Barriers  to  Entry  and  Online  Poli1cal  Ac1vism  

The  Hopes  and  Fears  Around  Slack1vism  

Marko  Skoric,  NTU,  Singapore  Nathaniel  Poor,  Brooklyn,  USA  

The  Issues  

Overlapping  Issues…  •  Low  levels  of  youth  

engagement  in  poli1cs.  •  Young  people’s  broad  use  

of  social  media.  •  Hopes  and  fears  projected  

upon  (any)  new  media.  

…which  underlie:  •  Ci1zens’  civic  and  poli1cal  

engagement.  •  Fear  of  slack1vism.  

             (slacker  +  ac1vism)  

Slack1vism  in  Ac1on    

•  Voicing  opinions  online,  pos1ng  comments  and  links,  ‘liking’  certain  groups  and  causes,  changing  avatars,  etc.  

•  Typically,  slack1vist  ac1vi1es  do  not  involve  significant  financial  or  personal  risks  – No  need  to  directly  confront  entrenched  norms  and  prac1ces  

An  Example  

•  US  White  House’s  digital  pe11on  site,  “We  the  People.”  

•  5,000  votes  needed.  •  25,000…  •  100,000.  •  Ex:  Build  a  working  death  star  from  Star  Wars  (25k).  

The  Pre-­‐Internet  Origins  of  Slack1vism  

•  Offline  “slack1vism”  – Bumper  s1ckers  – Lapel  s1ckers  – Poli1cal  bu^ons    – Rubber  wristbands  – T-­‐shirts  

•  Since  1956,  ques1ons  on  campaign  bu^ons  and  bumper  s1ckers  included  in  ANES  surveys  – Widely  used  measures  of  poli1cal  interest  and  par1cipa1on      

 

What  Mo1vates  Slack1vists?  

•  “Selfish  and  narcissis1c  reasons”  (Morozov,  2009)  

•  Construc1on  of  a  desirable  (online)  iden1fy  –  “hoped-­‐for  possible  selves” (Zhao  et  al.,  2008)  

•  Digital  cultural  objects  can  signal  to  others  who  we  are  or  who  we  want  to  be  –  e.g.  Image  management  on  Facebook  

•  Desirable  friends  

•  Focused  on  self-­‐  rather  than  poli1cal  expression?    

Pros  and  Cons  of  Slack1vism  

•  Key  advantages:  – Lowering  the  barriers  to  par1cipa1on  – Reaching  a  large  number  of  people  quickly,  with  minimal  effort  and  at  low  cost  •  Crea1ng  awareness  is  the  first  step  towards  solving  the  problem  

– Offering  new  opportuni1es  for  engagement  to  ci1zens  disillusioned  with  tradi1onal  poli1cs  

– Providing  a  space  for  prac1cing  civic  skills  

Pros  and  Cons  of  Slack1vism  •  Key  disadvantages:  – Slack1vist  ac1vi1es  have  li^le  or  no  impact  on  real-­‐life  poli1cal  outcomes  

– Emphasis  on  popularity,  membership  numbers  and  dona1ons  

– Degrada1on  of  the  quality  of  ac1vism  – May  divert  ci1zens  from  more  produc1ve  and  meaningful  ways  to  par1cipate  

– Usually  lacking  real  leadership  and  strategy  – Lacking  a  sacrificial  element  that  characterizes  tradi1onal  ac1vism  

Does  Social  Media  Use  Promote  Engagement?    •   Meta-­‐analysis  of  33  published  survey  based  studies  •   Types  of  use  à  social  capital/civic  &  poli1cal  engagement  •   Average  effect  size  (correla1on  coefficient  r)      

Type of social media use

Mean (SE) SD N

Expressive use 0.25 (0.10) 0.24 6 Informational use 0.16 (0.05) 0.18 11 Identity use 0.09 (0.03) 0.08 7 Relational use 0.08 (0.05) 0.15 10 Entertainment use -0.11 (0.06) 0.08 2

         Thank  you!