Activism or Slacktivism - Carly Ryan
New media has altered social activism. Its participatory nature has resulted in “the networked population is gaining greater access to information, more opportunities to engage in public speech, and an enhanced ability to undertake collective action” (Shirky, 2011). Social media is a commonly used tool by activists. How influential social media can be in inciting change has greatly debated, and this is the focus of this blog post.
Gladwell (2010) in his article Small Change says that he believes society has a blurred sense of activism. Society is confusing ‘slacktivism’— “actions performed via the Internet in support of a political or social cause but regarded as requiring little time or involvement” (Oxford University Press, n.d.)—with activism.
Last year when the American Supreme Court was evaluating proposition 8 the Human Rights Campaign, an organisation that campaigns for equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, encouraged Facebook and Twitter users to change their profile pictures to the below picture in support of the cause (Yang, 2013).
Many did, and the image spread across social networking sites. However, is this activism? Sure, individuals were actively supporting the cause, however changing a profile picture requires little to no effort. Sure, it is raising awareness of the issue, but is it to an effective extent? It is slacktivism and it is becoming more common.
Society’s confusion over slacktivism and activism means that some, not all, individuals settle for just changing their Facebook profile picture in support of a cause and not contributing further because they already have. As Gladwell (2010) highlighted, social media “makes it easier for activists to express themselves, and harder for that expression to have any impact.” This begs the question, could slacktivism be harming activism and reducing societal change?
Shirky (2011) notes that it is becoming more common for people to use social media “not as a replacement for real-world action but as a way to coordinate it.” This is what social media should be used for; it is a tool and as Russwurm (2010) states in her blog, “a tool is only as good as the use to which it’s put.”
The Arab Spring demonstrated how social media including Facebook and Twitter could effectively be used as a tool to coordinate activism. One activist (as quoted in Kassim, 2012) highlighted this, “We use Facebook to schedule the protests and [we use] Twitter to coordinate, and YouTube to tell the world.”
Social media has undeniably changed how people partake in activism. As highlighted by Gladwell (2010), “it easier for the powerless to collaborate, coördinate, and give voice to their concerns.” However, relying solely on social media to create change is insufficient. Social media should be used as a tool to encourage and coordinate real life action.
References Gladwell, Malcolm. 2010. Small Change: Why The Revolution will not be tweeted. The New Yorker, October 4. Accessed April 24, 2014. http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/10/04/101004fa_fact_gladwell Kassim, Saleem. 2012. “Twitter Revolution: How the Arab Spring Was Helped By Social Media.” PolicyMic, July 3. Accessed May 4, 2014. http://www.policymic.com/articles/10642/twitter-revolution-how-the-arab-spring-was-helped-by-social-media Oxford University Press. “Slacktivism.” Accessed May 3, 2014. http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/slacktivism Russwurm, Laurel. 2010. “Tie Theory.” Woah! Canada, September 30. Accessed May 2, 2014. http://whoacanada.wordpress.com/2010/09/30/tie-theory Shirky, Clay. 2011. “The Political Power of Social Media: Technology, the Public Sphere, and Political Change.” Foreign Affairs 90:1. Accessed April 24, 2014. Yang, Mackenzie. 2013. “What Is the Red Equal Sign All Over Facebook and Twitter?” TIME, March 26. Accessed May 2, 2014. http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/03/26/what-is-the-red-equal-sign-all-over-facebook-and-twitter/