Behind the Screens: “Slacktivism” Turned Activism in the Modern Digital Age
Document Type
Panel Presentation
Keywords
online activism, slacktivism, social justice
Biography
Cameron Cowan is a Master's of Arts student at Marshall University. She earned her Bachelor's of Arts from the University of Virginia's College at Wise where she double majored in Communication Studies and Foreign Studies with a Spanish concentration. There, she conducted her first research project on the use of code-switching within stand-up comedy, before joining Marshall's Communications Department to continue her critical research in the areas of stand-up comedy and humor, as well as online activism.
Major
Communication Studies
Advisor for this project
Dr. Stephen Underhill of Marshall University
Abstract
Since the beginning of the digital age, there have been questions regarding the efficacy of online activism. Many scholars have labeled the act of merely sharing, liking, or reposting posts about social issues as “slacktivism” — a form of noncommittal activism that they argue functions more to help individuals feel better about themselves, rather than to inspire any actual change or real-world impact. However, this study argues that with the COVID-19 pandemic shutting down most traditional avenues of activism, online activists were able to shed the “slacktivist” label and demonstrate that online activism can lead to consequences that transcend the digital sphere. From the prevention of dissemination of white supremacist ideologies to reserving tickets to a rally with no intention of going, this new age of online activism has shown that the Internet is more than just a tool that can be used to work from home or connect with loved ones from afar, but that activism and social reform must overwhelm every system and tool that has been used to uphold systemic oppression and white supremacist ideologies regardless of the social sphere.
Behind the Screens: “Slacktivism” Turned Activism in the Modern Digital Age
Since the beginning of the digital age, there have been questions regarding the efficacy of online activism. Many scholars have labeled the act of merely sharing, liking, or reposting posts about social issues as “slacktivism” — a form of noncommittal activism that they argue functions more to help individuals feel better about themselves, rather than to inspire any actual change or real-world impact. However, this study argues that with the COVID-19 pandemic shutting down most traditional avenues of activism, online activists were able to shed the “slacktivist” label and demonstrate that online activism can lead to consequences that transcend the digital sphere. From the prevention of dissemination of white supremacist ideologies to reserving tickets to a rally with no intention of going, this new age of online activism has shown that the Internet is more than just a tool that can be used to work from home or connect with loved ones from afar, but that activism and social reform must overwhelm every system and tool that has been used to uphold systemic oppression and white supremacist ideologies regardless of the social sphere.
