Internet encourages slacktivism
Participating to Internet political forums on Facebook groups, signing petitions, wearing awareness ribbons, writing blogs or tweets, all these "actions" require minimal personal effort from the slacktivist. Yet they tend to make people feel very good, while having little or no practical effect.
The derogatory epithet used for these activities is ‘slacktivism’, which refers to political activities that have no impact on real–life political outcomes, but only serve to increase the feel–good factor of the participants (Morozov, 2009). Worries have been expressed that these activities are pointless in that they are unable to achieve political goals and can derail political participants away from the more effective forms of participation in the activist repertoire that have traditionally been used (Putnam, 2000).
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ICT's capacity to spread democracy? »ICT's capacity to spread democracy?
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Cyber-utopianism »Cyber-utopianism
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Cyber-utopians overstate the revolutionary potential of the Internet »Cyber-utopians overstate the revolutionary potential of the Internet
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Web campaigns disengage youth from protests »Web campaigns disengage youth from protests
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Internet encourages slacktivism
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eActivism substitutes traditional forms of offline participation »eActivism substitutes traditional forms of offline participation
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Main effect is to enhance the feel–good factor for participants »Main effect is to enhance the feel–good factor for participants
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