Today I was interviewed on the public radio program Word of Mouth. The theme of the segment was slacktivism, so the tone was decidedly skeptical. The interviewer, Virginia Prescott, began by presenting digital activism as “virtual virtuousness”and noted “if you were counting on changing the world through a Facebook cause, you might consider a new tack. ‘Click through activism’ on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube follows a pattern: initial flurry…and a fizzling out faster than you can say Neda Agha Soltan….”
Due to my own admittedly optimistic bias, I focused more on the positives of Facebook activism – some do take action even if not all do – though I stressed that the low bar to entry means that organizers as well as supporters do not have a background in activism, so the sustainability of online action is still a problem.
You listen to the who segment HERE.