Online Networks and Social Change

The Influence of Slacktivism on Feminist Movements

Social technology has led to the establishment of post-modern and sociological communities online, allowing a group of diverse individuals to share interests and perspectives on social standings. Through the continuous innovation of social technology, users online are now able to participate in online activity from anywhere at any time through platforms such as Twitter. This encourages individuals to take part in and advocate in social and political affairs without having to leave their homes.

Traditionally, activism took the form of organised mass demonstrations expressing a passionate interest or opinion on a political, social or economic issue, often demanding for change. However, the majority of the 21st century networks and communities now form online as users find a third place to show their compassion. Through the innovation of the new technologies and established ‘third places’ they can be used by communities as a means for quickly and easily drawing international attention to a movement or issue that would have otherwise been local news (McCafferty, 2011). The ‘third place’ engages with a wider audience, capturing public attention and awareness of social movements and publicising ‘private’ issues such as violence, in particularly violence against women (Fileborn & Loney-Howes, 2017). Although female activists (also commonly known as feminists) have existed for decades, the rapid expansion of networks have made them a stronger figure in society. However, like any social movement, along with activists, slacktivists have also emerged through the creation of ‘third places’ for user generated content, which has made it easier than ever to become involved in a cause, simply by just passing the word on: The online word of mouth. Slacktivists who constantly seek the “feel good” avocation in order to be considered as aware and understanding toward the particular cause in the community (McCafferty, 2011). Feminist movements such as #metoo and #TIMESUP have brought to light more intimate issues, using the platforms to call for online justice as well as focusing on a framework for prevention challenging violence against women including the provision of psychological, and rehabilitation services for those effected (Fairbairn, 2020). Both movements grew awareness and social change whilst they were trending, however, it is debatable whether or not slacktivism helped the cause succeed or dilute. While Twitter has become a third place for connecting feminists and supporting their movements through hashtags such as #MeToo and #TIMESUP, they have also highlighted the failure of slacktivism within the online communities.

Originally inspired by the sexual assault allegations made against Harvey Weinstein – a Hollywood producer who was the centre of many sexual assault allegations in 2018 – the hashtag ‘#metoo’ was reborn, giving women across the globe a voice to share similar experiences with sexual assault and harassment. This soon highlighted the fact that many women had not only been victims of oppression but also the large population that had were silent/silenced, feeling uncomfortable or ashamed to speak out against men in power. It called for justice on behalf of all the women who had suffered abuse at the force of their perpetrators – women in power created a voice for those who lacked the authority to speak out, and those who could not were given a network for support. The movement rapidly gained traction worldwide, quickly leading to a paradigm shift in workplace mentality in regards to male positions and preferences. Many men who had occupied positions of power in a variety of industries stepped down, such as news reporters, actors, journalists and politicians, the majority of the men having had roles in the media or film industry. The ‘#metoo’ movement was quickly seen as a victory for women as it was viewed as a fight against perpetrators and placed in the spotlight those that had been inflicting reoccurring incidents for years, and sexual assault soon became a conversation in households (Bischof, 2018).

Slacktivism assisted the movement’s success as the hashtag went viral, engaging millions of different social media users to show their support by using #metoo either in comments or images (Ayres, 2018). Within 48 hours, the first tweet by actress Alyssa Milano advocating for sexual assault survivors to share the hashtag, #metoo had gone viral, reaching around 200’000 responses. With a French version emerging with #Balancetonporc – translating to ‘#outyourpig’ – encouraging French women to expose the name of their abusers (Ayres, 2018). In August 2018, the online and offline exposure of the cause in France led to fines being established/extended upon for cyberstalking, sex crimes and street harassment, e.g. “upskirting” – taking unwanted photos underneath female’s skirts or dresses (Stone & Vogelstein 2019).  It was quickly evident that the hashtag had also gained international attention. #TIMESUP also made Time Magazine for ‘Person of the Year’ in 2017, acclaiming the women who had stood up through the title of ‘The Silent Breakers’ as the #metoo movement continued to grow (Ayres, 2018). The spread of Time’s ‘The Silent Breakers’ cover page – featuring Susan Fowler, Adama Iwu, Ashley Judd and Taylor Swift encouraged more women to speak out against Harvey Weinstein, helping surface lawsuits and seek further legal action. The leaderless movement held Weinstein accountable and soon had him removed from the film industry’s authorial positions, stepping down from director and producer (Redden, 2017).

