Slacktivism Online and Offline at Exeter
Last month, Facebook hosted an approximate 1.4 billion active users. QQ, a Chinese messaging-service, followed with a staggering 830 million users. Social media is to date, the greatest manifestation of the Internet’s potential to nullify geological and societal barriers. And it is apparent that, as this mass-communications system becomes available to an increasingly larger proportion of humanity, our species will become privy to an unprecedented level of individualism, both as a result of increased traffic to our identities, and the rapidity in which our opinions will travel down the information superhighway.
These characteristics of social media, which can be claimed to form a “democracy of voices,” already serve as a blessing to our more altruistic tendencies. By this I refer to online activism, a digitized expression of citizens’ desire for social change. Cyber-jargon such as “post,” “like” and “share” can form the framework behind petitions, speeches and protests. Individuals take advantage of social media’s impartial playing-field, in order to voice their opinions on important debates. It seems, quite evidently, that there is now a spotlight for every activist.
Yet there are those who criticize this phenomenon. The word “slacktivism,” comprised of the word “slacker” combined with “activism,” describes a noncommittal participation in a discussion. To the slacktivist, an issue does not signify an opportunity for discourse and change, but rather serves as an outlet for the shameless inflation of one’s standing. Given the allure social media presents to the casual narcissist, it is no wonder that the backlash against what are deemed spurious campaigns has become so prevalent in the digital world. And understandably, it sounds awfully crass to “fight” oppression, discrimination and disease via the clicking of buttons and the tapping of keys. In various circles, this critical response exists in the Exeter community, where online posts about social issues are an oft-seen sight.
It is no coincidence that social media has become such an integral part of the Exeter community. The notion of an egalitarian platform for open discussion is ingrained in the Harkness method itself. According to Exeter’s homepage, this philosophy is “a way of learning: everyone comes to class prepared to share, discuss, discover.” “Share, discuss and discover” would not look out of place as the tagline of an online forum.
Just as social media and the Harkness method have overlapping benefits, they share the same shortfalls. The issue with any democratic process is that misleading, incorrect or malicious opinions hold equal weight against all the others. Whether it be on a Facebook timeline or at a Harkness table, the community ends up getting exposed to comments that should not deserve acknowledgment. When enough of these comments accumulate, they supersaturate the discussion and dilute any worthwhile ideas. We as students are quite knowledgeable of this fact and are quite alert about it.
This observation leads to my theory about the source of a growing Exonian skepticism toward online activists. Assuming slacktivism could be broadly defined as the act of participating in a discussion disingenuously, without respect for civic virtue, one can see why Exeter has become such a cynical community. Around the Harkness table, Exonians often make contributions with only their personal academic benefit in mind. In response, classmates learn to identify such comments, disregard them and ultimately hone their own. Harkness doesn’t encourage plurality; it forces enhanced pragmatism and careerism. In essence, every one of us is a slacktivist expert-in-training.
As illustrated previously, the environment created by social media is, in spirit, identical to that in our classrooms. This results in our critical mentality toward online activism. Our skepticism of slacktivists is not unique to the Internet. Its digital incarnation is simply the logical result of philosophies implanted in Exeter tradition. ♥