Slacktivism: laziness or the first step?
Slacktivism is often seen as being lazy, this is because it is simply just a push of a button and nothing more. These “activists” are bored people who scroll through their respective social media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or Tumblr). However, perhaps, slacktivism is not laziness, but the beginning steps for real change to happen. If activism was to be put on a spectrum, slacktivism would be at the beginning of it, while chaining yourself to a nuclear power plant would be much closer to the end of the spectrum. To be a slactivist, you do not have to put in much effort. However, if you chained yourself to a nuclear power plant you must be willing to put yourself through a lot of work. So what if slacktivism is the first steps in becoming more involved in activism? Obviously not everyone will become an activist because of negative stories seen on social media, but others might see that story and decide to invest more time in learning what that specific cause is about. This leads them to start becoming involved, making them farther along the spectrum of activism. Slacktivism while for the majority might be laziness, for the minority it could become the first step in becoming truly involved and passionate towards a cause.
The first thing that made me instantly enjoy this blog post, is the liking symbol displayed on the left hand side. For those who use the internet, they know this is a universal symbol to "like" or agree with something via social media. I thought the picture fit well with the topic. I also enjoyed this post because instead of looking at slacktivism as a negative thing, the blogger made slacktivism into something positive. I thought the example used will help the reader understand the bloggers viewpoint more clear.
ReplyDeletethe first thing I noticed was the symbol I thought it was very fitting. second of all i liked this post because it focused on the positives. the picture fit very well
ReplyDeleteBefore even reading your blog, the "like" symbol from Facebook immediately caught my attention. The power and significance of a like, favorite, retweet, share, or post, can mean multiple things on Facebook and Twitter. Whether it be supporting something, liking what someone is currently doing, raising awareness for a cause, agreeing with someone, or finding news out that you feel others should be informed of, are all forms of Slacktivism. Your picture correlates very well with your blog entry about the act of showing support through technology. Also, in this course, we are focusing on the positives and not the negatives, which you did. Great post!
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