It can take various forms, such as writing status updates or reposting photos on Facebook, to raise awareness of a particular cause. For just a few seconds of your time, you, too, can be an online social activist!
I don't necessarily think that posting about a cause automatically makes one a slacktivist. I know people who are heavily involved in causes offline, and they use social media to help spread the word and get more people involved. There are some who try to raise funds for a 5K run they're taking part in, and others who are trying affect real change by gathering grassroots supporters for a cause. This is one of the beautiful things about social media - the ability to quickly gather people for the greater good. It's a powerful tool.
But with great power comes great responsibility. Some people seem to be magnetically drawn to the share button, resulting in the abuse of power and the sharing of all sorts of nonsense. There are three examples that I would like to share (pun intended) with you today.
Big tech is out to get you
Two of my friends reposted the above status in over four weeks ago. Neither of them have unfriended me yet, despite their dire warnings. I think the OVERUSE of CAPITALS and run-on sentences and "BAD GRAMMAR" speak for themselves, but u should still try to READ THIS OK?!!
FACEBOOK HAS CHANGED THEIR PRIVACY SETTINGS ONCE MORE!!! DUE TO THE NEW “GRAPH APP” ANYONE ON FACEBOOK (INCLUDING OTHER COUNTRIES) CAN SEE YOUR PICTURES, LIKES, AND COMMENTS. The next 2 weeks I will be posting this, and please once you have done it please post DONE! Those of you who do not keep my information from going out to the public, I will have to DELETE YOU! I want to stay PRIVATELY connected with you. I post shots of my family that I don't want strangers to have access to!!! This happens when our friends click "like" or "comment"... automatically, their friends would see our posts too. Unfortunately, we cannot change this setting by ourselves because Facebook has configured it that way. PLEASE place your mouse over my name above (DO NOT CLICK), a window will appear, now move the mouse on “FRIENDS" (also without clicking), then down to "Settings", click here and a list will appear. REMOVE the CHECK on "LIFE EVENTS" and "COMMENTS & LIKES". By doing this, my activity among my friends and family will no longer become public. Now, copy and paste this on your wall. Once I see this posted on your page, I will do the same
People get a good feeling from warning others about impending danger. As long as internet services have been free, there have been rumours about evil corporations trying to scam you. Remember how Hotmail would close your account if you didn't forward this email? Or how Geocities is going to resell the content you posted on your webpage? Or that Neiman-Marcus charged $250 to an innocent mother and daughter when buying a cookie after a long shopping trip? Now that you've forwarded that email or shared that Facebook status, you and your friends are that much better off.
These are all lies. And so is the above Facebook privacy warning. Your friends can't secure your privacy settings; only you can do that. Yes, Facebook's privacy settings have historically not been easy to control, but they are getting better. Please take five minutes to learn about how Facebook's privacy settings work and turn off the default global visibility. Listen to Snopes' advice.
And if you're still not convinced that Facebook isn't out to get you, then I know a Nigerian prince who could use your help.
I know my real friends will
There are too many of these to count, so I will create an amalgam of the statuses that I have seen. Just pretend that there are some flowers or Tweety Bird clip art next to this.
Did you know that this week is X Awareness Week? Over Y million people suffer from X. They are some of the bravest people I know. In their honour, will you repost this and leave it as your status for one hour? Z% of you won't, but I know my true friends will. Let's see if I'm right.
Here are the conclusions that follow:
- It's currently X Awareness Week, even though this status was originally posted three months ago. Awareness is not bound by time or space.
- By not reposting this status, you are simultaneously dishonouring Y million people. For shame.
- Z percent of his/her Facebook friends are fake friends. The poster must have poor taste in Facebook friends.
- If I repost this status, I am his/her true friend. Instead of spending time getting to know someone, I can just repost the status to become their true friend.
Awareness is not necessarily a bad thing - it's great to inform people about a cause or disease. And there are times when it's appropriate to honour a loved one who has suffered through an illness. But awareness is just the first step. If you really want to make a difference, get involved and actually do something.
However, what drives me batty is the fact that we are made to feel guilty for not reposting an low-resolution image. If the only way that your cause (or status update) can gain momentum is through guilting people, then perhaps you need to rethink your tactics. (Did you like how I guilted you there?)
If it was my child
This is what originally prompted this post, and it may be the best example of slacktivism that I have seen to date.
Here's the story: Two brothers are kidnapped on April 3, 2013, by their parents who had lost custody of them. They fled the state. An Amber Alert was put into effect. On April 8, the boys are spotted in a Cuban marina, where officials took the parents into custody. On April 9, the boys are returned to the United States. (A fuller account is available here.) I'm not trained in law enforcement, but as far as child abduction cases go, this one seems like a best-case scenario; the kids are returned unharmed, the abductors are captured, and boys can resume a near-normal life with their family.
One person on Facebook wanted to help the case by posting this photo on Facebook. On April 10. The day after the boys were returned to their rightful guardians:
I hope everyone sees this and shares this. You may not know these people, but that doesn't mean they do not matter...God forbid anything ever happened to one of mine, I would hope and pray that others would do something as simple as reposting a photo. Hope these two little boys are returned home soon.
The original poster is obviously not being malicious. It shows that there is a shred of decency left in this world. One mother is trying to help another mother out.
The above photo was shared about 400,000 times. That's right. About 400,000 users pressed the share button to pass on the news that these boys had been abducted, even though these boys were safe and sound. If the story is shown in average of 25 people's Facebook news feeds, then that's about 10 million people who have potentially seen the image.
There is no context of (a) when the boys were abducted, (b) where they were abducted from, (c) where they might be, or (d) who may have taken them. The only details are the names and photos lifted from the a TV news graphic. At least with some details of timeline and location, the public can better aid with looking. If you've ever paid attention to Amber Alerts, they will give you very specific information to help you. Blindly sharing Facebook photos from half a world away is not going to help.
With just a little bit of discernment in what we post and repost on Facebook, hopefully we can help tide the spread of misinformation. I know that my real friends will.
Thanks for listening to my rant.
