Don't Believe Everything You Read

...especially anything started on Facebook.

Recently an Internet meme was making the rounds on Facebook where people would change their profile picture to a cartoon character from their childhood to raise awareness against child abuse. Like most Internet memes, I balked at the idea and didn't participate because I don't believe they raise awareness for anything. In fact, all it seemed to do was raise awareness for how cool these old cartoons were.

This reminded me of meme started last year where ladies would post status updates with the words "I like it on" followed by where they placed their purses to raise awareness for breast cancer.

"I like it on the couch."

"I like it on the floor."

"I like it on the table."

It just sounds like sexual innuendo. I fail to see how it raises awareness to breast cancer. Sure it gets people curious at first when they inquire what these status updates mean but the original point is missed.

Instead of thinking, "Let's raise some money to discover a cure.", most of the people were thinking, "Meow. She's pretty kinky."

A few days after the cartoon-picture-meme was making the rounds, news outlets were reporting that the meme was actually a hoax started by a group of pedophiles because young children were more likely to accept friend requests from strangers with profile pictures of cartoon characters. So en masse, people rushed to change their profile pictures back to normal.

Then a few days later, the reports about the meme being started by a group of pedophiles were actually false. It just proves that you can't believe everything you read on the Internet.

So let's stop hiding behind these memes and actually make a difference. If you want to raise awareness for a cause, be an adult about it and post a real Facebook status like, "I'm raising awareness for ." Blog about it. Go volunteer somewhere. Donate some money or your time. Invite others to join.