Politics & Current Events
bunnybean
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Organ donation on FB
I am apparently having this fight with Julie on FB, so let's have it here, too.
I said:
Why are people sharing that they are organ donors? Is it so I can know who to ask for a kidney?
What say you, P&CE? I say it's another step in inactivism, and is stupid. I have no problem with organ donation, but come on. This is not a life event. Also, my mind would never be changed by reading that someone was an organ donor on Facebook.
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Re: Organ donation on FB
I just don't get the usefulness of it. I have a relative who apparently was the first person in MD to be an official "organ donor" but he died in a car accident when he was a teen (before airbags) and his mom had to make the decision to donate the organs. I get wanting your family to know - idk it just seems like a weird place to have that sort of info, I guess?
It seems more like a feel good move vs. actually closing a gap or providing a new tool.
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Personally, this is information that does not need to be shared about me on my Facebook page.
I think it falls along the lines of pointless and stupid. In all honesty, if something terrible happens to you, is your family really going to think "Oh damn, let's go check FB to see if they're an organ donor?"
And if your family is going to be the type to fight your wishes on donating your organs, do you think saying you're a donor on your Facebook page is going to be the thing that wins them over?
No.
That's not the point. To me the point of putting this on FB would be to let your next of kin know your wishes, or reminding them even if you've discussed it before.
When someone dies the only way their organs get donated is if the next of kin agrees to it. Regardless of what you have marked on your drivers license, or conversations you may have had previously. In times of crisis, logical thinking and planning to donate organs can be very easily overlooked by survivors.
Even people who want to be organ donors don't discuss their wishes with their family. Posting on FB is one way of communicating this wish, or reinforcing it if they have discussed it. Seeing a FB post might be enough to jog the memory of a family member and they think "I think she would've wanted...."
FWIW I haven't seen this particular FB thing, but I am a huge organ donation proponent (I have threatened to haunt my family if they don't donate my organs, heh). I agree inactivism a la pink washing doesn't get to the bottom of things but with organ donation there is very much a need for "awareness".
I agree. I dont think FB is the repository for your last wishes, but this might be the vehicle that gets people talking about being an organ donor with their loved ones, or makes organ donation seem normal to those who have misconceptions. We donated my dad's organs and i cant tell you how many people thought it was weird/gross/strange and didn't understand our motivations. If this helps normalize organ donation I'm all for it.
Above Us Only Sky
I understand that's not the point, and I understand exactly how organ donation works. My point in saying what I did is that when someone is in the midst of a crisis that severe, I don't see them being on Facebook to even be reminded of that fact, and thus it may still be overlooked.
If you're talking about this strictly from a "This will get the conversation started" standpoint, then ok. I can see that, and yes, that needs to happen.
However, for me personally, that's a conversation I'd rather have with my immediate family and the people responsible for making those decisions - not something I need everyone I'm friends with on Facebook to see. That's something I consider private and my business. Maybe I'm an exception in that respect.
For the record, my perspective has been misrepresented on this thread, or at least the context is not apparent for those that cannot get on the FB page. I find it no more TMI than the thousands or millions of inane check-ins, endorsements, or the like that are found on Facebook, nor do I find it a substitute for REAL action.
I do not think that there is anything wrong with saying that one is an organ donor by using the Facebook help feature or simply stating it. It's no more bullying than my four-star review for "The Lives of Others" is bullying people to buy it.
This is an egregious and laughable use of the word bullying. Seriously. Watch Harvey Weinstein's document "Bully" to get a sense of what bullying actually means.
I entered the fray because I didn't see what the point was of having a post devoted to how stupid saying "I'm an organ donor" on Facebook was. To me, it's no more stupid than any of a whole range of check-ins, restaurant endorsements, etc. No one's saying, "Oh, I'm putting this on my Facebook but not really doing anything about organ donation." DH has done tens if not a hundred presentations on organ donation, telling his story to varied groups of people. Has his activism been sufficient enough that he can put the organ donation thing on FB with impunity?
