lauren rae

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Not Another Meme – When Awareness Fails to Mean (Anything)

THE BREAST CANCER MEME days AND THE LESSONS OF BLACKOUT TUESDAY.

Ugh. I just cannot. Well, I can.
I actually have a lot of words about this.

Way back around October 2010, I sent a private message to my friend Gabby asking her ‘what the hell was up with these Facebook statuses – do you know anything about it?’

“Say the color of your bra so the boys get confused. Don’t tell them what it means!”

Erm… how about no? What is the point..???

Photo by Anna Shvets on Pexels.com

It wasn’t grassroots activism.
It wasn’t education and awareness.

It was a game.


I wasn’t moved to philanthropy or awareness or even donating my dollars by sharing my bra color, because I had no idea it was supposed to be about breast cancer awareness.

When awareness goes viral without actually saying anything…

These vague memes were shared millions of times and praised as “raising awareness.” Revisiting the memory of the occurrence through the case study in Strategic Social Media: From Marketing to Social Change ,alongside some additional deeper dives, truly highlights how diffusion without mobilization becomes a sort of “slacktivism” – symbolic participation with no real-world impact.

Remembering the few years of the Facebook meme also found my thoughts traveling towards a more recent cyberactivism issue – Blackout Tuesday – which happened during the height of the George Floyd and Breonna Taylor protests.

I’ll definitely touch more on that in a moment, but both of these viral social media occurrences show how easy it is for well-intentioned cyberactivism to slide into confusion, misinformation, and even harm.

Photo by Castorly Stock on Pexels.com

Why the Breast Cancer Meme Went Viral

The original meme had three ingredients to make this recipe spread:

  • PERSONALIZATION
    Post your own bra color. Share where you “like it.” State your “number of inches.” Participation was easy, playful, and felt socially rewarding.
  • EXCLUSIVITY
    “Don’t tell the men.”
    Secrecy = instant community. You were “in” on the inside joke.
  • EMOTIONAL ALIGNMENT
    People assumed it was for a good cause, even if the messages said nothing about breast cancer. And for those who did know the intention, posting felt like a morally aligned gesture… despite costing nothing and doing nothing.

Where the Meme Failed: Awareness vs. Knowledge vs. Action

It raised “awareness” of the meme… but not necessarily breast cancer.
People googled the meme, not how to perform self-exams or where to donate.

Hill and Hayes’ case study found many respondents to describe the attempt as counterproductive, misleading, or even offensive.

❌ It sexualized a disease that survivors describe as traumatic, painful, and lifelong.

❌ It deliberately excluded men, despite thousands of men being diagnosed annually.

❌ It substituted real action with a symbolic gesture.

Journalist Sonya Sorich seemed to share my thoughts on the viral posting, where awareness replaces real impact.

It seems vastly different than the abrasive, yet powerful efforts of the #fxckcancer hashtag on socials, and those bracelets floating around from Spencers. It’s bold, emotionally charged, and still direct, educational, and action-oriented.

#fxckcancer Instagram
Spencers’ Boobies Make Me Smile

Blackout Tuesday as a Modern Parallel

Because the breast cancer meme isn’t an isolated case, we saw a near-identical dynamic during Blackout Tuesday (June 2, 2020).

Millions of Instagram users (especially well-meaning white allies) posted black squares using #BlackLivesMatter.

The intention:

“Silence ourselves to amplify Black voices.”

But the outcome…


The #BLM hashtag became unusable for organizing, as activists tried to share urgent safety info, legal aid, protest locations, and other urgent and relevant information on the platform. Only to have the feed flooded with blank squares devoid of anything useful.

The Similarities of the Breast Cancer Meme:

  • Both spread rapidly through social networks due to social pressure and moral signaling
  • Both used ambiguous communication that required insider knowledge
  • Both unintentionally obscured critical information
  • Both gave participants moral “credit” without meaningful engagement

The Differences

  • Breast cancer memes sexualized and trivialized the topic
  • Blackout Tuesday unintentionally interfered with life-saving mobilization during an active crisis
  • The emotional stakes were immediate and visible: police violence, public protests, national trauma

Within hours of Blackout Tuesday going viral, activists publicly begged users to stop using the #BLM hashtag because it was overwhelming real protest content. Confusion, fear of “doing the wrong thing,” and messaging contradictions left many feeling paralyzed to real action, much like the breast cancer memes.

NBC reported Blackout Tuesday became a teachable moment about the limits of symbolic solidarity for allies.

June 2, 2020 protests in my hometown. I gathered my employees to make signage to walk from my shop to the square. Photo by Bill Kalina from the York Dispatch.

What this reveals about Mobilization vs. Virality

When we compare the Facebook breast cancer memes with Blackout Tuesday, a pattern emerges:

⬛️ VIRALITY requires novelty + emotion + low effort

The memes did all three.

