Clicktivism, or online activism, is often criticized for not generating meaningful social change. However, the document argues that clicktivism is capable of creating awareness and pressuring officials to enact policies. It provides several examples where clicktivism campaigns like #BlackLivesMatter and #BringBackOurGirls raised awareness of issues and led to policy changes. Additionally, clicktivism allows for a more accessible form of participation and can precipitate offline activism for some participants. The document concludes that any level of activism adds up and clicktivism should not be dismissed as it can represent diverse voices and serve as an entry point to deeper engagement.

1. Clicktivism
Why Every Click Counts
Photo:
Caden
Crawford,
By: Rob Leckie

2. Everyone’s a Critic
Critics argue that
clicktivism fails to
generate substantive
change, and prevents
more meaningful social
action by creating the
illusion of doing
something, while doing
almost nothing.
(Kielburger and Kielburger 2015)
…but these critics misunderstand what clicktivism is
Photo:
Marcie
Casas,
Flickr

3. “Clicktivism is not exclusively the support
or promotion of a cause online. It is the use of digital media
for facilitating social change and activism. More often than
not this takes the form of supporting and promoting a cause
on social media, but it can include a whole a range of
activities...”
-Clicktivist.org
(Sharma 2014)
Photo:
LaVladina,
Flickr

4. Clicktivism is excellent
at generating awareness
(which is intrinsically valuable)
(Buckman, 2014)
Photo:
Zoi
Koraki,
Flickr

5. “Despite the oft-repeated claim that awareness does nothing,
it almost always does something —
something small, perhaps, but something measurable.”
-Kaitlin Dewey, Washington Post
(Sharma 2014)
ClicktivismWorks!
Clicktivism
Works!
Photo:
Kheel
Center
(photographer
unknown),
Flickr

6. “Often whatever social change these movements are pushing for doesn't
happen for years or decades, but that doesn't mean that they didn't
make a difference.
If we think of social movements as engines for creating awareness that
can eventually help them push for that change in the form of legislation,
then raising awareness is important.”
-Sandra Gonzalez-Bailo
(Kolowich 2016, A4)

7. The clicktivism and resultant awareness created by the
#BlackLivesMatter campaign has led to significant shifts in
government policy and police procedure:
50,000police body cameras
Police – Community Trust-Building Task Forces
Death in Custody Reporting Act
Requires law enforcement officials to report deaths of
people killed during arrest or in police custody
(All Brewster 2014)
Phil
Roeder
Photo:
Phil
Roeder,
Flickr

8. The #BringBackOurGirls
campaign is often cited as
an example of failed
clicktivism
…but the awareness
brought to the cause has
been instrumental in
spurring the admittedly
small search for the
Chibok girls
(Buckman 2014)
Photo:
Xavier
J.
Peg,
Flickr

9. The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge
A Resounding Example of the Power of Clicktivism
$15.6 million
raised from July 29 to August 18
(Sharma 2014)
800% increase in funding Y.O.Y.
(Sharma 2014)
Photo:
UK
Department
for
InternaIonal
Development
,
Flickr

10. UNICEF Tap Project
15 Minutes of ‘Digital Detox’
1 day’s supply of clean drinking water for a child
(Stern 2015)
2014: 2.6 million participants and $1 million generated
(Stern 2015)
Photo:
Donna
Todd
,
Flickr

11. UNICEF Kid Power
Monitored Physical Activity
Funding for treatment for malnourished children
(Stern 2014)
Photo:
R.
Nial
Bradshaw,
Flickr

12. So What’s The Point?
Clicktivism is capable of generating social good by
creating awareness and pressuring elected officials, even when
activism does not make the jump from online to offline
Photo:
Lucja
O’Neill,
Flickr

13. So What’s The Point?
“People who protest by casually ‘liking’ or retweeting political
content online do have an impact…”
“…modern protests have a minority who are physically active
and a much larger group – dubbed ‘the critical periphery’ -
who may tweet about it only once or twice but are responsible
for doubling the protest’s reach.”
-UPenn and NYU study (All Mortimer 2015)
Photo:
Gato-­‐Gato-­‐Gato,
Flickr

14. “Social media presence can give visibility to unknown facts,
having an impact on policy-makers agenda setting, by making
invisible people more visible.”
(Bresciani and Schmeil 2012, n.p.)

