By the power of “slacktivism” and new-age protest

Slacktivism is a term used to define our generation’s way of protest. We like Facebook posts, sign petitions, and write Tab articles to try and make a change, filled with the sense that the Internet’s overwhelming power is enough to alter the world.

But many want to say our generation’s activism is lazy and ineffectual; we’re simply giving ourselves a peace of mind – not making any change. Yet this is not a unique trait. All humans perform this type of thing. We are lazy in making changes, and we always have been.

Many want to say our generation’s activism is lazy and ineffectual

Did buying pins to wear against apartheid really make the change in apartheid? Not really. It was the work of Nelson Mandela and the freedom fighters that he fought with. Was it the 60s protests against the atomic bomb that prevented it from ever being used in the Cold War? No, it was the mutually assured destruction that would occur with dropping it.

So why does our generation get called lazy and selfish for doing the same things that our parents’ generations did when they were young? They did slacktivism too, just in a different way. Currently, protest movements seem to have dwindled.

Currently, protest movements seem to have dwindled

The 2010 marches against tuition fees did little to change the £3,000 a year increase. Occupy did nothing to actually attack capitalism, and as the current campaigns of junior doctors continue, it feels like the battle will be a very hard one to fight.

So perhaps we feel discouraged as we see ineffective protests, and we believe that protests are not the way to make change. We even feel an irritation at students who participate in activism, with Warwick for Free Education being criticised for disrupting bus routes and students in their recent protests.

We see ineffective protests, and we believe that protests are not the way to make change

In many respects, you would think we should take such a privilege to make a change in the world. We have the best medical care ever in the history of man. Those reading this are probably lucky enough to attend a great university and have an education that most people in the world are not privileged enough to enjoy.

We perform slacktivism because we do think it will help. We’ve seen how the London riots used Blackberry messaging to avoid interception originally, and although we aren’t seeking to riot, it does provide a lesson. We’ve seen it happen. We’re just still figuring out quite how to work it.

We perform slacktivism because we do think it will help

Protest movements didn’t begin knowing everything. The first ever marches wouldn’t have been perfect at all. Activism constantly changes and develops, and we are in a stage of change. The suffragette movement spent several years as peaceful and ineffective before finally gaining the momentum to make the great changes they did.

Perhaps we need to stop placing such scorn on slacktivism. Perhaps we should stop moaning about how unhelpful it is, and acknowledge that these changes to our form of protest are healthy and good.

They may be taking some time. They may not always be extremely powerful, but organisations like Anonymous have shown how volatile we can be. Because the most interesting thing about our generation’s online activism is that it isn’t violent in the conventional way.

The most interesting thing about our generation’s online activism is that it isn’t violent in the conventional way

We aren’t smashing windows or throwing bricks. Instead, we’re using technology to hit at the heart of the problem: exposing the identities of people involved, cutting off money supplies to those organisations, and sharing private and confidential information.

Slacktivism might be a problem, yes, but it’s no more of a problem than when someone donates a fiver to the generic charity while watching Children in Need, without really thinking about what they’re doing. Our generation is constantly referred to as lazy, but I think this description is an unfair one.

Our generation is constantly referred to as lazy, but I think this description is an unfair one

However, slacktivism with its hashtags, shared posts, videos, and all those things is a part of the new wave of protest that our generation is creating, and this new form of protest could prove to be even more effective than any other one before it.