchtime to get ready for a game of cricket that was due on Sunday but had already been cancelled midweek. So, essentially, we flew back for nothing (apart from my brother's AS Level results). We left Pisa airport in clear blue skies and 30 degrees Celsius, and landed in Manchester where we were greeted by 35 mph winds that nearly blew us off the stairs down from the plane! I needed no further invitation to put my jumper on. I spent the evening at my friend's house for a BBQ...which had to be moved inside due to a BBQ failure, but the food was good - nice one Archie!
The last few days have been the uneventful bits. A visit to the cricket nets and teaching my brother how to cook a chicken dish have been the highlights. I think that says it all.
I'm off to cricket training in a minute or two. Bit of a rush getting this done but there's nothing else to report.
Ollie out.
Twitter: @Chowerz
Instagram: @chowerz
The last week has been eventful and uneventful at the same time. It started off brilliantly on Thursday with a visit to Siena, about an hour's drive south of Florence. We bought the all-inclusive pass, giving us access to 5 parts of the Duomo for just €15 each. The cathedral was much more decorative than Florence's Duomo, and we saw the baptistry, an underground museum, another museum and then finished it off with the viewpoint opposite the Duomo. Surprisingly enough it actually rained whilst we were in the cathedral, making a stark contrast from the five cloudless days that had greeted us upon our arrival in Italy. Nonetheless, we had nothing to complain about given how nice a place Siena is. The picture below is of "Il Campo" in Siena.
Friday was our 'chill' day - we went for a walk, played cards, read books and went swimming. A good way to end our stay in the villa. We ate out at a local place that was comfortably the best meal we'd had all week. We shared a bruschetta platter and two pasta first courses before tucking into rabbit and chicken for the main. Absolutely stunning meal.
My brother and I flew back on Saturday lunchtime to get ready for a game of cricket that was due on Sunday but had already been cancelled midweek. So, essentially, we flew back for nothing (apart from my brother's AS Level results). We left Pisa airport in clear blue skies and 30 degrees Celsius, and landed in Manchester where we were greeted by 35 mph winds that nearly blew us off the stairs down from the plane! I needed no further invitation to put my jumper on. I spent the evening at my friend's house for a BBQ...which had to be moved inside due to a BBQ failure, but the food was good - nice one Archie!
The last few days have been the uneventful bits. A visit to the cricket nets and teaching my brother how to cook a chicken dish have been the highlights. I think that says it all.
I'm off to cricket training in a minute or two. Bit of a rush getting this done but there's nothing else to report.
Ollie out.
Twitter: @Chowerz
Instagram: @chowerz
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