‘slacktivism’

This article from The Artful Manager talks about ‘slacktivism’ which is defined as:

“Slacktivism, the phrase itself a rather lazy haemorrhaging of the two words slacker and activism, is the counter-intuitive idea that you can somehow change the world and topple its complacent political classes without even rising from your chair.”

The article points to another article and to this great analysis by Snopes talking about the lack of impact from email petitions. (I love Snopes - great place to find out if the emails you get from your friend’s aunt’s best friend are true!)

I have thought about this a lot. I get emails asking me to sign and pass it on, asking me to go to a website and “take action” all the time. (I get a lot of email – just ask Linda who checks my email when I’m on vacation!) And I’m involved in a lot of organizations. I’ve never thought that passive support (or non-support) of issues was much help. But reading these articles really brought it home!

Is it better to be a slacktivist than nothing? I don’t know. But I do know that I am willing to take real action on the issues that matter the most to me. You?