Zhang Junkai, 16

School: Nan Chiau High School

Topic: Can social media make a positive impact on organ donation?

Award: Fourth Place, Senior Category, 2023

Reaching Out

Currently, social media is almost essential to our daily lives. Not one day goes by without billions of people staring at their phones, scrolling through the massive online platforms as if our life depended on it – just like how we depend on our organs to keep us going every day. With the dwindling numbers of donors worldwide, something has to be done to rekindle the attention on the urgency and importance of organ donation. How do we resolve this issue? Strangely enough, the answer lies in social media. A stark contrast in function, yet with many similarities in purpose, social media and organ donation seem to be two completely separate topics. We may wonder: How can a viciously addictive platform benefit something as altruistic as organ donation? If so, we have underestimated the significance of social media, which can bring numerous benefits to organ donation. Hence, I agree strongly that social media can make a long-lasting, positive impact on organ donation.

Social media is like a web of information spread across the world. With a single click of a button, anyone can access this infinite library of data. This is exactly why social media is the perfect platform to educate the masses and clear up the misconceptions of organ donation. If health organisations wish to emphasise the importance of organ donation, they may do so by publishing content to spread awareness on this difficult topic. Through videos or digital posters, the public can gain greater insight into how organ donation works. Organisations can create engaging yet informative content to convince viewers to give their support by participating in organ donation. Organisations may showcase the interviews of donors and patients alike, to show the public what goes on in the process of organ donation, from both perspectives. In fact, donors and patients can have a voice of their own and share personal stories while choosing to stay anonymous if they ever feel uncomfortable with revealing their identity. With this added sense of security, it can encourage a greater number of donors and patients of organ transplants to speak up and tell the world their story. Hopefully convincing many others to donate their organs too. Singer and pop icon Selena Gomez received a kidney from her friend, actress Francia Raisa due to her inflammatory disease, Lupus. If these celebrities share their stories online on social media and advocate for organ donation, many people would be inspired and understand organ donation much better. Debunking the grave misconception of being unable to lead a normal life, Francia Raisa now has a successful career in Hollywood and she claims to be leading her best life. So, why not become a donor? The web of social media has a huge following with almost 4.26 billion people on it every day. With the many organisations, donors and patients coming together, we can build up a community for people to converse their views or share experiences about their hesitation and worries about this topic. If orchestrated carefully, I firmly believe that the misconceptions about organ donation can be eliminated, and the public will be able to understand the process of organ donation better. Slowly but surely, people will find meaning in organ donation, and might even become a donor themselves. This is the power of social media – to reach and unite billions of people across the world, from all walks of life.

Organ transplants do not happen overnight. Finding a donor amidst the vast sea of people is long and arduous - both mentally and physically draining for everyone involved. Patients on the verge of death - cling to that sliver of hope, for a donor to be identified and for the transplant to take place after. Sadly, 17 people die waiting for an organ every day in America, according to HRSA, the health agency of the U.S. Fortunately, with social media, the process can potentially be hastened. Out of the billions of people on social media, there is bound to be a suitable donor hidden within the depths of many profile pages.

As inappropriate as it sounds to ask someone: “I don’t know you, but can I have your organ?” - There are some people who miraculously found their donors this way. One of these lucky people is Bo Harris. He was in urgent need of a kidney, after having been diagnosed with chronic kidney disease, he was desperate and turned to social media as his friends and family were found unsuitable to donate. According to him, asking for a kidney through Instagram was not an easy task, as it felt absurd to ask someone else for a kidney, especially when they were not acquainted in any way. Harris took the first step and decided to run a social media campaign to start gaining followers in the hopes of finding a suitable donor. Initially, a few people were willing to donate their organs to him after only a few weeks of campaigning. However, they were all ruled out after their kidneys were deemed incompatible with Harris. Fortunately for Harris, he received a miraculous call just as he was starting to lose hope. Having found a donor, Harris went through the matching test successfully and proceeded with the transplantation process. He is presently living well with the new kidney. This goes to show that social media can effectively act as an agent to help reduce the time taken for patients to find a suitable donor before it is too late.

Like bitter medicine, organ donation saves lives, but can also leave individuals involved with a resentful aftertaste. The guilt faced by patients for taking another’s organ can be overwhelming, to the extent of giving them depression. Is it a selfish act? They might ask. A strong community to back these vulnerable patients up is what we need. Indeed, many people on social media have their own stories to share, and this is where donors and patients can unite and exchange insights on their personal journey through organ transplants. In fact, social media is practically accessible anywhere, anytime. Patients can rest assured that the community of donors and patients would be there to lend a shoulder to cry on; for patients to pour their heart out. Although the results are not immediate, a well-established, reliable community of beneficiaries alike can alleviate the anxiety faced by patients who have undergone organ transplants. Having trustworthy people to turn to can truly make one feel loved and appreciated. After all, a community is meant to look out for one another. By providing comfort for new successful patients of organ transplants, communities can reduce the mental stress faced by these patients.

There are no roses without thorns. Social media is laced with toxicity, lurking at almost every corner waiting to strike. We never know for sure when or where a distasteful comment may appear, aiming to instil negativity or fear in the poor victim. This could be seen as harmless at first as the victims are able to block them, however, some heartless commenters can constantly post hate comments on the accounts of patients suffering from numerous diseases, giving snide remarks on their appearance, or even making fun of them for asking for an organ. Such negativity does no good to anyone’s mental health, let alone someone who is suffering from a potentially fatal disease. Perhaps social media is both a boon and a bane to patients looking for an organ. Hence, all the do-gooders need to counter such negative behaviour with positive ones, relentlessly tidying up the social media platforms and spurring on those who are afraid, giving them the moral courage to do what is right.

Taking everything into account, social media creates much needed awareness to organ donation, simply because of its accessibility and convenience. Social media connects everyone; whether you are just a supporter of organ donation, a donor or a patient, anyone can come together to support one another. Be it through direct organ donation or donations through fundraising to fund a transplant, social media has made it easier to connect oneself to the world. However, it is important to remind ourselves that the true potential of social media lies in our hands. Only we can maximise this powerful tool, using it to everyone’s advantage. As social media can bring about a myriad of positive impacts on organ donation, I believe it is truly a way to revolutionise the way we come to help the ones in need.

References

1. Kari Paul (2021, February 13) The people using Instagram to find a life-saving kidney donor.
   Link: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/feb/13/kidney-donation-social-media-instagram-facebook

2. Michaela Chesin (2021, April 29) Kidney transplant scheduled today for Bo Harris after year-long campaign.
   Link: https://www.wickedlocal.com/story/provincetown-banner/2021/04/29/provincetown-bo-harris-kidney-transplant-april-29-after-donor-search/7381463002/

3. Donate Life America (n.d.) Organ Donation Statistics.
   Link: https://donatelife.net/donation/statistics/#:~:text=17,waiting%20for%20an%20organ%20transplant

Disclaimer: Please note that the views and opinions expressed in the essays for the Live On Festival 2023 are those of the participants and are not endorsed by the National Organ Transplant Unit (Ministry of Health). To learn more about organ donation and organ transplantation in Singapore, please visit www.liveon.gov.sg