Challenging “Slacktivism”： Activism on Social Media Is Not Enough別再做無用的“鍵盤俠”

By+Amanda+A.+Jones

網絡時代，社交媒體易于分享、交互性強的特性使得人們漸漸淪為“懶人行動派”：對于某個熱門事件，我們常常不辨真假就在社交媒體上瘋狂行動，又是點贊，又是轉發，發完狀態還要去寫評論，似乎只需當個“鍵盤俠”，世界就會因此更美好。然而，這種盲目的跟風行為和對熱點的短暫關注真能收到什么實際效果么？相比于在網上活躍，我們是不是更應在現實中做些什么？

. New Oriental English

別再做無用的“鍵盤俠”

Challenging “Slacktivism”： Activism on Social Media Is Not Enough

Upon checking Facebook this morning， I was blown away1） by my news feed that consisted almost entirely of the same message posted and re-posted by my Facebook friends. This was the viral status：

The Morton County Sheriffs Department has been using Facebook check-ins2） to find out who is at Standing Rock3） in order to target them in attempts to disrupt the prayer camps4）. So， Water Protectors5） are calling on EVERYONE to check in at Standing Rock， ND to overwhelm and confuse them. This is concrete action that can protect people putting their bodies and well-beings on the line6） that we can do without leaving our homes.

Will you join me in Standing Rock？

If youre sharing your location at Standing Rock （which you should be doing）：

1） make it public；

2） make the clarification post separate， and so that only your friends can see it；

3） dont clarify on your check in， message friends who say “stay safe！” to let them know whats up—the stay safe posts are more convincing/confusing for p*lice；

4） copy paste to share clarification messages （like this one） because making it public blows our cover7）；

5） say “Randing Stock” in clarification posts so that when they filter out/search those terms， your post is visible to the right people.

In addition to posting this status， many of my Facebook friends followed what the viral message said to do， which was to “check-in” at Standing Rock with the intent “to overwhelm and confuse [police].” At first， I thought it was awesome to see so many people wanting to participate in the protest of the Dakota Access Pipeline and I even considered checking-in at Standing Rock myself. After a days worth of consideration， I decided not to.

How many people did a fact check on the situation at Standing Rock？ Is the Morton County Sheriffs Department actually using Facebook check-ins to identify protesters？ Who ever said that thousands of people checking-in at Standing Rock would “confuse” police？ Why would the protesters who are physically at Standing Rock check-in if they knew they would risk being targeted by police in the first place？ It remains unclear where this idea even originated and no sources validating this information are cited in the statuses at all. Is it not imperative to first verify if the information is true and not just a rumor？

In my opinion， viral activism8） on social media—like checking-in at Standing Rock， sharing trending hashtags， or changing ones profile picture to have the color of a countrys flag， for example—is， for the most part， incredibly superficial. Sure， it is great for garnering attention about an issue （which is important）， but it is ultimately just fads that suddenly boom in popularity but die out as quickly as they appear. People mindlessly join in before swiftly moving on to the next campaign in vogue and abandoning the previous one. On the outside， it may look like true activism but in reality， this activism is paper-thin “slacktivism，” as I call it. Online “slacktivism” is often as shallow as the participants knowledge on the movements themselves.

It seems to me that people are so eager to do as their social media friends do and jump on the latest activist bandwagon9） before researching and familiarizing themselves with the cause and what it is that they are doing. I admit， it is tempting to hop on the bandwagon， but before I do anything I take a step back to think critically about whether what I am doing will actually achieve anything or whether it will only get “likes” that are ultimately meaningless. Despite the enthusiasm and appearance of genuine concern running rampant on my news feed， I ask myself， where is the depth and the passion？ How can something with little depth have an impact in the real， non-virtual world？

Participating in social activism on Facebook does not do much more than help people construct a “socially aware” image of themselves and give them the sense that they are actually making a difference. Sometimes people can make an impact by engaging in viral activism on social media， even if it is a small impact； however， they most often do not. Remember the infamous #Kony201210） “movement” to capture the Ugandan cult and militia leader and stop forced recruitment of child soldiers？ Or #bringbackourgirls11）， the worldwide campaign that took social media by storm？ It aimed to convince the Nigerian government to work harder to find the 276 girls abducted in Chibok by Boko Haram12）. Was the fact that millions of people posted the same hashtag going to bring back the girls？ The ultimate measure of success is the outcome： The girls are still missing， more than two years later.

Social media activism is merely an acceptable starting point for someone to participate in a cause they truly believe in. There is much more that can be done that many people—already content with their contribution on social media—do not do. Posting a status or hashtag is the bare minimum. I realize that people have busy lives and personal constraints and that one may not have the time or money to contribute to a cause. If this is you， do what you can； if that means sticking to activism on social media， make sure you fully understand the cause you are supporting， truly believe that your post can help， and are not just doing it because it is trending.

I encourage everyone who stands with the Standing Rock Sioux， who considers themselves allies of any marginalized community， or who wants to fight injustice to go out there and find more effective ways to participate in social and political change. March. Protest. Write letters to politicians. Donate to organizations. Attend talks to educate yourself further so you can more effectively bring about change. Volunteer. Engage in dialogue with others. Do what you can to UTILIZE YOUR POTENTIAL because we are all capable of changing this world for the better. It is up to each one of us individually to take this potential and run with it past our own expectations.

