Social Media is one of the most powerful weapons to have ever been invented. It gives the people a voice and it provides a direct path to change. This is where we run into a major problem: slacktivism. A study done by Jonathan Obar, Paul Zube and Clifford Lampe describes slacktivism in this way: "In terms of social media's ability to strengthen social movements, critics (writing primarily in the popular press and on blogs) have suggested that these technologies may in fact be promoting a form of 'slacktivism' or 'clicktivism' instead of activism, and do little more than promote 'weak ties,' which can bring a million people to a Facebook page but fail to mobilize a thousand people in the street to actually effect change." (Obar, Zube, Lampe) However, online activism rarely goes beyond those few minutes of care and this is what we call slacktivism. One of social media's faults is that although it makes activism easy, it makes slacktivism equally as easy. There are too many people who completely waste the potential that social media shows. The slacktivism on sites like snapchat is especially shameful since it is such an easy platform to quickly communicate with large amounts of people. Though slacktivism is an overwhelming problem in our society, it is important to remember that not everybody can be involved in everything at all times. Those who recognize slacktivism are simply advocating for individuals to take interest in something they see as a problem and work hard enough to help find a solution through social media. The positive side to this is that we have the potential to overcome slacktivism. With the continued expansion of cellular technology and wireless internet access, people from all walks of life in nearly any country will be able to use social media and interact with others. The addition of new opinions, ideas and experiences can spread throughout online users more easily than ever before. Facebook and Twitter, which are two of the most popular sites to use in both developed and developing countries, provide the best and most innovative platforms for people to communicate about their everyday challenges and solutions. The most effective way for people using social media to institute change is to build these groups of people who are all willing to work for the cause and spread their message to others who did not get a chance to see the original idea. Activism is a key component to social media functioning to the best of its ability. Slacktivism can be overcome with a functional social media platform for people to use, invested interest instead of passive use, and a community joining together.

Our society has the ability to work past slacktivism on our social networking sites. Since the launch of Facebook, oppressed and voiceless people have taken advantage of the internet to launch campaigns against harsh governments and leaders, pass laws and defeat social injustices in their homes and overseas. Probably the best example of people joining together and using multiple social networking sites, including Facebook, is the Arab Spring. The main component of entire governments being overthrown, of former leaders being imprisoned and millions of people having their rights reinstated is their organization on social media. The motivators behind the Arab Spring are not part of an elite class, nor do they have any advantageous position besides the fact that they are members of a social networking site. The beauty of these programs is that they are free to everyone and all inclusive, no matter the social or economic standing. Johanna Blakley suggests that, " ... digital networks allow us to opt out of our demographic categories, which are often virtually invisible online ... " (Blakley) This is hugely important since the majority of the world belongs to lower and middle class groups, who suffer the most injustice, yet have historically had the quietest voice. Once things like Facebook, emailing and texting became more easily accessible in developing countries in Northern Africa, such as Egypt, angry residents noticed that their neighbors and fellow Egyptians had similar thoughts about how their country was being run. As soon as the first activists took to Facebook, news spread across Egypt like a wildfire that protests were planned and people were finally going to stand up to Mubarak's  regime.  "It has been suggested that the Internet has had a positive impact on the activities of social movement organizations by increasing the speed, reach, and effectiveness of communication and mobilization efforts." (Obar, Zube, Lampe) This conclusion from Obar, Zube and Lampe proved true as demonstrators showed up at Tahrir Square in droves after people had shared information that they saw online through texts, emails, tweets and Facebook posts. A revolution occurred almost instantaneously due to the perfect communication platform that Egyptian citizens had access to. A movement of this caliber would have been virtually impossible to organize without our recent technological advances. In the past, it would have taken the finances and man power of an entire government or army to be able to gather such a massive amount of people and do something like uproot another country. Another possibility is that it could have started a war that lasted years and cost thousands of lives. Though revolting against a government is never completely safe, social media enables more peaceful protests and action that requires numbers of people that authorities could not simply silence. Not only was this the case in Egypt, but the citizens of Libya, Tunisia and Yemen also managed to remove their own oppressive dictators and regimes. Numerous other Middle-Eastern and North African countries experienced unrest within the citizens. Though the Arab Spring was the most successful and large scale movement taken through social media, some have still not felt the effects of more modern technology. Unfortunately, human rights crises are still alive and in places like Syria, the citizens still do not have a voice. This is because of the lack of infrastructure and the war for control between President Assad and ISIS that causes blackouts and destroys any access that Syrians may have had to cellular and internet. However, the current conditions in Syria provide a very extreme case which most other developed or developing areas have overcome, which allows people to access the tools and technology they need to communicate and take action. Other developing countries have experienced similar movements to remove their leaders. In 2001, citizens of the Philippines protested President Estrada's impeachment trial when evidence against him was not used in the trial. Since Facebook was not around, they relayed a message through texting to organize the gathering which was eventually successful in getting him removed. Clay Shirky noted, "The event marked the first time that social media had helped force out a national leader. Estrada himself blamed 'the text messaging generation' for his downfall." (Shirky) The citizens of the Philippines and the nations involved in the Arab Spring were able to overcome slacktivism and use social media to institute change on a national and global level. The platforms provided by text messaging, Facebook and email were the catalysts that the people needed to take action.

