Allison Kaltenbrun

1/23/19
Dr. Dieterle
Cancer. This word is familiar to all and heartbreaking to many. In today’s society, almost
everyone has experienced the traumatic effects of cancer in one way or another. Although an
“end” to cancer does not look like it is coming any time soon, there are a multitude of different
fundraising platforms that help raise money for cancer research, help provide for families that are
affected by cancer, and help support cancer patients and families.
Relay for Life is a fundraising event sponsored by the American Cancer Society. These
events take place all over the country and raise thousands for those affected by cancer. I myself
participated in two Relay for Life events. The basis of this event is that Relay teams you form
before the event come together for 12-24 hours. While these events have many different
activities and things to do, someone from each team always has to be walking around a track or
area. Staying up all night and participating in these activity ties into the idea that “cancer never
sleeps” and at the event, you don’t sleep either (Relay).
Relay for Life was a very big event at my school. Planning would occur all year in order
to prepare for the event in May. My first year, I joined last minute due to some of my friends
encouraging me and seeing multiple posts on social media. Listening to survivors, participating
in activities, and fundraising was a blast and it felt good to know that our contributions were
making a difference. My second year, I was also part of the planning committee. I helped
organize the event and had another great time participating. Overall, Relay for Life was one of
my favorite parts of high school. Participating in these events has also inspired my future career.
Because so many people close to me have been affected by cancer, my goal is to someday work
with cancer research or be involved with oncology in the medical field. Relay for Life events are
enjoyable, but also for a good cause.
Since social media is so prevalent in today’s society, the Relay for Life Facebook page is
a good source of information for the events. I will be looking into how Relay for Life utilizes
their Facebook page to interact with others, encourage those to donate to cancer research, and
include posts that have meaning. Considering I myself heard about Relay for Life through social
media, I figured looking into how this community uses their Facebook page would be very
appropriate. In today’s day and age, almost everything is on the internet. For further research I
think I could also look into the Relay for Life Twitter page and compare the different types of
interactions. I would also do further research into the audiences of these pages and develop an
understanding of what age groups follows which and how this affects the way the page is set up.
Everyone who participates in Relay is part of a community- the Relay for Life
community. These people often use social media to communicate, to share their stories, and to
even fundraise. The Relay for Life facebook page is a prime example of this. Among scrolling
through the many posts, which include pictures, videos, and even just comments, it is easy to
identify many different people conversing and interacting with each other. This page could
definitely be helpful to scholars looking into how the Relay for Life committee interacts with
participants, how the community communicates with one another, and how the page is influential
to inspire others to donate. Even though one of the main purposes of Relay for Life is to
fundraise money, it is also to create a family-like support system for all those who have been
affected by cancer.
This page applies many different techniques in order to interact with their followers.
Everyone who is a part of this community is there for a common cause- to help in the fight
against cancer. Henry Jenkins defines one part of participatory culture as “Where members
believe that their contributions matter,” (Jenkins). Members who participate in Relay events
know that their contributions matter and that they have made a difference. This is a big reason
why members are so motivated to be a part of the Relay community- they participate because
they know that they are making a change. This helps reinstate the idea Jenkins idea of
participatory culture because members actively participate because they know what they are
doing matters. After all, Relay for Life is solely based on participation, volunteering, and giving
to help others. Together as a community, it is important to actively engage with one another,
which can be seen through various types of posts that are found on the Facebook page.
Considering social media has only grown over the years, Relay for Life’s use of this
social media has only helped influence more people to be a part their fight against cancer. For
example, many people, including myself, find out about Relay for Life because of their growing
presence on Facebook and other social media platforms. Along with many encouraging and
informational posts, the page also contains media that promotes Relay events and inspires people
to join. Jenkins mentions, “Participatory culture is emerging as the culture absorbs and responds
to the explosion of new media technologies that make it possible for average consumers to
archive, annotate, appropriate, and recirculate media content in powerful new ways,” (Jenkins).
This refers to the Relay for Life social media platforms considering they are using it to
encourage others to take part in these events, donate, or both. Social media is a powerful tool for
many organizations and Relay for Life’s utilization of this has only helped the community to
grow closer together. Considering Relay for Life participants are located all around the world,
social media is a great tool to help that distance seem non-existent.Because of how large Relay
for Life has grown over the years, I can only assume it will continue to grow especially with
modern social media.
Communication is an important aspect of every kind of community, but for Relay for
Life it is extremely important in order to keep the events up and running. Looking into the Relay
Facebook page will help me see what different approaches they use in order to create a positive
presence behind the screen. In order for this community to be successful, they will have to make
the page interesting, communicate with others, and even promote their events in order to
continue to be the large, well-known events they are. The communication involved in this
community is also essential into making all cancer patients, and friends and relatives, feel as if
they are not alone and that they have a lot of support. This can be seen through many stories and
encouraging words, which are also posted on Facebook. Strong communication is an essential
part to making an organization as meaningful as it is. If this community feels comfortable to
interact, support, and communicate with one another online, it only shows that Relay for Life is
like a huge family, located all across the country.
The American Cancer society has done a phenomenal job of creating Relay for Life as
they raise millions every year. Along with raising money, they have done an amazing job at
raising awareness for cancer, providing support for others, and even sharing positive messages
and information through social media platforms. However, this could never have been done if it
was not for effective communication. I believe the Relay for Life Facebook page, which has
hundreds of thousands of followers, has been a huge contributor of Relay’s success. Relay has
impacted so many people already and has only encouraged more people to make a difference.

Reference Page
Jenkins, H. (2006, Oct. 19). Confronting the challenges of participatory culture: Media education
for the 21st century [Blog entry]. Retrieved from
http://henryjenkins.org/blog/2006/10/confronting_the_challenges_of.html

Relay For Life | Cancer Walk | Cancer Fundraising Events. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://secure.acsevents.org/site/SPageServer/;jsessionid=00000000.app307b?NONCE_TOKEN
=13B5067CDEDAA95E5E8566147E2D5585&pagename=relay