Rachel Hunter took part in the most recent social media challenge by posting a black and white image of herself with the caption 'Challenge Accepted'.

OPINION: Social media challenges to highlight global injustices seem to be the new trend. Black squares for black lives matter, black and white photos for women in Turkey – a few months ago it was global warming but forget that, it’s so last season.

But what do these social media trends really accomplish? Does raising awareness result in anyone doing anything about it?

Personally, I believe it’s a product of people being lazy. It’s the easiest way to think one is making a ‘difference’. No need for a monetary donation, no need for mental effort, by just pressing a button I’m ‘helping’.

An immediate sense of accomplishment is felt by those who take part in the challenges, but that’s where the support seems to stop. Where is the real difference being made? It’s not. Thank you for posting a black square, it has saved so many people.

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Sure, the intention may be positive, but as someone who has founded a charity helping kids, seeing these challenges is frustrating at times.

Make a real difference, go out there and join a cause, enrich education systems, volunteer to help at rest homes. If one wants to make a real difference there are plenty of opportunities.

I believe awareness is key to resolving an issue. However, there needs to be a plan in place which contributes to change.

If we take a funnel approach, the challenge may be a good entry into the funnel. Instead of a selfie challenge, where the user is most likely more concerned about picking the right selfie than the actual cause, how about a ‘post a receipt challenge’ in which people post images of recent donations made. This dwells deeper into the funnel and actually makes a difference. Or post a black and white picture of yourself volunteering to make someone’s day better.

These social issues (eg. global warming and black lives matter) highlighted by social media are so complex in nature. It will take time and effort to change these systems – plastering something with money isn’t the solution.

The sad truth is people just can’t be bothered and the trend develops to a maximum peak of involvement which isn’t sustained. It’s on to the next challenge. It can be argued that it’s simply an oversaturation of information from the media.

A byproduct of social media is that we’re constantly aware of so many (in this case negative) international events happening that it’s hard to focus on a single issue.

At Bread, a non-profit which aims to help New Zealand's most vulnerable children realise their hopes and dreams, we mentor students (from low decile schools) over a few months, focusing on motivating the child and making sure they realise how amazing they are. We aim to help with university pathways, research skills and goal setting.

Ryan Anderson/Stuff Mustafa "Mussie" Sheikh is the founder of The Bread Charity, a foundation set up to help protect the dreams of some of the country's most vulnerable children.

These children are the future of our world and hence their thinking will shape the world around them. Focusing on education systems and motivating the youth is an effective solution to many of the issues we see.

The most effective approaches require more involvement and are harder to scale. That’s why we see governments writing blank cheques to solve issues. It’s easy to reach a large number of people rather than sitting down and analysing each individual solution and funding accordingly.

By all means post a picture to be involved with a movement, but we should be thinking of how to further our involvement to make a change. It’s a step in the right direction, but while we’re at it we may as well try to make a real difference.

Dedication to a single cause is much more powerful than spreading thin over multiple issues. People within the community have the real power to make change and that’s something we have to realise instead of waiting for change to fall from the sky.

Source: Stuff.co.nz

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