1. MAPPING SLACKTIVISM
PATTERNS OF LOW-THRESHOLD CIVIC
PARTICIPATION ONTHE INTERNET
Sandy Schumann & Anastasia Kavada
University of Oxford — University of Westminster

2. LOOK, IFYOU MAKE A
FACEBOOK PAGE WE WILL “LIKE”
IT—IT’S THE LEAST WE CAN DO.
BUT IT’S ALSO THE MOST WE
CAN DO.
SETH MEYERS,WEEKEND UPDATE, SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, SEPTEMBER 22, 2012

4. SLACKTIVISM
Low-cost and low-risk civic actions online that…
• require no commitment (Morozov, 2009)
• have no social impact (Gladwell, 2010)
• undermine future engagement (Lee & Hsieh, 2013).

5. SPECULATIONSVS. EVIDENCE

6. SPECULATIONSVS. EVIDENCE

7. RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. How do low-threshold civic actions manifest
themselves on the Internet?
2. How committed are users who take these
actions?
3. Do the low-cost online actions undermine future
engagement (offline)?

8. STUDY
Assessing practices on
Greenpeace websites and
email lists, Facebook,
Twitter,YouTube, personal
email and blogs

9. RESPONDENTS
• N = 620
• M = 30.05 years old (SD = 11.30)
• 65.6% female
• 55 different mother tongues
• Supported Greenpeace for
M = 8.12 years (SD = 8.07)

10. PLATFORM USE
1
2
3
4
5
6
Website Facebook YouTube Personal blog
1,65
2,011,97
2,29
3,1
4,24
2,67
Email list Twitter Personal
email
Never
Daily

11. WEBSITE
Low-threshold civic
actions
Interpersonal
interaction
Entertainment
Gather information about
Greenpeace
Comment on Greenpeace
blog posts
Check the ship webcams
Sign a petition
Play interactive games
such as Deepwater
Desperation
Share information about
Greenpeace via email or
social media platforms
Watch videos

12. FACEBOOK PAGE
Low-threshold
civic actions
Interpersonal
and affiliative
interaction
Sharing Entertainment
High-
threshold
civic actions
Gather information
about Greenpeace
Leave a comment
Share
Greenpeace
posts
Watch videos
Follow
Greenpeace
events on the live
stream
Follow links to get
additional
information
Comment on
Greenpeace posts
Share other
supporters`
posts
View photos Make donations
`Like` Greenpeace
posts
Comment on the
comments of other
supporters
Sign up to the
Action alert Email
list
Follow calls to sign
petitions
`Like` the comments
of other supporters
Commit to events
organized by
Greenpeace

13. TWITTER
Low-threshold civic actions
Interpersonal and affiliative
interaction
Gather information about Greenpeace Reply to Greenpeace tweets
Follow links to get additional information
Reply to tweets by other Greenpeace
supporters
Re-tweet Greenpeace tweets
Send private messages to other
Greenpeace supporters
View Greenpeace photos
Express your support for Greenpeace in
your banner and profile photo
Share information about Greenpeace Follow other Greenpeace supporters
`Favorite` Greenpeace tweets Follow Greenpeace lists

14. EMAIL LIST
Low-threshold civic actions
Gather information about Greenpeace
Follow links to get additional information
Follow calls to sign petitions

15. COMMITMENT AND IMPACT
Commitment
Low-threshold
online civic actions
.49 .37
Civic actions
offline

16. SUMMARY
Low-threshold civic actions, such as gathering
information and signing petitions online, are…
• prevalent on all proprietary platforms
• more likely to be performed by highly committed
supporters
• and encourage engagement offline.

17. CONCLUSIONS
So-called slacktivist actions…
• indicate citizens’ endorsement
• are a first step on a ladder of (institutionalized)
engagement
• and/or a substitute for committed citizens when
other means or resources are not available.

18. CONCLUSIONS
• Advocacy and cause-related groups might want to
integrate low-threshold online civic actions in their
campaigns
• However, there are challenges to consider.
Schumann, S. & Klein, O. (in press). Substitute or Stepping-stone?The impact of
low-threshold online collective actions on offline participation. European Journal of
Social Psychology.

19. THANKYOU
sandy.schumann@new.ox.ac.uk
@Sandy_Research