Editing Slacktivism (section)

==Defense of slacktivism==
In response to Gladwell's criticism of slacktivism in the ''New Yorker'' (see above), journalist Leo Mirani argues that he might be right if activism is defined only as sit-ins, taking direct action, and confrontations on the streets. However, if activism is about arousing awareness of people, changing people's minds, and influencing opinions across the world, then the revolution will indeed be "tweeted",<ref>{{cite news|last=Mirani|first=Leo|title=Sorry, Malcolm Gladwell, the revolution may well be tweeted|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/oct/02/malcolm-gladwell-social-networking-kashmir|newspaper=The Guardian|location=London|date=October 2, 2010|access-date=December 13, 2016|archive-date=January 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170101093903/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/oct/02/malcolm-gladwell-social-networking-kashmir|url-status=live}}</ref> "hashtagged",<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/courtney-c-radsch/the-revolutions-will-be-h_b_839362.html|title=The Revolutions Will Be Hashtagged: Twitter Turns 5 as the Middle East Demands Democracy|author=Courtney C. Radsch|author-link=Courtney C. Radsch|work=Huffington Post|date=March 29, 2011|access-date=October 2, 2012|archive-date=September 21, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110921041722/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/courtney-c-radsch/the-revolutions-will-be-h_b_839362.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and "YouTubed."<ref>{{cite magazine | url = https://foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/03/30/the_youtube_revolutions| title = YouTube Revolutions|author=David Kenner | magazine = Foreign Policy| date= March 30, 2011}}</ref> In a March 2012 ''[[Financial Times]]'' article, referring to efforts to address the ongoing violence related to the [[Lord's Resistance Army]], Matthew Green wrote that the slacktivists behind the [[Kony 2012]] video had "achieved more with their 30-minute video than battalions of diplomats, NGO workers and journalists have since the conflict began 26 years ago."<ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/882c6c6a-6c34-11e1-8c9d-00144feab49a.html#axzz1qCwXvNMG |title= Let the Kony campaign be just the start |work= [[Financial Times]] |author= Matthew Green |author-link= Matthew Green (journalist) |date= March 12, 2012 |access-date= March 27, 2012 |archive-date= March 15, 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120315165128/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/882c6c6a-6c34-11e1-8c9d-00144feab49a.html#axzz1qCwXvNMG |url-status= live }}{{registration required}}</ref>

Although slacktivism has often been used pejoratively, some scholars point out that activism within the digital space is a reality.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last1=Madison|first1=Nora|last2=Klang|first2=Mathias|date=2020-09-04|title=The Case for Digital Activism|journal=Journal of Digital Social Research|volume=2|issue=2|pages=28–47|doi=10.33621/jdsr.v2i2.25|issn=2003-1998|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Piat|first=Chantal|date=2019-01-23|title=Slacktivism: Not Simply a Means to an End, but a Legitimate Form of Civic Participation|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.29173/cjfy29411|journal=Canadian Journal of Family and Youth|volume=11|issue=1|pages=162|doi=10.29173/cjfy29411|s2cid=159224779|issn=1718-9748|url-access=subscription}}</ref> These scholars suggest that slacktivism may have its deficiencies, but it can be a positive contributor to activism, and it is inescapable in the current digital climate.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> A 2011 correlational study conducted by [[Georgetown University]] entitled "The Dynamics of Cause Engagement" determined that so-called slacktivists are indeed "more likely to take meaningful actions".<ref name="Andresen">{{cite web|last=Andresen|first=Katya|title=Why Slacktivism is Underrated|website=[[Mashable]]|date=October 24, 2011|url=http://mashable.com/2011/10/24/slactivism-cause-engagement/|access-date=November 1, 2011|archive-date=November 2, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111102152355/http://mashable.com/2011/10/24/slactivism-cause-engagement/|url-status=live}}</ref> Notably, "slacktivists participate in more than twice as many activities as people who don't engage in slacktivism, and their actions "have a higher potential to influence others".<ref name="Andresen"/> Cited benefits of slacktivism in achieving clear objectives include creating a secure, low-cost, effective means of organizing that is environmentally friendly.