#Slacktivism is the Starting Point of #Activism

Do you believe that slacktivism is more important than activism?

Or do you believe that activism is more important than slacktivism?

Personally, I have an idea that if there is NO slacktivists in our society, there will be NO activists. Slacktivism is the beginning of all activist movements. Slacktivism kindles fires and it lets the society know about the concept through spreading of social media; slacktivism is also widely known as ONLINE ACTIVISM.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Before we discuss and debate about the significance of the two concepts - slacktivism and activisim - let us look at the definitions of each term.

What is Slacktivism?

Slacktivism is defined as giving minor support for his or her belief, like wearing a pin or spreading posts online, without being willing to engage in more meaningful support, like donating time and money.

Nowadays, with the great usage of social media, being a slacktivist is easier now than ever; "liking" a page on Facebook or "tweeting" a post on Twitter only takes a few mouse clicks.

In my opinion, #PrayForParis and #IceBucketChallenge are examples of slacktivism hashtags.

What is Activism?

Activism is quite simply taking action to effect social change. This can occur in a variety of ways and in a variety of forms.

The wished changes might be on the fields of social, political, economic or even environmental concepts. Individuals can lead activism events, but normally it is often done collectively through social movements, such as protests.

In my opinion, #LoveWins is an example of an activism hashtag.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now that we have defined our two very important terms - slacktivism and activism - let's look at examples of #hashtag movements that were mentioned above from each concept.

1. Slacktivism: #PrayForParis

In the 24 hours following the terror attacks that took 129 lives in Paris on November 13, 2015, more than 70 million people took to Instagram to share their support for the French capital.

All throughout Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, more than 500 million posts, likes and comments were created in the first 24 hours; these posts, likes and comments were from nearly 200 different countries from around the globe.

When I logged into Facebook a few days after the Paris attack, my newsfeed was over piled with red, white, and blue-filtered profile pictures. I did not filter my profile picture at that time, because I knew that if I did, it wouldn't truly be from my heart.

If I did change my profile picture, the fact that EVERYONE added filters would have been one of the reasons for my action; I might have changed the picture to keep hold of the sense of belonging and community among the school population.

HOWEVER, I knew that Facebook is making it easier for its users to show support for the terrorism. I understand that the tricolour filters are meant to be touching action of grief, but surely there are more meaningful ways of showing sorrow and sadness.

#PrayForParis was not leading towards a specific call to action; this is an example of slacktivism. Simply pressing a button to put a filter on your profile picture is an action that "simplifies" the national tragedy. 

I do not doubt that a single person who changed their profile picture on Facebook was not shocked or sorrowful by the events that took away nearly 130 lives. BUT Facebook has made it all too easy, because all it needs to show our mournful emotion was just a few clicks on the Internet...

2. Slacktivism: #IceBucketChallenge

According to the article called #IceBucketChallenge: Why Your're Not Really Helping by Ben Kosinski, although the #IceBucketChallenge lead to a great number of awareness for the ALS disease, people were using the Facebook nomination system in a wrong way.

The point of this challenge was to DONATE; not to prove POPULARITY.

Like many other Slacktivism hashtag campaigns, some people participated in the system just to feel the sense of belonging with friends. My sister donated $20 towards ALS Association, and my brother donated $20, as well. Although it might not seem like a lot of money, "a penny saved is a penny gained," right?

Although more donations could have happened, with an increase of 7775% from the beginning of the challenge, over 2,500,000 visitors visited the ALSA.org website over the summer.

However, of those 2,500,000 visitors, only 11% of the people actually donated $$. Despite the fact that the #IceBucketChallenge established great awareness, majority of the people were slacktivists, not activists.

3. Activism: #LoveWins

On June 26, 2015, the United States and Ireland enjoyed the successful equality movement. Right after the SCOTUS (Supreme Court of The United States) declared that same sex marriages were legal nationwide, people from various countries celebrated on the MEDIA first.

Facebook users applied rainbow filters to their profile pictures; Twitter users used #Pride (rainbow flag emoji) and #LoveWins (rainbow heart emoji).

In total, the hashtag #LoveWins was used 284,730 times in the very first hour after the declaration.

The #LoveWins campaign falls under the activist category, because people fought through this subject matter since 1924. Supporters took part in protesting, debating, and writing proposals towards the government for the change in law over the past 90 years.

However, it all began with small organizations during the early 20th Century. Some people stayed home and worked on how he or she can let the rest of the US population become aware of homosexuality and their rights as individuals...At this early stage, the organization seems more like a Slacktivism than Activism..

But FINALLY in 2015, their will was achieved through ACTIVISM!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

All in all, I strongly believe that SLACKTIVISM is the beginning point in all ACTIVIST ORGANIZATIONS. 

Slacktivism establishes AWARENESS among large amount of population, while activists take ACTION. This is why both categories are needed when communicating on social media and fighting for new causes.