'Clicktivism' or ‘Slacktivism’
Activism
“The policy or action of using vigorous campaigning to bring about political or social change” (Oxford Dictionaries 2019).
How activists communicate has expanded to an uprising of new media activism ‘Clicktivism’ - a way for activists to use the internet to support a political or social cause. While some believe that this has brought more opportunities to spread a message and support a movement. It has also brought to activism a sense of passivity - “acceptance of what happens, without active response or resistance” (Oxford Dictionaries 2019).
A real-world example of this passivity is the campaign of warlord Joseph Kony ‘Kony 2012’. Kony was a movement by non-profit organization Invisible Children was created to raise awareness about Joseph Kony and stop Kony and his violent militant army. The video became a huge viral sensation with over 100 million views and 1.3 million likes.
You can view the Kony 2012 video below, warning video contains upsetting images.
So, what happened to this campaign? In the end, the viral sensation died to be replaced by the newest craze in social media. Invisible Children did not achieve their objective with Uganda’s military ending its pursuit of Joseph Kony in 2017.
But really what was their objective?
According to Invisible Children, “KONY 2012 was an experiment” (Invisible Children 2014). To the people who suffered at the hands of Kony and the people who got on board the movement, many believed there was a much more profound sense in what they were trying to achieve. However, if you go on to the Invisible Children website to try access the video it says the film “no longer exists”. Between an experiment and a video that no longer exists, it becomes apparent why there is so much criticism around clicktivism.
Some argue that the current disparaging utilisation of word clicktivism does not do justice to the concurrent advancement of creating innovation and modern-day methods of participation (Halupka 2014, P.116). Furthermore, Invisible Children (2014) argue that the Kony campaign still served its purpose which was to make him famous enough to get world leaders to act against the Lord's Resistance Army (Invisible Children 2014).
So, what of the well-known form of activism culture jamming. The aim of culture jamming is for society to see their messages and adopt a social movement towards change. This is done through sabotage advertising and consumerism by introducing noise into transmitters to a receiver, invest ads, newscasts, billboards and other media artefacts with subversive meanings (Dery, M 2010). Why is there more criticism towards clicktivism when graffiti, a form of culture jamming, cost the Australian government 1.5 billion of dollars annually for its removal?
Culture Jamming is getting people consciously involved, ego’s aside.
When I ask people if they knew that clicking the like button on a movement on social media meant they had become an activist; they all said no!
For an interesting view into Clicktivism read Activism or ‘Slacktivism’? Can the #IceBucketChallenge really change the world?
References
Dery, M 2010, Culture Jamming: Hacking, Slashing, and Sniping in the Empire of Signs, Shovelware, viewed 3 January 2018, <http://markdery.com/?page_id=154>.
Halupka, M 2014, "Clicktivism: A Systematic Heuristic", Policy & Internet, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 115-132, viewed 3 January 2019, <https://onlinelibrary-wiley-com.ezproxy.lib.swin.edu.au/doi/full/10.1002/1944-2866.POI355>.
Kony 2012, Invisible Children, 5 March, viewed 3 January 2019, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4MnpzG5Sqc>.
Kony Meme 2019 [IMAGE], Clicktivism/Slacktivism, viewed 6 January 2019, <https://reflectionsoncampaigning.wordpress.com/2014/11/20/clicktivismslacktivism/>.
Oxford Dictionaries 2019, activism | Definition of passivity in English by Oxford Dictionaries, viewed 3 January 2019, <https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/activism>
Oxford Dictionaries 2019, passivity | Definition of passivity in English by Oxford Dictionaries, viewed 3 January 2019, <https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/passivity>.
Slacktivism Meme 2019 [IMAGE], Slacktivism: Image Gallery, viewed 6 January 2019, <https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/slacktivism/photos>.
Youmans, W, & York, J 2012, 'Social Media and the Activist Toolkit: User Agreements, Corporate Interests, and the Information Infrastructure of Modern Social Movements', Journal Of Communication, vol. 62, no. 2, pp. 315-329.