<ref>{{cite web|last=Leonard|first=Cindy|title=In Defense of "Slacktivism"|date=September 2, 2009|url=http://bayercenter.wordpress.com/2009/09/01/in-defense-of-slacktivism/|access-date=November 1, 2011|archive-date=April 25, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425132222/http://bayercenter.wordpress.com/2009/09/01/in-defense-of-slacktivism/|url-status=live}}</ref> These "social champions" have the ability to directly link social media engagement with responsiveness, leveraging their transparent dialogue into economic, social or political action.<ref name="Davis 2011"/> Going along this mindset is Andrew Leonard, a staff writer at ''Salon'', who published an article on the ethics of smartphones and how we use them. Though the means of producing these products go against ethical human rights standards, Leonard encourages the use of smartphones on the basis that the technology they provide can be utilized as a means of changing the problematic situation of their manufacture. The ability to communicate quickly and on a global scale enables the spread of knowledge, such as the conditions that corporations provide to the workers they employ, and the result their widespread manufacturing has on globalization. Leonard argues that phones and tablets can be effective tools in bringing about change through slacktivism, because they allow us to spread knowledge, donate money, and more effectively speak our opinions on important matters.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Leonard |first=Andrew |date=2012-02-23 |title=There is no ethical smartphone |url=https://www.salon.com/2012/02/23/there_is_no_ethical_smartphone/ |access-date=2024-02-03 |website=Salon |language=en |archive-date=December 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231213205331/https://www.salon.com/2012/02/23/there_is_no_ethical_smartphone/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Others keep a slightly optimistic outlook on the possibilities of slacktivism while still acknowledging the pitfalls that come with this digital form of protest. Zeynep Tufekci, an assistant professor at the [[University of North Carolina]] and a faculty associate at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, analyzed the capacity of slacktivism to influence collective group action in a variety of different social movements in a segment of the [http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/luncheon/2013/10/tufekci Berkman Luncheon Series]. She acknowledges that digital activism is a great enabler of rising social and political movements, and it is an effective means of enabling differential [[capacity building]] for protest. A 2015 study describes how slacktivism can contribute to a quicker growth of social protests, by propagation of information through peripheral nodes in social networks. The authors note that although slacktivists are less active than committed minorities, their power lies in their numbers: "their aggregate contribution to the spread of protest messages is comparable in magnitude to that of core participants".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Barberá |first1=P. |last2=Wang|first2=N.|last3=Bonneau|first3=R.|last4=Jost|first4=J.T.|last5=Nagler |first5=J. |last6=Tucker |first6=J.|last7=González-Bailón|first7=S.|title=The Critical Periphery in the Growth of Social Protests |journal=PLOS ONE|date=November 30, 2015 |volume=10 |issue=11 |pages=e0143611 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0143611 |pmid=26618352 |pmc=4664236|bibcode=2015PLoSO..1043611B |doi-access=free }}</ref> However, Tufekci argues that the enhanced ability to rally protest is accompanied by a weakened ability to actually make an impact, as slacktivism can fail to reach the level of protest required in order to bring about change.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/luncheon/2013/10/tufekci |title=Getting from No to Go: Social Media-Fueled Protest Style From Arab Spring to Gezi Protests in Turkey {{pipe}} Berkman Center |publisher=Cyber.law.harvard.edu |date=October 15, 2013 |access-date=July 24, 2014 |archive-date=December 13, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213013559/http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/luncheon/2013/10/tufekci |url-status=live }}</ref>