In order for an individual to really want to be a part of something, it has to be an issue that they are interested in. This concept applies when users are scrolling through their news feeds and they see that an earthquake hit a place like Haiti. Some folks have never felt an earthquake, or been displaced from their homes so they cannot relate to the victims of the natural disaster. This is a lack of invested interest because sometimes it is simply too hard to understand or even care enough about certain situations. However, for the people who logged into their social networking accounts and maybe they had been to Haiti, or they had experienced a major earthquake in the past, this situation hit a little bit closer to home. Not everyone will always be able to be active in current events, but they will be more inclined to if they can relate and take a true interest in an issue. The section of the audience who feels a connection to the people affected by the earthquake is the group who will be able to overcome slacktivism and contribute to the victims. This was the case in Haiti, and there were many people whose lives may have been saved through social media because of people who were also directly affected by the earthquake. Kristen Howerton hosted a TED Talk to discuss the events that unraveled after she survived the earthquake in Haiti. She described that, at first, many locals would use their social media accounts to locate friends and family, as well as report people trapped under rubble. A short while later, those who were able to help responded to online posts about injured people or neighbors in need of supplies like water. Once news reached places like the United States, people organized relief funds and aid arrived in droves. The people who feel a connection to events like Haiti are the people who end up overcoming slacktivism and taking action because they have invested interest in the subject at hand. 

Another, more local example of invested interest takes place in the United States. Political campaigns can utilize social media by rounding up supporters. Since electing a certain candidate can be very meaningful to an individual or a community, these people will help to broadcast a party or candidate to a wider range of people. Obama's campaign found that many social media users took interest in electing him president and they took action online. "The benefits of social media participation are well understood by Obama's staff: during the campaign, they engaged 4 million donors and volunteers." (Shneiderman) 

Also in the United States and more recently, lower class African American communities have joined together and have utilized social networking to shed light on recent racial issues involving authorities. Most notably, the town of Ferguson rallied around the family of Michael Brown. Social media helped activists introduce things like the Black Lives Matter and All Lives Matter movements, as well as making the phrase "I can't breathe" famous after video of Eric Garner's brutal treatment first surfaced on social media. If not for those who recognized that change needed to happen, these incidents could have gone completely unnoticed by the general public. We all identify ourselves as Americans and more universally as humans so as the activists from Missouri and New York spread their concerns to the rest of the United States, all of us were able to identify as a community and work together through social media to achieve a goal. Social media allowed people close to the situation to extend the news of Michael Brown and Eric Garner to an audience that would have otherwise been left out by the national news outlets. After word reached many people in the lower class minority communities, the national media was forced to report on the issue as well. Ignoring it would have made them look horrible. As these tragedies reached a national level of attention, anger grew amongst our people and many returned to social media to organize movements to remember the victims and bring the perpetrators to justice, as well as shed light on the scale of the problem. Victims like Tamir Rice came to attention and the movement grew. Social media users joined forces to organize marches and peaceful protests, sometimes of hundreds of thousands of people, in nearly every major city in the United States. Famous people with millions of followers took to their social networking accounts and participated in the movements in person once they had been organized. This type of activism has lasted years in the United States and has made a difference in policing lower class communities. As minority communities continued to feel harassed and threatened by law enforcement, people realized what a useful tool social media was. Communities like Ferguson, New York and towns all across the United States were able to overcome their slacktivism by joining forces to fight a pertinent issue. Witnessing the change that social media users have been able to make proves that slacktivism can be reduced when it really matters. 

However, many problems do not gain the same attention as the racial divisions have and our commitment to many issues is shaky and sparse. Though Facebook and a few other forms of social media were adequately used for communication among activists, slacktivism still exists. It will always exist and it is not a deed that can be eliminated from our brains. Regardless of how pressing an issue is or how closely it can affect our lives there will be someone who decides to move on and not put the effort into making a difference. Social media has many positive aspects that benefit all different types of society. People have the freedom to express themselves and find a community that they feel comfortable around. Racial, gender and socio-economic barriers can be broken because everyone is on a level playing field on social media. Johanna Blakley takes note of this highlight of social media and says, "I am convinced that the growing influence of social media will help dismantle some of the silly and demeaning stereotypes that characterize media and advertising globally. In particular, I think that social media may help free us from the absurd assumptions we, as a society, have about gender." (Blakley) Overcoming slacktivism is made possible to all demographics and everyone has an equal voice. Also, governments and authorities are able aid online activism by quickly warning a local audience of impending danger or relaying important information to them. Getting people involved is key. Bruce Perlman recognizes this and says, "Innovative and successful use of SMS have been reported across several areas of public safety, including, police-citizen communications, firefighting, and emergency management." (Perlman) The only real downfall is the users themselves: humans have a tendency to waste time and not take advantage of all of the opportunities available to them. The ultimate cause of slacktivism is a lack of time, effort, commitment and interest, but as we have seen, slacktivism can be beaten. When an issue really matters, and the users have a functional platform to work with, people can and will join together and make a difference.

