The make-up came off for one of the biggest charity fundraising campaigns social media has ever seen.

The idea was simple: wipe off your mascara and foundation, take a photo of yourself, then post it on Facebook or Twitter, with a #nomakeupselfie beside it. Then donate £3 to Cancer Research UK and Breakthrough Breast Cancer, and nominate a few friends to do the same.

The campaign achieved rapid success – in six days, a number nudging three million had posted their ‘natural’ snaps and more than £8 million had been raised. Celebrities including Holly Willoughby, Katherine Jenkins and Jemima Khan all took part, boosting its profile.

For anyone preparing to run the London Marathon, or who has ever climbed mountains, cycled through jungles or abseiled skyscrapers to raise funds, posting a snap of yourself without mascara or lipstick on might not seem like much effort in terms of ‘doing your bit’ for charity.

And for many people, the selfie campaign jars with the idea that not wearing make-up is in ‘brave’ – which wording in the trend states – and that a campaign about cancer, and the physical horrors it can entail, should be represented in a stream of photos focused on someone’s appearance.

Yet there’s no denying the campaign’s success and since it began virally, rather than coming from the charities, it speaks volumes about social media and its power to unite.

According to a new survey, by Apollo Blinds, 82 per cent of people said they’d got involved in a local community project thanks to sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Ali Brice, social media editor at Breakthrough Breast Cancer says the #nomakeupselfie is a “great example of how an essentially indulgent activity – in this case taking a picture of yourself – can be translated into something brilliant that raises awareness, and – more importantly – raises funds for vital causes.”

She adds: “The best and worst aspects of social media – that it gets people talking about themselves, but also to each other – make it such a powerful tool, and one that can be used to foster a real sense of community. When just the right measures of certain elements are thrown in – a call to action, a cause, and a simple mechanism to take part – social media can force a real change in the world.”

Michelle O’Hara, a 34-year-old teacher from Shipley, took part in #nomakeupselfie after a friend asked her on Facebook.

“Facebook is the main way I communicate with friends, we share advice and information and it’s how I hear about campaigns like this. Both my grandmothers have cancer so I wanted to get involved,” she says.

“I watch charity adverts on TV, I get leaflets pushed through my letterbox and I’m stopped in the street by persistent charity workers, but that doesn’t make me donate money. What gets my attention is a friend alerting me to an unusual, eye-catching campaign on Facebook.

“Businesses and charities use Facebook and Twitter too, they know the power of social media.

“Lots of my friends did the no make-up thing, we had a laugh at each other without our ‘slap’ on, and it felt quite liberating. We’re working mums and this was a quick, easy way of supporting charity. It’s not exactly running a marathon, but being back at work after having my second baby I don’t have time to train for a marathon!”

Nik Pollinger, social media phenomena expert at digital anthropologist.blogspot.com, says #nomakeupselfie is an example of how social media platforms can foster community spirit.

But he adds that “community spirit is not always a positive thing”.

“All sorts of nasty groups have one. A really good example illustrating these points is the London riots of August 2011. Social media platforms were widely credited as a main cause, helping communities of gangs to attack targets,” he says.

“When local people co-ordinated the clean-up operation in the aftermath of the riots, in part using social media, they not only repaired the damage done, they also repaired social media’s reputation. By itself though, social media is neither the cause nor solution to individualism in society.”