Without slacktivism, the movement could not have reached as wide an audience as it did and would have resulted in those with powerful positions silencing the call to change, disregarding the tweets to position the women as once again vulnerable and the tweets as ‘insignificant’.

Though despite this the #metoo movement was not overly successful. Due to the nature of the hashtag and rapid spread, it was extremely easy for users to contribute to the movement. The oversimplified hashtag (of two words) made it too easy for a user on the ‘third place’ to accuse another of a very serious incident without understanding fully or providing sufficient evidence, creating a very easy shift in reputations and generating concerns for false accusations online. The amount and brevity of tweets somewhat shadowed the severity of the allegations, eventually reducing the significance of the hashtag’s meaning in the tweets (“The #MeToo campaign and why it fails” 2017). Over time, slacktivists became more populated and the hashtag became nothing but just an entangled tweet, dying out gradually. Although today the #metoo is still used amongst social media platforms, it is no longer trending, viewed as a phase in the past by the public.

Shortly after #metoo a new hashtag #TIMESUP surfaced, immediately receiving the same global attention – if not more – as #metoo, smothering social media outlets. Formed by 300 actresses and women in powerful positions (involving high profiles such as Reese Witherspoon), #TIMESUP was also Hollywood associated and inspired by the Harvey Weinstein scandal, once again defending the more vulnerable (e.g. those who were afraid to lose their jobs if they were to speak up). This time also including Kevin Spacey, the hashtag shared abhorrent emotions of perpetrators committing sex crimes and disregarding the consequences. Unlike the #metoo movement, #TIMESUP was ranked more successful as it called for more action, even using capital letters in the hashtag to generate more urgency. It raised around $13 million in donations which was later used towards the education and prevention of sexual misconduct in workplaces as well as providing further encouragement for women to report cases – to not stay silent (Callahan, 2018). In result, the reports of sexual assault sky rocketed in 2018 with 7’609 new; 6’399 by women and 1’210 by men seeking support and justice. The new academic attention received by the movement motivated improvements to the psychological and physical treatment of the victims both online and offline, working to prevent even subtle unwanted sexual behaviour.

In addition, #TIMESUP also focused attention on the urgency of noticing these subtle behaviours such as gender harassment, traditional gender-based stereotypes, sexist comments, non-verbal and verbal domestic abuse, and taking advantage of one’s sexuality for workplace benefits, in order to recognise that harassment is a gender-based issue and needs a call to change (Chawla et al., 2020). Nevertheless, to this day most celebrities still claim to advocate for the cause yet fail to consciously contribute to its efforts. This has become problematic as some celebrities have become the dominant face of the movement without fully understanding what the cause was actually for, creating a shift in meaning for the average person viewing the movement on their social media pages. For example, James Franco received Best Actor at the Golden Globes wearing a #TIMESUP badge despite being one of the accused within the movement and others accused sharing the hashtag online, leading to the view that alleged perpetrators were using the tag to almost mock the movement which raised questions such as whether or not the movement actually meant something (Callahan, 2018). The hypocrisy of the event made it obvious that Twitter had indeed become a ‘third place’ and was not a satisfactory substitute for the offline world as it soon became evident that others had their own perceptions of the hashtag movement. Since Twitter encourages the freedom of speech, there were many opinions on the movement, including biased ‘for’ as well as those that thought the movement had gotten out of control, some claiming that people are using the hashtag as an excuse to be heard.

The movement became controversial as social ties were segregated, some viewers expressing their opinion that feminists were unreasonable and dramatising as they swarmed social media platforms with constant information urging sympathy towards women. Considering that the majority of participants in the movement were female, creating a division between male correspondents. Although most men agreed with the cause and agreed that abusers needed to experience the repercussions of their actions, they admitted that some feminists too it too far and felt as though they were attacking the male gender as a whole. The lack of activism and offline activist agendas, once again gradually pushed the movements aside as it became obvious that the hashtags weren’t going to be effective and their desired change was not going to be put into place. Successful activism requires structure, organisation and a strong connection between the strongest and weakest connections– either between individuals within the online community or ones directly involved in the cause (McCafferty 2011; Kent 2021).