The [[Black Lives Matter]] movement calls for the end of systemic racism.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last1=Mundt|first1=Marcia|last2=Ross|first2=Karen|last3=Burnett|first3=Charla M|date=October 2018|title=Scaling Social Movements Through Social Media: The Case of Black Lives Matter|journal=Social Media + Society|volume=4|issue=4|pages=205630511880791|doi=10.1177/2056305118807911|s2cid=158191536|issn=2056-3051|doi-access=free}}</ref> The movement has been inextricably linked with social media since 2014, in particular to Twitter with the hashtags #blacklivesmatter and #BLM.<ref name=":2" /> Much of the support and awareness of this movement has been made possible through social media. Studies show that the slacktivism commonly present within the movement has been linked with a positive effect on active participation in it.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last1=Nummi|first1=Jozie|last2=Jennings|first2=Carly|last3=Feagin|first3=Joe|date=2019-08-18|title=#BlackLivesMatter: Innovative Black Resistance|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/socf.12540|journal=Sociological Forum|volume=34|issue=S1|pages=1042–1064|doi=10.1111/socf.12540|s2cid=202249774|issn=0884-8971|url-access=subscription}}</ref> The fact that participants in this movement were able to contribute from their phones increased awareness and participation of the public, particularly in the United States.<ref name=":3" />

The Western-centric nature of the critique of slacktivism discounts the impact it can have in authoritarian or repressive contexts.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bakerinstitute.org/publications/ITP-pub-CyberactivismAndWomen-051712.pdf|title=Unveiling the Revolutionaries: Cyberactivism and Women's Role in the Arab Uprisings|author=Radsch, Courtney|publisher=Rice University|date=May 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121004205606/http://bakerinstitute.org/publications/ITP-pub-CyberactivismAndWomen-051712.pdf |archive-date=October 4, 2012|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV2E2T9GFaE  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/rV2E2T9GFaE| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|title=Cyberactivism and the Arab Revolt: Battles Waged Online and Lessons Learned (Part 1 of 9) |publisher=YouTube |date=March 29, 2011 |access-date=July 24, 2014}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Journalist [[Courtney C. Radsch]] argues that even such low level of engagement was an important form of activism for [[Arab]] youth before and during the [[Arab Spring]] because it was a form of free speech, and could successfully spark mainstream media coverage, such as when a hashtag becomes "a trending topic [it] helps generate media attention, even as it helps organize information....The power of social media to help shape the international news agenda is one of the ways in which they subvert state authority and power."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/courtney-c-radsch/doubleedged-sword-social-_b_826354.html|title=Double-Edged Sword: Social Media's Subversive Potential|author=Courtney Radsch|work=Huffington Post|date=February 28, 2011|access-date=October 2, 2012|archive-date=April 18, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120418024804/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/courtney-c-radsch/doubleedged-sword-social-_b_826354.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In addition, studies suggest that "fears of Internet activities supplanting real-life activity are unsubstantiated," in that they do not cause a negative or positive effect on political participation.<ref>{{cite web|last=Christensen|first=Henrik Serup|title=Political activities on the internet: slacktivism or political participation by other means?|url=http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/3336/2767|publisher=First Monday|access-date=November 3, 2011|archive-date=October 21, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021061242/http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/3336/2767|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The [[Human Rights Campaign]] (HRC) on Marriage Equality offers another example of how slacktivism can be used to make a notable difference.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|title=View of In defense of "slacktivism": The Human Rights Campaign Facebook logo as digital activism {{!}} First Monday|url=https://firstmonday.org/article/view/4961/3868|access-date=2021-03-11|website=firstmonday.org|archive-date=May 3, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210503130312/https://firstmonday.org/article/view/4961/3868|url-status=live}}</ref> The campaign urged Facebook users to change their profile pictures to a red image that had an [[equals sign]] (=) in the middle.<ref name=":4" /> The logo symbolized equality and if Facebook users put the image as their profile photo, it meant they were in support of marriage equality.<ref name=":4" /> The campaign was credited for raising positive awareness and cultivating an environment of support for the marriage equality cause.<ref name=":4" /> This study concluded that, although the act of changing one's profile photo is small, ultimately social media campaigns such as this make a cumulative difference over time.<ref name=":4" />