⬛️ MOBILIZATION requires clarity + education + action steps/call to action

The memes did none of these.

Mobilization is defined by behavior change. Like showing up. Volunteering, donating, signing petitions, writing letters to public officials… Showing up.

The breast cancer memes didn’t mobilize.
Blackout Tuesday, in many cases, hindered mobilization.

Hill & Hayes argue that public health campaigns must distinguish between:
ATTENTION
AWARENESS
KNOWLEDGE
ACTION

and… align objectives accordingly (not confuse attention with impact). Most viral trends never make it past step one.

A Facebook Post from my friend and author, Matt Lake. He shared a sticker design I made to benefit raising funds for intercity youth programs.

The Role of Real-Life Experience in Mobilization

We are reminded that emotional, embodied, real-life experience is the strongest trigger for meaningful mobilization. Again, mobilization moves you towards:

  • Volunteering at a treatment center
  • Donating to a verified fund/nonprofit
  • Attending a protest
  • Supporting legislation (or speaking against it)
  • Sharing survivor stories
  • Amplifying experts
  • Connecting people to resources

These are actions that create lasting behavior and identity change – far beyond posting the color of your bra or where you sit your purse.

Symbolic action only works when it leads to real action.
When it replaces real action, it becomes harmful.

Choose Meaning over Meme Culture

I challenge us as marketers – both communicators and human beings – to ask:

  • Does this message educate?
  • Does it mobilize?
  • Does it empower?
  • Does it clarify or confuse?
  • Does it create visibility or drown out crucial information?

Our greatest responsibility in social media is not to chase viralty. We’re here to cultivate ethical, informative, actionable communication that respects the gravity of the causes we claim to support.

When we choose clarity over secrecy, education over innuendo, and action over symbolic gestures, we move from slactivism toward meaningful community driven impact.

Add to the conversation

Comments (

4

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  1. knvannatter

    Lauren, your reflection hits on something so many people feel but don’t always have the language for: just because something goes viral doesn’t mean it actually helps.

    The way you connect the breast cancer meme trend with Blackout Tuesday shows exactly what Botha and Reyneke (2013) found in their research, content spreads fastest when it’s personal, emotional, and easy to post, but those same qualities often keep it from driving any real understanding or action. The bra-color meme is a perfect example. It traveled quickly because it felt fun and “insider-y”, but it didn’t actually teach anyone about breast cancer or push people toward meaningful engagement (Botha & Reyneke, 2013).

    Your point about Blackout Tuesday makes this even more clear. HubSpot’s community research reminds us that strong online communities depend on clarity and access to reliable information. When millions of people posted black squares using #BlackLivesMatter, the hashtag became flooded and activists lost a critical communication channel (HubSpot, 2024). The intention was solidarity, but the result made organizing harder, showing how even well-meaning actions can create unintended harm.

    Digital wellbeing research also supports your argument that emotionally charged posts can feel like “doing something,” even when they might drown out more useful content (NumberAnalytics, 2023). That’s why your call to differentiate between attention, awareness, knowledge, and action is so important. Real mobilization needs more than visibility—it needs direction, education, and clear steps forward.

    It’s so refreshing to center the idea that communicators should prioritize substance over symbolism. When we design messages that truly educate, empower, and move people toward meaningful action, we help communities shift from temporary gestures to real, lasting change.

    And there’s something beautiful about how one honest, thoughtful message can spark momentum, soften perspectives, or quietly inspire someone to do something that matters. A little ripple with big potential.

    References

    Botha, E., & Reyneke, M. (2013). To share or not to share: The role of content and emotion in viral marketing. Journal of Public Affairs, 13(2), 160–171. https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.1471

    HubSpot. (2024). Experts share top tips for community management. https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/community-management-expert-advice

    NumberAnalytics. (2023). Designing wellbeing through social media. https://www.numberanalytics.com/blog/designing-wellbeing-through-social-media

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Lauren Rae

      Thanks so much for taking the time to read and add to the conversation.

      What your response really surfaces is the tension between diffusion efficiency and mobilization effectiveness, a distinction that shows up repeatedly across the literature. As Hill and Hayes (2015) suggest, the breast cancer meme succeeded precisely because it aligned with the early stages of diffusion: it was low-effort, emotionally charged, and socially legible. However, when viewed through the Diffusion of Innovations lens (Hanlon, 2020), it never crossed into later stages where knowledge, persuasion, and confirmation require clearer information and guidance. The meme diffused but it never matured.

