Healthcare Reform Goes Viral on Facebook

There is a huge viral movement brewing on Facebook at the moment: Countless young people around the country are pasting the following message (or something close to it) into their status:

No one should die because they cannot afford healthcare. No one should go broke because they get sick, and no one should be tied to a job because of pre-existing condition. If you agree, please post this as your status for the rest of the day.

Watching the trend, which I have yet been unable to quantify (though have put in a question to the folks at Facebook), what amazes me is not only the size of the viral movement (it appears to be in the thousands, perhaps tens of thousands) but rather the faces behind it. While the vast majority of the political organizing I see on Facebook tends to come from the same names -- friends working in politics on a full time basis -- what is remarkable here is that these status updates containing a strong and clear message in favor of healthcare reform are coming not only from the political community but also from those whose lives are not immersed in these fights. These are regular young people, all around the country, speaking out in favor of reform. This movement is impressive and surprising, and, at least from this vantage, quite newsworthy.

Update:Not Just Facebook... Twitterers (Tweeters? Twitter users?) getting in on the action, too.

Another update: The WireTap Blog has more.

Final update: Within the last hour, Barack Obama has posted the message on Facebook.

Okay, just one more update:Time.com and HispanicBusiness.com are both on the story, too.

Tags: Facebook, Healthcare, Tag it Viral, Viral (all tags)

Comments

7 Comments

Re: Healthcare Reform Goes Viral on Facebook

Here is the version I saw and posted:

Put this up for your status all day: No one should die because they cannot afford health care, and no one should go broke because they get sick. And no one should be forced to buy insurance from the companies that caused this mess without having a public option as an alternative.

by Arthurkc 2009-09-03 11:40AM | 0 recs
Re: Healthcare Reform Goes Viral on Facebook

Admittedly, a lot of my facebook friends are lefty crew, it's amazing how many people have this up as their status.

by lojasmo 2009-09-03 12:30PM | 0 recs
Re: Healthcare Reform Goes Viral on Facebook

While the Blog Birchers sit around and bellyache, the young people (the very age group the President heavily inspiredlast year) are actually doing something. Kudos to them.

by spirowasright 2009-09-03 12:42PM | 0 recs
Re: Healthcare Reform Goes Viral on Facebook

Being over 65 and having posted this meme on Facebook, I resent the statement that only the young are involved in spreading this meme.

by Pietr 2009-09-03 02:16PM | 0 recs
Not just young people posting

Facebook is for old people too! Lots and lots of us.

by aiko 2009-09-03 03:21PM | 0 recs
Re: Healthcare Reform Goes Viral on Facebook
Sorry about that. Nice to know that you're on facebook.
I wasn't aiming at sxenior citizens as much as the constant negativity over health care and other issues that seems to permeate the liberal blogosphere.
by spirowasright 2009-09-03 06:33PM | 0 recs
Re: Healthcare Reform Goes Viral on Facebook

Facebook being what it is, people seem to have moved on to the next meme, which consists of variations on the theme.  For example, I just saw this one:

No one should die because they cannot afford healthy pears, and no one should go broke because they get rick-rolled (he's never gonna give you up). If you agree, please post this on someone else's status for the next 21 hours.

by Steve M 2009-09-03 07:20PM | 0 recs

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