I concur strongly and "pity the fool" (a little Mr. T there, not a reference to my friend Bunny) in real life who decides to bring it up in a derogatory fashion on their FB.
I do think it's a bit silly.
But then I think about my cousin, who died suddenly when she was 20. She actually had had a conversation with her mom about organ donation, but how many people that age have bothered to let their families know what they want done with their organs after they die? I mean, I'm 31 and I've barely had that conversation with anyone.
So, even if it is a stupid meme, I think it might be at least a start of a vehicle to get your wishes across, even if you don't tell your family out loud what you think on the subject.
My Cooking Blog
I think this is different than slacktivism in several ways.
1) It makes apparent the issue without a silly game (ie what color is your bra?).
2) It raises awareness for an issue for which awareness actually is a problem. People are aware of breast cancer, but many find organ donation gross, or don't know how unlikely their wishes are to be followed.
3) It serves the utility of making your wishes known. Your FB Timeline won't always be useful at the moment of death, no, but maybe someone will remember seeing it when asked. And honestly, sometimes it's not quick. We spent days in the ICU waiting room when my uncle was dying, there was a line waiting to charge phones to waste the time on FB and the like.
Mostly in just glad it says what it's about instead of some cutesy diversion.
+1. Encouraging discussion is a really great thing, and a lot of people don't have these conversations. Heck, I may go and post over on FB...it can't hurt.
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I agree. Julie, you were way out of line on Bunny's FB. Way out of line, and unnecessarily so (as I think both Bunny and others, like myself, may be inclined to agree with many of your points on organ donation).
Julie, I'm not sure what's going on with you, but many of your recent posts have been reactionary and explosive. I hope everything is OK.
The thing is, it's not just a stupid meme, if you're not currently a donor, the facebook feature takes you to your state's donation registry so you can register to be a donor.
From your timeline, click Share A Life Event, then Health & Wellness, then Organ Donor.
Thanks, Amelia for the information. I have discussed this with my DH and family when Terri Schiavo was being discussed heavily in the news. I like that it isn't a silly game like the bra thing.
Yea, that's something I don't feel the need to publicize on FB.
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Yeah, I'm not buying this argument that we need facebook to have a discussion. I'm an adult and I've discussed this and DNR with my husband and family. If you need facebook to prompt you to have these types of important life/death discussions, that's another issue.
Also, health care proxy, living will, advance helathcare directives, registering for organ donation online are how you get this stuff done. If you want to raise awareness on facebook, talk about that. If you have those things in place and your family doesn't listen to you, I highly doubt an old post you can barely find on someone's timeline will sway them.
You're missing the point a little. You realize that the organ donor life event offered on Facebook directly links people to their local organ donor registries? This could be one way to increase the numbers of people who register as donors. Hardly an exercise in latent inactivity.
If this is the case instead of just a status update saying "I'm an organ donor" then that changes things a bit. I still think it'd be better to say something else - facts, a story about it or something to actually get the conversation going. Without anything else, that's too easy to glance over, which lowers the effectiveness.
I just saw that post and commented on it. I haven't seen any of these, I thought it was just a status update.
There's an option to add a story when you post the event--here's what mine says:
I registered to be an organ donor the day I got my drivers license in 1998. If you're not currently a donor, please consider registering--the organ donation feature on Facebook will link you to your local registry so you can sign up! Donation saves lives.
Death isn't something people like to discuss IRL, so I think that something like this where you don't have to do it face to face can be a lot less scary/intimidating. And the fact that you don't need to figure out how to do it makes registration easy.
People post a lot of stupid crap on Facebook, but I don't think that's what this is.
Not a problem. Here's a news article so we all are on the same page. Its a new initiative from the Facebook executive team designed specifically to have great impact. Not a meme.
I like that Zuckerberg, et al, went out of their way to come up with a way to do something concrete. And this will have a large impact because all you need to do is register. I wonder where else they could start initiatives like this. Like TTT says, it's much harder for cancers or Kony because we can't all do something about it, except for perhaps send money or write a letter.