Regardless of the movement, online bystander intervention continues to exist, some becoming more involved than others, acting as ‘activist wannabes’ by observing these movements, and yet little action to communicate it further between these communities and networks. Through the examples of #metoo and #TIMESUP the disadvantages and benefits that slacktivism can offer to movements are evident. With a satisfactory framework, the movement may receive a sufficient amount of momentum to keep the awareness of the cause in order to encourage change, but due to the nature of social media and online networks, the movement will gradually lose focus and dilute the meaning to just an echo of the original cause.

Reference List:

Ayres, B. (2018, January 16). Social media movements are inspiring new activists: Activism or slacktivism: these hashtages transcend the web and bring more people into potentially global movements. University Wirehttps://www-proquest-com.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/docview/1987966293/fulltext/DE6EB3A3330D4A52PQ/1?accountid=10382  

Bischof, H. (2018). The message of #MeToo. Education Forum.  https://www.proquest.com/docview/2042742031/955E700129E84C2FPQ/13?accountid=10382  

Callahan, N. (2018, January 25). Face Off: “#TimesUp” movement meaningless without substantial action behind desired change. University Wirehttps://www.proquest.com/docview/2312976615/E87530EAA80846C2PQ/3?accountid=10382 

Chawla, N., Gabriel, A. S., O’leary Kelly A., & Rosen C. C. (2020, December 24). From #MeToo to #TimesUp: Identifying Next Steps in Sexual Harassment Research in the Organizational Sciences. Journal of Management, 47(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206320980518 

Fairbairn, J. (2018). Before #MeToo: Violence against Women Social Media Work, Bystander Intervention, and Social Change. Societies, 10 (3), 51. http://dx.doi.org.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/10.3390/soc10030051 

Fileborn, B., & Loney-Howes, R. (2017). #MeToo, Rape Culture and the Paradoxes of Social Media Campaigns. Social Justice: A journal of crime, conflict and world order. http://www.socialjusticejournal.org/metoo-rape-culture-and-the-paradoxes-of-social-media-campaigns/ 

Kent, M. (2021). Online Networks and Social Change [iLecture]. Echo. https://echo360.org.au/lesson/7fc5fa44-fcbb-48cf-b0ea-1b2eaccb524a/classroom#sortDirection=desc 

McCafferty, D. (2011, December). Activism vs. Slacktivism. Communications of the ACM, 54(12). https://dl.acm.org/doi/fullHtml/10.1145/2043174.2043182?casa_token=S5GOT8lPRPUAAAAA:kXyzUe5fDMzDbESY9AT9mqze0uHPmkYGkAfsaGNZa4AJtlB5clKg_aAkcveryfWRM9xjW3M9WTVT 

Redden, M. (2017, December, 7). #MeToo movement named Time magazine’s Person of the Year. The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/dec/06/metoo-movement-named-time-magazines-person-of-the-year 

Stone, M., & Vogelstein R. (2019, March 7). Celebrating #MeToo’s Global Impact. FP News. https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/03/07/metooglobalimpactinternationalwomens-day/ 

 The #MeToo campaign and why it fails. (2017, October 28). University Wirehttps://www.proquest.com/docview/1956602361/600EE9C9760245DFPQ/20?accountid=10382  

The #MeToo campaign and why it fails. (2017, October, 28). University Wire. https://www.proquest.com/docview/1956602361/600EE9C9760245DFPQ/20?accountid=10382 

 

18 thoughts on “The Influence of Slacktivism on Feminist Movements

  1. Hello Kira

    An interesting read!
    Social media platforms facilitate freedom of speech of content relevant to users making it appealing for users to communicate their thoughts and ideas. Social media platforms play a big role in activism, organization, and mobilization of social and political causes. Twitter has been adopted by protestors and activists for collective action for their movements where people campaign for change. Such collective actions on Twitter draws attention to pressing social and political issues with hashtag campaigns geared towards bringing about change. Hashtags on Twitter like #BlackLivesMatter, #MeToo, facilitate visibility and support for issues being campaigned collaboratively.

    Interestingly, I have discussed this term ‘slacktivism’ in my other posts. Social media platforms like Twitter have been criticized for ‘slacktivism’ and also for ‘hacktivism’. A number of users support issues without getting really involved, using social media to maintain their presence which highlighting ‘slacktivism’ whereas some users resort to ‘hacktivism’ where they use social media platforms like Twitter to control and adjust issues for their own benefit, some examples being Wikileaks and Anonymous, the groups associated with hacktivist activities (Houghton & Chang, 2011; Milner, 2013 as cited in Highfield, 2016). Despite these critical views, the role of social media platforms in promoting social and political issues to bring about change cannot be denied.