      Blackout Tuesday exposes a similar pattern, but at a much larger and more consequential scale. Several scholars now describe it as a case of ambivalent or misdirected mobilization, where participation was morally motivated but structurally misaligned with activist needs (Levinson, 2023; Schaaf & Quiring, 2023). As you pointed out, flooding the hashtag didn’t diluted the meaning while also disrupting coordination. This aligns with research on social media logic, which shows that platforms reward visibility and volume, not necessarily clarity or usefulness (Schaaf & Quiring, 2023).

      What I find especially important (and where I think future campaigns must evolve) is the role of negative emotion and moral urgency. Lee et al. (2025) note that negativity bias can amplify engagement but also narrow cognitive processing, making users more likely to act symbolically rather than strategically. In both cases, participants felt like they were helping, which helps explain why these patterns repeat despite retrospective criticism.

      This is where Mahoney and Tang’s (2016) distinction between participation and mobilization becomes crucial: participation satisfies emotional and identity needs, while mobilization requires structure, sequencing, and intent.

      So the question arrises: “How should campaigns be designed to guide people beyond symbolic action” (rather than just “why did people do this”)?

      • Campaigns need graduated participation paths, where early low-barrier actions clearly lead to education and concrete next steps.
      • Platforms and organizers should protect functional communication spaces (e.g., hashtags, resource hubs) from being overwhelmed by symbolic posting.
      • Messaging should explicitly differentiate between showing support and supporting action, reducing ambiguity at scale.
      • Finally, designers must account for emotional momentum without allowing it to override informational clarity, which is a balance Mahoney and Tang (2016) argue is essential for sustainable mobilization.

      I appreciate how your comment reinforces that the issue here isn’t bad intent, but misaligned systems. If anything, these cases offer powerful lessons for future social and nonprofit campaigns: visibility is easy to generate; direction is not.

      –
      L

      References:

      Bakare, L., & Davies, C. (2020, June 2). Blackout Tuesday: black squares dominate social media and spark debate. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/02/blackout-tuesday-dominates-social-media-millions-show-solidarity-george-floyd

      Hanlon, A. (2020, October 30). What is the The Diffusion of Innovation Model? Smart Insights. https://www.smartinsights.com/marketing-planning/marketing-models/diffusion-innovation-model/

      Hill, M., & Hayes, M. (2015). Do You Like it On The…?: A Case-Study of Reactions to a Facebook Campaign for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The Qualitative Report, 20(11). https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2015.2364

      Ledger-Enquirer, & SONYA SORICH. (2012, October 11). Breast cancer awareness: Why are people posting inches and minutes on Facebook? Columbus Ledger-Enquirer. https://www.ledger-enquirer.com/latest-news/article29278315.html

      Lee, S. J., Hwang, E., Yuk, H., & De Villiers, R. (2025). Navigating negative emotions: The role of negativity bias in digital activism. International Journal of Market Research, 67(5), 630–653. https://doi.org/10.1177/14707853251350548

      Mahoney, L. M., & Tang, T. (2016). Strategic Social Media: From Marketing to Social Change. Wiley Global Research (STMS).

      Noman, N. (2020, June 6). Opinion | What I learned about being a real ally after the #BlackoutTuesday disaster. NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/blackout-tuesday-instagram-was-teachable-moment-allies-me-ncna1225961

      Schaaf, M., & Quiring, O. (2023). The Limits of Social Media Mobilization: How Protest Movements Adapt to Social Media Logic. Media and Communication, 11(3). https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v11i3.6635

      Valen Levinson, A. (2023). Ambivalent Action: Recognizing Bothness in the Narratives of Blackout Tuesday1. Sociological Forum, 38(2), 553–574. https://doi.org/10.1111/socf.12889

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  2. jclark3168

    Your blog post rightfully critiques the limitations of viral awareness campaigns, particularly the breast cancer meme and Blackout Tuesday. As you highlight, these examples show how symbolic gestures often fail to translate into meaningful action. The conclusion you make between virality and mobilization is crucial: while memes thrive on novelty and emotional resonance, they rarely provide the clarity or actionable steps necessary to drive real-world change (Lauren Rae, 2025). This tension shows the need for communicators to prioritize substance over symbolism in digital activism.

    Mahoney and Tang (2016) reinforce this point by emphasizing that strategic social media must move beyond visibility to foster genuine social change. They argue that effective campaigns require not only attention but also education, empowerment, and mobilization. In the case of the bra-color meme, the campaign created attention but failed to provide knowledge or pathways to action. Similarly, Blackout Tuesday unintentionally disrupted communication channels, showing how poorly designed symbolic actions can hinder mobilization rather than support it. These examples align with Mahoney and Tang’s framework, which stresses that awareness without strategy risks devolving into “slacktivism.”