今天早上查看Facebook時，我被自己收到的推送消息嚇了一跳，因為里面幾乎全是我的Facebook好友們對同一條消息的轉發。這條被瘋轉的狀態消息如下：

莫頓縣警局使用Facebook上的簽到功能查找位于立巖保護區的人們，從而將他們鎖定為目標，試圖擾亂祈禱營的抗議活動。因此，“水的保護者們”在此向所有人呼吁，請前往“北達科他州立巖保護區”的活動頁面進行簽到，以混淆警方視聽。哪怕足不出戶，你也能憑借這一實際行動保護那些將自己的人身安全和福祉置于危險中的人。

你會和我一起參與到立巖保護區的抗議活動中來嗎？

如果你要分享你在“立巖保護區”活動頁面的簽到位置（你確實應該這樣做）：

1）請將簽到信息設為“所有人可見”；

2）另外再發一條澄清狀態，將其設為“僅好友可見”；

3）在你的簽到信息里什么也不要說，給那些留言說“注意安全！”的朋友們發私信，告訴他們具體情況——簽到信息下面那些提醒你注意安全的留言對警*來說更有說服力/迷惑力；

4）通過復制、粘貼來分享澄清狀態（就像這一條），因為將澄清狀態設為“所有人可見”可能會暴露我們的身份；

5）請在澄清狀態中用“Randing Stock”這個名字，這樣當警察在過濾/搜索這些字符時，你的狀態就能被該看到的人看到。

除了轉發這條狀態以外，我的許多Facebook好友還按照這條被瘋轉的信息的指示，前往“立巖保護區”頁面簽到，以便“混淆[警方]視聽”。起初，看到這么多人想要參加“達州輸油管道”抗議活動，我覺得實在是件了不起的事情，我甚至還考慮自己也要去“立巖保護區”簽到。但在仔細思考了一天以后，我決定不這么做。

有多少人對立巖保護區的實際情況進行過調查呢？莫頓縣警局真的在使用Facebook的簽到功能來甄別抗議者嗎？到底是誰說的幾千人去“立巖保護區”簽到就能“迷惑”警方呢？如果那些身在立巖保護區的抗議者原先就知道簽到會有被警察盯上的風險，那他們為什么還一定要去簽到呢？沒人清楚這條消息的來源，轉發的狀態消息中也沒有引用任何能夠驗證消息真假的出處。當務之急難道不是要先核實這條消息是真實的而不是謠言才對嗎？

在我看來，社交媒體上如病毒般瘋狂傳播的行動主義——比如去“立巖保護區”簽到，分享熱門標簽，或是將自己的頭像換成某一國家國旗的顏色——大多是非常膚淺的。當然，這對為某件事情贏取關注而言很有用（這確實很重要），但就其根本來說，不過是突然迅速流行一陣，來也匆匆，去也匆匆罷了。人們不假思索地加入進來，又立刻被下一個熱點事件吸引，將前一個事件拋在腦后。從表面上看，這似乎是某種實實在在的行動主義，但實際上，這種行動主義徒有其表——我將其稱為“懶人行動主義”。網上的“懶人行動主義”就像參與者們對這些活動的了解程度一樣，是非常淺薄的。

在我看來，人們熱衷于和他們社交網絡上的朋友們一道，對最新一波的熱點活動跟風轉帖，卻不去調查和研究這些活動背后的真實原因，也不去思考他們到底在做什么。我承認，扎堆兒跟風很有誘惑力，但是在我做任何事情之前，我會退后一步，以便批判性地思考一番，看看我所做的是真的能產生什么結果，還是只能得到那些就本質而言毫無意義的“贊”。盡管我的消息推送里滿是高漲的熱情和看起來真誠關心的姿態，但我問自己，這背后的深度和激情在哪里？一個缺乏深度的行為又怎么會在一個真實、非虛擬的世界里產生影響呢？

在Facebook上對社會活動表現出積極熱情，只能幫助人們為自己塑造一副“關心社會”的形象，使他們覺得自己好像為社會變革做了點事情，僅此而已。有些時候，人們通過參加社交媒體上那些瘋狂傳播的社會活動確實能帶來一些影響，即便影響很小；然而，大部分情況下并非如此。還記得聲稱為了逮捕烏干達反政府武裝頭目和軍事領袖以及阻止強制征召娃娃兵的臭名昭著的#Kony2012“行動”嗎？或者在社交媒體上紅極一時的#bringbackourgirls全球活動？這個活動的目的是敦促尼日利亞政府以更大的力度將在奇博克鎮被博科圣地綁架的276名女孩解救出來。數百萬人發布帶有同一熱門標簽的推文是否將這些女孩子營救回來了呢？檢驗成功與否的最終標準是它的結果：兩年多過去了，這些女孩依然不見蹤影。

社交媒體上的行動主義僅僅可以被當做是某一個人參與到某一項自己真心相信的事情中去的起點。后續本來還有非常多可以做的事情，而許多已經對自己在社交媒體上所做的貢獻心滿意足的人們卻沒有去做。發布一條狀態或分享一個熱門標簽只能算是最微小的行動。我知道人們生活忙碌，個人能力有限，很可能沒有時間或財力為某項活動做貢獻。你如果正是如此，那就做自己力所能及的事情；你如果力所能及的只是在社交媒體上表現活躍，那么請確保你完全了解你所支持的那件事情，確實相信你所發布的內容有所幫助，而不僅僅是為了湊個熱鬧。

所有支持立巖蘇族部落的人們，所有將自己視為任何邊緣化群體同盟的人們，所有想要為反抗不平等而斗爭的人們，我鼓勵這些人走出門去，尋找更有效的方法，參與到社會和政治的變革當中。去游行。去抗議。寫信給政客。為組織捐款。參加座談會，豐富自己的知識，以便更有效地促使變革發生。去做志愿者。去和其他人交談。想盡一切辦法利用自己的潛能，因為我們都有能力使這個世界變得更美好。這要靠我們每個人自己去發掘出這份潛能，使其產生超出我們預期的結果。