    Would love to hear your thoughts on my paper.
    https://networkconference.netstudies.org/2021/2021/04/30/social-media-has-influenced-and-revolutionised-food-industry-through-virtual-food-communities/

    Thank you
    Kanishk

    Reference:
    Highland, T. (2016). Collective and connective action. In Social media and everyday politics (pp.
    102-121). Polity: Cambridge, UK; Malden, MA. Retrieved from http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/curtin/reader.action?docID=4901669

    1. Hi Kanishk,

      Thanks for taking the time to read my paper, especially due to the fact that you have written on a similar topic.
      It would be interesting to hear if whether or not you think slacktivism will only continue and create further barriers for successful online movement.
      In my opinion, I think that slacktivism will only progress as the longing to ‘belong’ and relate to others increases.
      Unfortunately, other factors strongly influence this, such as Covid-19 – which limited people from getting that global belonging and strong share of interests (e.g. protests or offline community interactions).
      What are your thoughts?

      -Kira

  2. Hi Kira! I really enjoyed reading your paper, the themes and general argument are very similar to my own which you can find here: https://networkconference.netstudies.org/2021/2021/04/26/from-slacktivism-to-activism-exploring-the-increase-of-youth-participation-in-online-social-movements-through-twitter/

    I was really interested by how you explored the link between slacktivism and feminism. I totally agree with you, without slacktivism social movements such as the #MeToo could not have reached as wide an audience as it did. However, just like Leah, I don’t agree that slacktivists are activist wannabes who fail to enact social change. Slacktivists are often disregarded as ‘real activists’ but they are actually the ‘core periphery’ of social movements. They are instrumental as through their casual tweeting, they are responsible for doubling the reach and mobilising millions of users to join the cause. Through their small contributions slacktivists are creating aggregated ones as one tweet might not make a difference but thousands of tweets can lead to social change. Furthermore, they are able to enact both online and offline actions as social media platforms offer much more visibility for social movements as compared to traditional activism. Slacktivists are able to mobilise millions of protesters to join real-life movements and the Black Lives Matter is a prime example of slacktivism at its best. Slacktivists start and maintain conversations about social movements as compared to mainstream media.

    There is a crucial need to put an end to the stereotypical standard of who is a ‘real activist’ or not as slacktivists are not lazy activists who can’t enact on-ground actions. Their contributions are as valid as traditional activists and can even be more effective in some cases.

    1. Hi Marie!

      Thank you for commenting on my paper. I see your point and it has been very interesting reviewing the debate that has happened regarding my paper so far.
      I think that what you’re saying is true but also argue that there are so many types of people in these online communities so it’s hard to say what each individuals’ intent is… However, in saying this, I still argue that there are a large number of online users that just want to become apart of something and obtain that sense of belonging.

      Nevertheless, I will keep your discussion in mind as it provides a great opposing view on my essay – something I could consider if I were to write it again.

      Thanks,
      Kira

  3. Hi Kira!
    I really enjoyed reading your paper and your perspective on slacktivism. I particularly liked how you explained the concept of the ‘third space’ in relation to activism and slacktivism. Your essay is a complete contrast to my essay which discusses the success of the #me too movement and I’d love to hear your take on my paper if you have the time 🙂
    https://networkconference.netstudies.org/2021/2021/04/25/social-media-platforms-are-able-to-establish-online-sexual-harassment-communities-within-the-social-media-and-communities-stream-to-provide-significant-necessary-support-to-sexual-harassmen/

    There has been an upsurge in slacktivism today and while I agree that slacktivism has encouraged and fueled such movements like the #metoo by spreading the word on different social media platforms, I disagree with your point on how the hashtag has become diluted. The hashtag still holds a high degree of relevancy on Twitter and although the magnitude of the hashtag has definitely varied, it still raises awareness of such contemporary issues.

    While slacktivism is categorized as ‘lazy activism’, I think it is necessary for attempts to spread the word and encourage movements as this allows messages to reach a wider audience and therefore, increases exposure and therefore, becoming more effective.