15. Clicktivism is also a more accessible form of activism for
those who cannot leave home. This group may include the
elderly, caretakers, those with disabilities, or those with young
children.
(Khan-Ibarra 2014)
This inclusiveness means that
clicktivism is capable of
representing more diverse
voices.
(Khan-Ibarra 2014)
Photo:
Grey
World,
Flickr

16. Critics argue that clicktivism displaces offline activism. But in
reality, clicktivism often precipitates offline activism.
‘…those who support
movements online are
actually more likely to
engage in activism in
real life.”
(Groetzinger
2015)
Photo:
a2gemma,
Flickr

17. Thus, social media, and clicktivism in particular, is likely to
provide a new first rung on the engagement ladder
(Matrix 2016)
Photo:
Lin
Wu,
Flickr

18. Unfortunately, clicktivism, as a mode of
participation, has been largely marginalized
(Halupka 2014, 118)
Photo:
cactusbeetroot,
Flickr

19. “There is no hope of encouraging stakeholders to take deeper
actions unless they feel that their initial current level of
activism is appreciated and important.”
(Matrix 2016)
When we use pejoratives such as ‘slacktivism’ to describe online activism,
we disenfranchise prospective activists and tip the engagement ladder
before these participants have a chance to climb to higher levels of
engagement.
Photo:
INTVGene,
Flickr

20. We
must
stop
vilifying
clicktivism

21. Ultimately, every little bit of
activism adds up
(Matrix 2016)
Photo:
Sean
McEntee,
Flickr

22. “Any effort to amplify the effort of a
worthwhile cause online has impact.”
(Matrix 2016)
Photo:
Thomas
Angermann,
Flickr

23. Citations
Andresen,
Katya.
2011.
“Why
Slacktavism
is
Underrated.”
Mashable,
October
24.
Bresciani,
Sabrina,
and
A.
Schmeil.
2012.
“Social
Media
Pla`orms
for
Social
Good.”
6th
IEEE
Interna/onal
Conference
on
Digital
Ecosystems
and
Technologies
(DEST):1-­‐6.
Brewster,
Shaquille.
2014.
“Aber
Ferguson:
Is
'Hashtag
AcIvism'
Spurring
Policy
Changes?”
NBC
News,
December
12.
Buckman,
Celia.
2014.
“The
Limits
of
Hashtag
AcIvism.”
Huffington
Post,
September
12.
Groetzinger,
Kate.
2015.
“SlackIvism
is
Having
a
Powerful
Real-­‐World
Impact,
New
Research
Shows.”
Quartz,
December
10.
Halupka,
Max.
2014.
“ClickIvism:
A
SystemaIc
HeurisIc.”
Policy
&
Internet
6
(2):
115-­‐132.
Khan-­‐Ibarra,
Sabina.
2014.
“The
Case
for
Social
Media
and
Hashtag
AcIvism.”
Huffington
Post,
November
13.

24. Citations
Continued
Kielburger,
Craig,
and
Marc
Kielburger.
2015.
“A
Click
Is
Not
Enough
to
Have
Impact
on
the
World.”
Canoe,
April
10.
Kolowich,
Steve.
(2016).
“In
Modest
Defense
of
'SlackIvism'”.
The
Chronicle
of
Higher
Educa/on
62(18):
A14.
Matrix,
Sydney
Eve.
2016.
“Module
4:
Social
Good”.
Lecture
presented
for
FILM
260,
May
30.
MorImer,
Caroline.
2015.
“'SlackIvism'
Works:
Study
Shows
People
Who
Like
and
Retweet
PoliIcal
Slogans
Help
Protesters
Spread
Their
Message.”
Independent,
December
8.
Sharma,
Ritu.
2014.
“Stop
Puring
Ice
on
ClickIvism.”
Huffington
Post,
August
20.
Stern,
Carole.
2015.
“In
Praise
of
ClickIvism.”
Huffington
Post,
March
31.