JUST A FAD? – Facebook users changed their profile pictures to their favorite cartoon over the weekend as a show of support for a supposed campaign against violence on children.

MANILA, Philippines — Anybody taking a look at their Facebook news feed over the weekend would have noticed a peculiar thing.

All over Facebook, people began changing their profile pictures to cartoons they used to watch and love as children. Attached to the picture change was the explanation: “Change your Facebook profile
picture to a cartoon from your childhood and invite your friends to do the same. Until Monday (Dec. 6) there should be no human faces on Facebook, but an invasion of memories. This is for violence against children. Please pass and share.”

While this was not the first time that Facebook users had changed their profile pictures en masse, it was the first time that an actual cause had been attached to it.

This is perhaps what prompted the divisive reactions from the social networking site’s users. For every profile picture changed, there was an accompanying grumble of dissatisfaction from users who considered the act frivolous.

But where and how did this Facebook fad start? And how did it become big? Students and Campuses Bulletin tracks the timeline of this fad – which leads all the way back to the Mediterranean!

Spreading like wildfire
Although there is no direct confirmation, the website Know Your Meme (knowyourmeme.com) places the beginnings of this particular Facebook fad in Greece and Cyprus sometime in mid-November, with a profile message that read: “From the 16th to the 20th of November, we shall change our profile pictures to our favourite cartoon characters.The purpose of this game is to remove all photos of human for a few days from Facebook.”

Within days, the fad began to spread. On Nov. 19, website AllFacebook (allfacebook.com) noticed the game had reached English-speaking countries, with the posting of a profile message that read: “NewGame: Change your profile picture to your favorite cartoon from when you were a kid. The goal of this game is not to see a human picture on Facebook, but an invasion of childhood memories until Monday. PLAY AND PASS ALONG!”

Even big name corporations joined in on the fun. From Nov. 21 to 28, the Cartoon Network set up a Facebook event page to “Choose a Cartoon Character as Your Profile Picture for a Week”.

But the most drastic change to the fad began in December. By that time, there was a contentious addition to the original Facebook profile message, now morphing what began as a game into a crusade against child abuse. The change was enough to garner the attention
of traditional media outlets like ABC News, as well as on popular media blogs like Gawker and The Daily What.

While ABC News’ coverage was much more objective, Gawker and The Daily What had much more scathing opinions on the fad, with The Daily What calling it “frivolous” and Gawker posting a sarcastic conversation with a “real” child abuser.

GAWKER: So, abuse any kids today?
CHILD ABUSER: Nope.
GAWKER: Why not?
CHILD ABUSER: It’s this cartoon thing. I guess I never realized people cared so much about child abuse that they would go to the trouble of changing their Facebook avatar.
GAWKER: Actually, they’re changing their profile pictures for the whole weekend.
CHILD ABUSER: Dear God...
GAWKER: Some people are even “liking” their friends’ Facebook status updates about the campaign. That’s how much they hate child abuse.
CHILD ABUSER: Can you point me to the nearest police station? I need to turn myself in.”

The campaign has also been mocked by other Facebook users, who have either uploaded pictures of Homer Simpson choking his son, Bart, or the notorious Pedobear, an inside joke that originated among the members of the /b/ board on the 4chan website. Pedobear is a smiling, pedophiliac bear who hunts down children and rapes them.

Facebook activism
The reactions haven’t all been scathing. The website Urlesque (urlesque.com) lauds the campaign, considering it a better form of Facebook activism compared to the previous bra color and “I like it” viral campaigns for breast cancer awareness.

“The Breast Cancer memes are mind-boggling because they’re asking people to participate in the name of ‘raising awareness’, but the only people who are aware of what’s going on are the participants.

There’s a logic failure there. So it’s a step in the right direction to see this meme explaining itself out in the open,” says the website.

But even then, Urlesque notes that the campaign still lacks any component that actually drives the people who adopt it to action.

“Something as simple as including a link in the statuses to organizations like UNICEF, who work to protect child from abuse and exploitation, would make this meme infinitely more helpful to its
cause,” it states.

Some users participated not out of any sense of activism, noting that actions like these do very little in the real world, and admitted to doing it because it was something that they found cute and entertaining.

“Not actually doing it for the kids. Just felt nostalgic. I miss Jem and the Holograms!” says Amyline Quien Ching, the Manila Bulletin’s Moms and Babies section editor.

“It’s fun, and it’s a way for our generation to bond through shared experiences,” says Johnson and Johnson assistant brand manager Daene Luna.

Some Filipino Facebook users did do something more than just change their Facebook profile pictures over the weekend.

Photographer Andrew Pamorada has gone a step further than just changing his profile picture, and posted a note detailing statistics on child abuse here in the country.

“According to the data of PNP DIDM-WCCD, about 9,791 cases were reported as of 2009, which include rape, prostitution, abandonment, and other related cases on child abuse,” he writes.

“This data only include persons who reported to the police, how much more those children who didn’t report to the police?”

A video featuring a public service announcement against child abuse has also been making the rounds among Filipino Facebook users, under the title “Eto ang dahilan kung bakit nagpalit tayo ng primary picture”.

This follow through is certainly important, as there as several pitfalls to “Facebook activism”, as stated by AllFacebook.

"Facebook activism runs the risk of replacing real activism and other forms of civic participation with a less tangible and, arguably, less effective activity. This is not to say Facebook groups and other social media campaigns are not effective at all – but this should not be seen as the only or best way to promote a cause,” explains the website.

In other words, if anybody wants real change to happen, whatever the cause, real work has to be done – and done outside of Facebook.

“Suffering happens offline, not online, and this distinction needs to be drawn when promoting causes through Facebook. Social media is a tool, not an end. It offers limitless potential to engage and inform
people, and even to mobilize them via petitions and Twitter demonstrations.

However, the root of these causes must be addressed with real, hard work – both on- and offline – in order for any form of activism to truly effect the change it desires,” declares the website.