    I also liked how you’ve researched deeply into the #metoo movement and found that the success rate wasn’t as high. This is something I should’ve looked into in order to further understand the influence of social media on such movements and why it isn’t as successful.

  4. I see there’s already some great discussion around this paper! I feel like often when we talk about online activism, there’s a bit of a break with the past… We tend to see online movements and activism as fundamentally different from ‘offline’ ones. It’s easy to see #MeToo (which is maybe more a *moment* within a broader feminist movement than a movement in itself) as having failed. But equally, it would be easy to look at previous waves of feminist activism and say that they failed. After all, if the feminism of suffragettes, or the feminisms of the 1970s, had succeeded, we wouldn’t have a #MeToo movement.

    But it’s more complex than that. Previous waves of feminism achieved votes for women (sadly starting with white, propertied women and only slowly expanding from other), more accessible childcare, more support for trans people, better pay parity (again, mostly for white, middle-class women..). And often that was achieved through a whole range of tactics, including direct action (like suffragettes breaking windows), strikes, campaigns for new legislation…and some tactics that probably looked quite ‘slack’ to some people at the time (like signing petitions or making changes in people’s personal lives). When there were failures, it wasn’t necessarily because feminists weren’t working hard enough, or in the right ways…it was often because the systems of power remained strong. Similarly, right now the attempt to force a reckoning with sexual assault in Australia is at least in part because those in power are pushing back, and hard.

    1. Thank you for your reply Sky!

      I did consider including the past feminism movements but wasn’t sure whether or not it would strength or weaken the chosen argument so I really appreciate that feedback.
      Reflecting now, I think that suffragettes would be a good movement to address in relation to these online movements as it portrays how feminist causes have changed from local and somewhat broad issues to demonstrating resistance to more global conflicts (e.g. from voting to individual sexual harassment cases amongst Hollywood and workplaces around the world).
      Do you think that including other in-person movements (e.g. 2017 Women’s march) would’ve strengthened my argument or just including suffragettes would’ve been enough?

      Thank you for your comment and will consider it reflecting on my paper.

      – Kira

  5. Hi Kira,

    I really enjoyed reading your paper! I also wrote my conference paper on #Metoo, but argued the opposite side – that #Metoo was (and still is) a successful movement. So I really enjoyed reading your opposing arguments.

    I would like to debate one point of yours in particular – while I agree that hashtag campaigns can flare up , go viral quickly and then die out quickly. I don’t necessarily think they ever really go away. You stated #Metoo is viewed as a phrase of the past, however I would argue that is it is still a very relevant phrase and has become an regular fixture in our everyday vernacular. As recently as Feb/March of this year, both social media and mainstream media alike were stating the Australian government is facing its #Metoo reckoning.
    Similar to when #Metoo trended in 2018, we saw a flurry of viral hashtags that brought about the #March4Justice and the offline protests, and although they are now no longer trending, there are still millions of discussions , sharing, content and debates are still being held online.

    If you have time, you might like to read my paper and debate some of my optimistic arguments around #Metoo 🙂
    https://networkconference.netstudies.org/2021/2021/04/25/the-effectiveness-of-feminist-hashtags-such-as-metoo-on-empowering-women-mobilising-protests-and-enacting-political-and-societal-change/

    Thanks,
    Elissa

    1. Yes, Elissa, I complete agree with you here. Like Sky mentioned in the comment above, and as I have mentioned in my comment below, activism is tricky business because it is often only marked by grand success – the complete overhaul or take-down of a system. But activism is not just the grand success of one movement. In fact, I believe that when a movement sparks discussion and continues to have further movements branch off from the original cause, it has been successful. Social change is not just the result of a movement effecting the abolition and reform of particular systems and policies. Social change refers to the gradual adoption of new ways of doing and being. A movement can ‘fail’ in completing its key task, but may succeed in progressing new ways of doing and being. Would you agree?

      1. Hi Leah,

        Yes, I definitely agree with all the comments you have made here and below. In regard to your comment about a movement ‘failing’ in its primary endeavour, but succeeding in others – it is a great point. When researching for my own paper, I found that large-scale change such as shifting long held societal beliefs and updating government policy is possible because great change is made at the individual level when participating in hashtag activism. For example my research found that high profile feminist hashtags such as #Metoo can have an effect of raising feminist consciousness over time which is essential to shifting long held societal beliefs (Keller, 2017). Many women and girls did not start identifying as a feminist, until after they had participated in a hashtag campaign, shared their story online and connected with a multitude of supportive women with similar stories.

