#BellLetsTalk about mental health (and how much we hate the phone company)

Today’s the day the good people at Bell are hosting their Let’s Talk campaign to raise awareness and reduce the stigma around mental health issues in Canada. So far, it’s also turned out to be a good day to vent about Bell, its competitors, and phone companies in general.

In addition to promoting discussion, Bell has pledged to donate five cents to mental health charities for every text message sent, every long distance call made, every Facebook share of its “Let’s Talk” logo, and every tweet using the #BellLetsTalk hashtag – which, of course, is where the bulk of today’s conversation is taking place. Most of that conversation actually deals with personal experiences of mental illness, but no trending topic comes without its digressions.

Some have suggested that Bell could do more, while others have noted that they already have. Some have pointed out that a hashtag without “Bell” at the front would have been a lot less icky, while some have countered that Bell deserves all the free advertising it can get. Some have said, quite rightly, that it’s okay to scrutinize an awareness campaign by a huge for-profit corporation, but most people seem careful to stress that they still support the campaign.

And of course, there are the hijackers whose tweets have nothing to do with the campaign, and everything to do with how much they hate phone companies and the people who work for them. That’s fine, at least in the sense that it’s predictable. Hashtags are free public spaces, and the companies and campaigns who try to police them inevitably find themselves buried under a big snarky landslide.

At least in this case, the critics are doing their part by using the hashtag. Even the people who don’t think their five cents will make a difference, or who think it’s nothing compared to the free advertising Bell’s been getting, are still chipping in by saying so. Indeed, if Bell has figured out a way to use the Internet’s capacity to complain for good, then we ought to have a cure for mental health issues by the end of the week.

“Complaining about Bell [and] #BellLetsTalk,” one person tweeted, “is like complaining about a lack of gluten-free snacks at a charity bake sale.” I’m inclined to agree, but that doesn’t mean there’s no room for constructive criticism, especially if it means the next campaign will be all the more successful.

What’s your take on the campaign? Do feel free to share your opinions, and to get involved in today’s nationwide discussion on mental health. I’d like you to share your thoughts in the comments, of course, but it’s better to do so on Twitter, where you can take part in the fundraising effort by doing so. Why not post a link to your hashtagged tweets?

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