    Your comparison between symbolic gestures and more direct campaigns, such as #fxckcancer, is interesting. Unlike the vague memes, #fxckcancer combines emotional resonance with explicit calls to action, encouraging donations, education, and survivor support. This shows how campaigns can harness the same viral aspects of personalization, emotional alignment, and community, but channel them toward tangible outcomes. Mahoney and Tang (2016) note that successful social media strategies integrate marketing techniques with social change objectives, ensuring that visibility leads to measurable impact. The contrast you draw shows the difference between campaigns that merely “raise awareness” and those that mobilize communities.

    Your post challenges marketers and activists to rethink the ethics of digital communication of their camaigns. Symbolic participation may feel empowering, but when it replaces real action, it risks harming serious issues or obstructing urgent mobilization. As Mahoney and Tang (2016) argue, the responsibility of communicators is to design campaigns that educate, mobilize, and empower audiences. By choosing clarity over secrecy and action over symbolism, social media can evolve from a platform of short term gestures into a tool for sustained, meaningful change. Your call to “choose meaning over meme culture” is a great reminder that ethical communication must prioritize impact over virality.

    References

    Lauren Rae. (2025, December 7). Not Another Meme – When Awareness Fails to Mean (Anything). WordPress. https://raezorfx-fbajw.wordpress.com/2025/12/07/not-another-meme-when-awareness-fails-to-mean-anything/

    Mahoney, L. M., & Tang, T. (2016). Strategic Social Media: From Marketing to Social Change. Wiley Global Research (STMS). https://mbsdirect.vitalsource.com/books/9781118556900

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Lauren Rae

      Thank you for reading and adding to the conversation through your articulation of the tension between virality and impact.

      It makes me think more deeply about where the campaigns like the breast cancer meme actually break down in the mobilization process. Drawing on your points and extending Mahoney and Tang’s framework, these campaigns fail because they lack sequencing and governess. While the awareness is generated quickly, there is no intentional structure guiding participants towards knowledge, coordination, or sustained action.

      It makes me question when CTAs should be introduced, and how explicit should it be without undermining the qualities that make content shareable? Hill and Hays (2015) show that ambiguity can drive engagement, but as later research on digital activism suggest, ambiguity at scale can also dilute responsibility and overwhelm functional communication spaces. This would suggest a need for campaigns to plan what happens once the participation reaches the critical mass.

      Mahoney and Tang (2016) argue that mobilization is most effective when online engagement lowers barriers to offline action. I wonder if future campaigns should be designed with intention to bridge real world experiences and digital displays? Digital participation can become the gateway to localized offline opportunities that are explicit from the outset.

      It lends to future practices of involving graduated paths of participation that allow low effort entry points for diffusion, yet offer clear roles for those willing to go further. Schaaf and Quiring (2023) describe engagement that aligns with platform logic rather than what the movement needs as a risk to well-meaning participation.

      Thanks again for pushing the conversation forward.

      –
      Lauren

      P.S. I am including my full reference list used both in response and for the above blog for deeper understanding.

      References:

      Bakare, L., & Davies, C. (2020, June 2). Blackout Tuesday: black squares dominate social media and spark debate. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/02/blackout-tuesday-dominates-social-media-millions-show-solidarity-george-floyd

      Hanlon, A. (2020, October 30). What is the The Diffusion of Innovation Model? Smart Insights. https://www.smartinsights.com/marketing-planning/marketing-models/diffusion-innovation-model/

      Hill, M., & Hayes, M. (2015). Do You Like it On The…?: A Case-Study of Reactions to a Facebook Campaign for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The Qualitative Report, 20(11). https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2015.2364

      Ledger-Enquirer, & SONYA SORICH. (2012, October 11). Breast cancer awareness: Why are people posting inches and minutes on Facebook? Columbus Ledger-Enquirer. https://www.ledger-enquirer.com/latest-news/article29278315.html

      Lee, S. J., Hwang, E., Yuk, H., & De Villiers, R. (2025). Navigating negative emotions: The role of negativity bias in digital activism. International Journal of Market Research, 67(5), 630–653. https://doi.org/10.1177/14707853251350548

      Mahoney, L. M., & Tang, T. (2016). Strategic Social Media: From Marketing to Social Change. Wiley Global Research (STMS).

      Noman, N. (2020, June 6). Opinion | What I learned about being a real ally after the #BlackoutTuesday disaster. NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/blackout-tuesday-instagram-was-teachable-moment-allies-me-ncna1225961

      Schaaf, M., & Quiring, O. (2023). The Limits of Social Media Mobilization: How Protest Movements Adapt to Social Media Logic. Media and Communication, 11(3). https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v11i3.6635

      Valen Levinson, A. (2023). Ambivalent Action: Recognizing Bothness in the Narratives of Blackout Tuesday1. Sociological Forum, 38(2), 553–574. https://doi.org/10.1111/socf.12889

      Like

      Reply