        Despite this, I admire Kira’s strong stance arguing the opposite side. It makes for a good debate!

        However further to your point below – I also believe slactivists are an essential part in the ecosystem of an activist hashtag movement. The slactivists in effect act as highly effective marketers that will allow a movement to gain traction, recognition and notoriety.

        References for research mentioned:
        Keller, J., Assistant Professor in Critical,Media Studies, & University, o. C. (2017, Oct 25). #MeToo campaign brings conversation of rape to the mainstream. The Canadian Press https://link.library.curtin.edu.au/gw?url=https://www-proquest-com.dbgw.lis.curtin.edu.au/wire-feeds/metoo-campaign-brings-conversation-rape/docview/1956166097/se-2?accountid=10382

        Matich, M., Ashman, R., & Parsons, E., (2019) #freethenipple – digital activism and embodiment in the contemporary feminist movement, Consumption Markets & Culture, 22:4, 337-362, DOI: 10.1080/10253866.2018.1512240

  6. Hi Kira,
    This is a fascinating topic and one I had not considered before. I appreciate how you covered both the benefits and negatives of the issue.

    Do you think online activism will become the norm over marches etc? And is there a way for there not to be the lack of focus and dilution of the meaning?

    1. Hi Tiffany,

      Thank you for replying to my paper.
      In regards to your questions, I believe that online activism will replace in-person marches not only because online network and communities are rapidly growing but also due to the practical sense that online formations are less costly and involve more. Online activism can be globally accessible, engaging all types of cultures and encouraging a deeper form of engagement (e.g. sharing personal experiences) by creating a voice for every individual whilst being easy to regulate (Gray, et al., 2014).
      Whilst physical marches can form into riots, lose their primary focus and requires more effort to get mass numbers involved.
      In order for online activism to succeed, however, I think that there needs to be more awareness surrounding identifying slacktivism as this might strongly effect the overall outcome and participant’s view online causes.

      To limit slacktivism, I think that the first step is to identify it – knowing what you’re doing and how you’re parttaking in a certain cause. Then if you care about the movement to take action, no matter how small it may be (e.g. just donating a couple of dollars).
      Unfortunately, because online movements connect to various types of communities, I don’t think there is a way to stop this – or at least for the next few years. As technology changes so do the actions and attitudes of individuals within those communities and networks so it will be interesting to find out.

      – Kira

      Kurt Gray, Lewis K., Meierhenrich J. (2014). The Structure of Online Activism. Sociological Science, 1(1), 1-9. http://dx.doi.org/10.15195/v1.a1

      1. Hi Kira,

        Thank you for the reply. It seems to be a complex issue, but needs to be addressed and for people to be aware of it.

        Until you mentioned it, I hadn’t really thought about that online protests can help connect people from all over the world. I also suppose with Covid, it is safer to protest and conduct activism online. When I see an march, I do wonder how effective they are, especially if they become violent, which causes people to dismiss them, so I can see how being online can be more effective and more people can join together.

        It is a very interesting topic that I hope other’s become aware of.

  7. Hi Kira, your paper was very engaging.

    I agree with your analysis of social networks as a ‘third place’, acting as a platform for advocacy. I also believe it granted space for education on such issues and why we should support victims while breaking down a system that oppresses them.

    The mention of movements such as #MeToo having negative sentiment is also very relevant as misunderstandings do take from there and spread rapidly giving a bad reputation to the movement. I still believe that education and communication are important in those cases to reach a middle ground.

    Feel free to read my paper as I touch on #MeToo movement in my discussion about Social Commentary YouTube as a tool for online activism. The link is: https://networkconference.netstudies.org/2021/2021/04/27/social-commentary-youtube-performance-of-civic-agency-in-the-21st-century/

    1. Hi Elodie!

      Thank you so much for engaging with my writing. I have just read your paper and it was very interesting hearing a different perspective formed around the same movement (#metoo). However, through interpreting these insights, I have noticed that whether on YouTube or Twitter, slacktivists are still involved and significantly effect the short-term benefits of these movements, especially in negative ways – do you agree?

      I think as mass, these movements (#metoo along with those you mentioned; Black Lives Matter and Greta Thunberg’s climate change efforts) have highly contributed to the education of emerging contributions and are definitely fascinating to study/look into.

