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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ConferenceonDigitalEcosystemsandTechnologies(DEST) (2012):1-6.IEEEXplore DigitalLibrary.Web.1June2016.5. Humphrey,Katie."‘Clicktivism’TeststheMightofaDigitalAge."StarTribune (2013):n.pag.Factiva.Web.1June2016.6. Kielburger,CraigandMarc."AClickIsNotEnoughtoHaveImpactonWorld."Canoe.com.N.p.,10Apr.2015.Web.1
June2016.7. Laurent,Olivier."70MillionPeopleSharedTheirPrayersforParisonInstagramThisWeekend."Time.TimeInc.,16Nov.
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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