activism vs. clicktivism by emma wong

ACTIVISM VS. CLICKTIVISMBY:EMMAWONG

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Activism istakingactioninordertoachieveaparticulargoalthatisusuallypoliticalorsocial.Themostcommonway

todothisisthroughdemonstrationsandprotests(1).

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Clicktivism (orcyber-activism)ispromotingacausethroughdigitalmedia(9&11).Themostcommonexampleistweetingtrendinghashtagstoshowsupportforcrises(11).

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Activism isusuallyfairlypositivebecauseitactivelypromotesacause.Offlineactivismiswhatisneededtosupportonlineactivism/clicktivismthroughthingslike

contactingthegovernment,meetings,anddemonstrations(6).

Clicktivism ontheotherhand,ishitormissbecausethedigitalworldisatrickyplace.Prosofclicktivismisthatitiseasytofollow,moreappealingtomillennials,andquicktospread(12).Conswouldarguethatclicktivismcreatesfalsesupportthatprovidesnoactualhelpforthecause(12).

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Althoughimpactfulchangecanonlyhappenbymeansofactivein-personparticipation,changecanalsobestimulatedthrough

socialmedia(5).

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Inthisdayandagewheresocietyissodrivenbydigital technology,spreadingawarenessaboutsomethingthrough

socialmediaisaneffectivewaytoinspireactivism.

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Social media isagreatwaytonetworkwithothers (4).Thus,itisagreatwaytoconnectmanypeopletoacauseinneedofsupport(6).Attheclickofabutton,peoplecanexpandtheirnetworksandconnectwithmorepeople.

Socialmediashouldbetakenadvantageofwhenitcomestospreadingawarenessaboutanything.Sincetoday’ssocietyissoattachedtodigital

motilities, itisfairlyeasyforsomethingtogoviral.Beforetheriseofsocialmedia,“clicktivism”wasphysicallysigningapetitionwhichwouldclearlyreceivelessattentionthantweetingahashtagfromyourownphone(6).

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Anexampleofshowingsupportforsomethingbymeansofdigitalmotilitiesisthe#PrayForParismarvel.Onlyonedayafter129peoplewerekilledatthehandsofterroristsinParisin2015,430millioninteractions(includesposts,likes,andcomments)occurredonInstagraminsupportofParis(7).

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Anotherexampleofusingsocialmediatoshowsupportforsomethingiswhen

theUSSupremeCourtpassedthefederalbillformarriageequalityin

2015.Over26millionpeopleaddedtheLGBTQflagfiltertotheirFacebook

profilepicturestoshowtheirsupport(3).Andmillionsofotherstweeted

#LoveWins afterPresidentObamacreatedtheviralhashtagonTwitter.

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Youneverknow,clicktivismcaninspirepeopletodomoreresearchonthetopictheyaresupportingonlineandshiftfromclicktivismtoactivism(3).Forexample,someonecould

changetheirFacebookpicturetosupporttheLGBTQcommunityandthenewmarriagelawbutnotreallyknowanythingabouttheissue.Thispersoncouldthenresearchit,actually

becomeveryinterestedinit,andendupbecominginvolvedinaPrideParade!

Therearethreegreatexamplesofclicktivism:1. Kony20122. #BringBackOurGirls3. ALSIceBucketChallenge

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Image:Google Imagesvia“Kony2012”OneofthebestexamplesofclicktivismisKony 2012. In2012,avideowaspostedaboutJosephKony;theleaderoftheLord’sResistanceArmyinUgandawhoforceskidnappedchildrenintobecomingsoldiers.ItclearlyportraysKonyasabadguywhoneedstobecapturedwhichinspiresviewerstobecomeinterestedinthetopic(2).

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TheKony 2012 phenomenonleadtomoreclicktivismthanactivismbecausepeoplewouldobviouslyrathertweet#StopKonythanactuallygotothewarzoneKonyresidesin.Thisletpeopleshowsomesortofactivismatalllevelsofaccessibility(2).

Anotherexampleofclicktivismisthe

#BringBackOurGirlscampaigntohelpfindthe276girlsabductedandforcedintosexual

slaveryinNigeriain2014(10).SincetheNigeriangovernmentseemedtoignorethesituation,thecampaignwasawayto

pressurethematagloballevel(6).

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Image:Google Imagesvia“bringbackourgirls”Whilethosewhofeltapersonalconnectiontothecrisisdemonstratedactivism,mostWesternsupportersdemonstratedclicktivism(10).Whenpeopleshowsupportonsocialmedia,itcreatestheillusion thattheyareactivelyhelpingwithoutleavingtheircomfortzone(8&11).

ThelastexampleistheALS Ice Bucket

Challenge whichwasaviralsensationin2014.

PeoplespreadawarenessaboutALSbyposting

videosoficecoldwaterbeingpouredonthem.Theythenchallenged

otherswhohadtodonatemoneytotheALSAssociationiftheydidn’t

posttheirownvideowithin24hours(9).

Image:Google Imagesvia“ALSicebucketchallenge”

Image:Google Imagesvia“ALSicebucketchallenge”

Althoughitseemedlikepeopleonlydidthechallengesotheywouldnothavetodonate,theALSAssociationactuallyraisedover$20millioninaboutthreeweeks.This

atteststothepointthateventhesmallestkindofactivismisneverworthless(9).

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Inaworldsodominatedbysocialmediaanddigitalmobilities,itonlyseemsappropriateforthosewhocannotparticipateinreal-worldactivismtopartakeincyber-activism;clicktivism.Anykindofsupportforacauseisworthsomething,nomatterhowsmall.

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2015.Web.2June2016.8. Matrix,Sidneyeve."SocialGood."Vimeo.Web.1June2016.9. Sharma,Ritu."StopPouringIceonClicktivism."TheHuffingtonPost.TheHuffingtonPost.com,Inc.,20Aug.2014.Web.

31May2016.10.Shearlaw,Maeve."Didthe#bringbackourgirls CampaignMakeaDifferenceinNigeria?"TheGuardian.GuardianNews

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2016.12.Wallingford,Ellen."SocialMediaProvidesaNewWaytoBeanActivistthrough."TheWheel.TheWheel,9Feb.2015.

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