Can We Drop the "Slacktivist" Comments Already?

Progressive Exchange is one of the largest - if not the largest - email groups for progressive activists. It's a public list run by M+R Strategic Services, a progressive communications consulting firm, and has over 4,200 members. If you are not on it, you should be.

A discussion arose this week on the topic of "Slacktivism." In short, slacktivism is a short-hand, derogatory term used by some in the organizing community to mischaracterize online organizing. The discussion arose in response to two pieces: a short blog post at the Global Fund for Children blog questioning the effectiveness of social media in organizing for change, as well as this piece in Foreign Policy.

This is a huge topic, and one that we've addressed before here on Future Majority. I don't think I'm going to change any of your minds here by writing out a laundry list of problems with the term and the corresponding reasons that online organizing can be effective. But I did want to repost what I wrote at Progressive Exchange as I think it's worth repeating:

First, I'm super uncomfortable with the term "slacktivist." Along with Tom Friedman's "Generation Q," it's a term that has primarily been used to tar and feather Millennials for not conforming to a Baby-Boomer view of activism, and it implicitly ignores all the real-world activism that today's young people do in their communities (see high volunteering rates, Teach for America, etc.), as well as in the political realm (see all Jon's examples plus a group like Energy Action Coalition/Power Shift/Power Vote). You are not convincing anyone or doing anything constructive by painting with such a broad-brush term for a generation or a style of activism (and to be clear I'm talking in generalities here and not pointing a finger at anyone on this list in particular).

Second, it's not at all clear to me that people who do engage in "slacktivism" would have become involved AT ALL absent the opportunities presented by the magic of the interwebs. Looked at in that light, isn't it the job of the people on this list to figure out how you convert that new-found pool of loosely/active connected individuals into a project that does accomplish real change? So rather than say "this is bullshit activism and these people suck," maybe it would be a bit more productive to put a greater onus on ourselves to figure out what to do with this giant new pool of potential supporters rather than deride them for taking a step in the direction of positive action for social change.