      Thank you,
      Kira

  8. Hi Kira,

    I find that slacktivism has been very effective at advocating for feminist issues, evidenced by its permeation into mass news media as well. It’s true that these issues are not always at the forefront as there are ebbs andd flows in attention from the wider community, but in the times of the hashtags’ virality changes have occured as you mentioned in the shaming and charging of well known figures.

    You mention that slacktivism had detrimental effects especially in not addressing the weak ties resulting in men feeling denegrated. This point is of particular interest to me as I wonder how effective online advocacy is at enforcing real social change. The feminists’ third place online exists within a network, and sometimes the ‘wrong’ (or simply uncurated) message may reach the weakest ties resulting in further fragmentation and misunderstanding.

    My paper also touches on this issue, here is the link should you wish to read it: https://networkconference.netstudies.org/2021/2021/04/27/hijab-wearing-muslim-womens-advocacy-by-performing-the-self-online/

    1. Hi Laila,

      Thank you for replying to my paper.
      I think it is very controversial on how effective online advocacy actually is. In my opinion, there are many factors that lead to a successful offline change including; a passionate interest in a cause, an effective spread of awareness (global knowledge), a specific objective.
      Supporting what I have debated in my paper, I think that slacktivism has interrupted this process, distracting the network from the specific cause (e.g. over-saturation of tweets). What are your thoughts on this?

      Thanks,
      Kira

  9. Kira, you cover a pointed topic here, and I enjoyed reading your perspective on the effects social media and the slacktivist have on feminist movements. I concur that hashtag activism in particular can build fast, wide-spread momentum that can similarly subside just as quickly. However, I don’t believe that all online activists, characterised as slacktivists, are activist wannabes who fail to enact social change. You mentioned that as online movements dwindle they lose focus and become diluted. But when it comes to #MeToo in particular, I see this dominant campaign as a tree with new movements and campaigns developing and branching off from the main issue – of which each new issue holds significance with its actors and continues to further conversation and campaign momentum around the main issue.

    During both the #MeToo and #TimesUp campaigns, social networks delivered to activists a means to organise and mobilise both online and offline, and delivered a streamlined platform to share their stories from. As a result of social media’s global network, thousands of people gathered around the globe and participated in both online and offline protests. Because of social media’s ‘slacktivists’ leveraging their connections across social networking platforms, these movements attracted a global audience, which also garnered the attention of the news media who reported on these movements from around the globe and across various mediums. Where protests of times been and gone have been limited to localised actors, relying heavily on news media to become interested in their efforts so as to broadcast their issue to a wider audience and build more momentum, todays activists have the world at their fingertips with social networking platforms, and more specifically with tools and technologies like API’s and hashtags delivering to users opportunities to connect with a global citizenry on and across various platforms and topics from the get-go.

    I agree that these movements are polarising, but activist efforts continue to create a dialogue for these issues to be heard, and for fresh perspectives to continue to drive change. In particular, without social media these issues would not have had such a global collection of stories that we can visibly see without the aggregated results of hashtags – which can only be catalogued from online activity and use.

    Sexual harassment, domestic violence and gender equality conversations have been going on for decades offline, and I can see them continuing for decades to come both online and offline. Social change is a fickle business, and can often times be marked only by grand success. However, social change is also the adoption of new ways of thinking and being which can only be developed through continuous dialogue. Whilst #MeToo and #TimesUp may not have the immediate and tangible results we want or expect from the entire citizenry, we are hearing and seeing genuine change emerge from individuals, schools, businesses and government official and institutions as they adopt new rules and systems that illuminate these issues and work towards eradicating them from these spaces, which I believe is leading to more collective social change.

    Whilst it can be noted that momentum for #MeToo and #TimesUp has since stalled in the US, a global conversation was sparked and campaign efforts seems to be continuing elsewhere around the world including here in Australia. Enough is Enough and March4Justice are 2 prominent examples of continued #MeToo momentum in Australia. The organisation and mobilisation efforts of these actors have forced the Australian Government to not only listen to the masses but to act on reform surrounding these issues. Momentum for these issues is the driving factors for officials and elites to start listening to the masses. Therefore, the clicktivist, or slacktivist, is a key contributor to the momentum of a campaign. Their contributions can be seen as a valid form of engagement that can support social change to be enacted.

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