Slactivism

Slactivism.

Well,there’s a word you don’t hear every day.

Maybe it’s aword you’ve never heard before.

Ifyou’re actively part of any movement for seeing justice win out, you may have abad taste in your mouth after reading the word. Regardless,it’s time to have a chat about what it is, the good vs the bad, and how to dropthe ‘sl’ from slactivist and become what the world needs more of—passionateactivists.

I didn’tknow what slactivism was until I did a stint with Not For Sale. It was one ofthose generic buzzwords (along with ‘innovation’ and phrases like ‘out of theweeds’) which came up in numerous conversations—more so in my realm as I was workingwith the grass roots initiatives of NFS. While it was thrown around from timeto time without real explanation, it was easy to piece together whatit meant—an easy representation of caring about something without really havingto do anything at all.

Here is anofficial definition of slactivism from the Oxford dictionary:

Actionsperformed via the internet in support of a political or social cause butregarded as requiring little time or involvement. Eg: signing an onlinepetition or joining a campaign group on a social media website.

Now, here’sa hilarious definition of slactivism, with a great example from UrbanDictionary:

The act of participating in obviously pointless activities as anexpedient alternative to actually expending effort to fix a problem. Eg: signingan email petition to stop rampant crime is slacktivism. Want to really makeyour community safer? Get off your ass and start a neighborhood watch!

As we cansee, especially from the Urban Dictionary example, slactivism isn’t really viewed highly. It comes across as what it sounds like; you’re being aslacker. You sort of care about an issue, but not enough to do something thatrequires more work than the minimal required to show you care.

Let’s cut tothe chase…

The reason Iam choosing to speak on this topic is that recently, many people (myselfincluded), put a red X on our hand to show we are standing in solidarity with,and hoping to bring awareness to, the over 27 million individuals in slaverytoday. There are more people in slavery today than at any other point inhistory… and today we have documents to say slavery has been abolished! To be especially clear,I am not speaking badly about the End It Movement. I took part in this campaign.I put a red X on my hand, took a photograph, and posted it to Instagram tospread awareness. But, like with most campaigns, awareness amazing but it isnot enough. A conversation must begin and actions must be taken. It’s time wetake awareness to the next level.

From my Instagram @LoveInspiresChange

On February 27th my Instagramfeed was flooded with individuals making a stand, putting that red X on theirhand for a flashy photograph that shows they care. And while posting thepicture to social media isn’t inherently bad, it’s what happensafter which provokes questions as to why people do it in the first place. Have youever, after posting a flashy statement or picture to social media, doneanything to actively pursue being involved in trying to end slavery? Have youresearched where your clothes come from? Have you looked to see if thechocolate you purchased is from a company who uses child and forced labour in their supply chains? Have you donated any money to an organizationfighting sex trafficking or started reading the many books available on thetopic? Have you prayed for the captives to be set free and for God to reveal to you what you should do next to help? For every like your Instagram photo received, you should have been doingsomething real to help end injustice.

So, what’sgood about Slactivism? I think a campaign created with enough simplicity for the average individual to put in minimal effort while still beingpart of a movement is wonderful. Slactivism means the average Joe and Jane can engage with an awareness campaign, and feel like part of a larger group ofindividuals rallying together with one common goal, and that's pretty great. Imagine ifevery single person who has ever Tweeted about a cause, Instagramed an image ofthemselves supporting an organization with the use of a hashtag, or shared a pre-fabricatedstatus on Facebook, influenced someone else to do the same. We would have awildfire of awareness spreading, and the seeds of education being scatteredacross the world. We would suddenly see awareness soar about so many justiceissues—enough issues that each individual could find what spoke to them so loudlythey would want to become involved! Well, that’s the hope, after all—thatawareness being raised inspires activists.

In thissense we can see how slactivism can have an impact. Awareness is a great firststep to really seeing justice win out.

Since we’vehighlighted the positive, it’s important for us to take a look at why slactivism isn’tideal. It’s almost self-explanatory—slactivism does not mean someone will actuallystart making a difference. Just because I posted a picture on Instagram, doesn’t mean Iactually have to do anything else. Life can go on as normal. The ego boost from the ‘likes’ and the perception of being someone who ‘cares’ my Instagram followers see, couldeasily be enough to make me pursue nothing more than the selfish interest ofposting the picture. No conversations actually sparked, no education shared, nofurther moments where I reflect on what it means to really try to end slavery.Let’s be honest, and this may come across pretty harsh, what do you think those currentlycaught up in sex trafficking think about you putting an X on your hand and posting aphoto on Instagram? Will they see help from that one single thing you did? Thisis where slactivism finds it problem. It’s awareness, not effective action toend the injustice.

Pin this graphic, share it on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and share how to make a difference!

So what do we do now? We have all taken part in slactivism, and many of us have probably already been an activist for something we are passionate about without even realizing it. How can we ensure we are living life as an activist, not a slactivist, in how we approach new issues being brought to our attention?

Awareness is Step 1.

Education is Step 2.

Activism is Step 3.

Slactivismgoes hand in hand with Step 1, Awareness. But it’s a three-step process that is designed to continue once you make it to Step 1. You have to move through Steps 2 and 3 to see a real change andimpact the world.

This is whyI want to challenge you, the average Joe and Jane out there who commonly takepart in the basics of slactivism we can all easily become involved in, to takeaway the ‘sl’ and pursue the next steps to becoming an activist.

- What is themost recent campaign you mentioned on social media? This is your "Step 1: Awareness"

For myself,it was how that ridiculous #TheDress hashtag and ‘controversy’ took over theworld. To change this from something meaningless to meaningful, The Salvation Armyin South Africa has made a campaign addressing violence against women. They tooka woman covered in bruises and cuts and put her in the gold and white versionof the dress with the tag line ‘why is it so hard to see black and blue?’.

- Research! Findout statistics about the cause and how it pertains to you (geographicallocation, statistics specific to your area, etc). This is your "Step 2: Education"

From here,if you find yourself passionate about the cause, it's time to move forward!

- Get involved! Take part in a campaign, donate money, sign up to volunteer, do whatever ittakes to ensure you are becoming involved in ending the injustice! This is your "Step 3: Activism"

I’mnot picking on awareness campaigns—if people didn't became aware of what was happening around the world, they wouldn't havethe incredible opportunity to become educated and stand up to injustice! I wantto bring light to how awareness is not enough. Following through is imperative to seeing justice win out. Don’t be a slactivist—do something!You can, and you will, be amazed at how big of an impact you can have on seeinginjustice come to an end.