Debbie Down-ing on Clicktivism

Debbie
Down-‐ing
on

c l i c k t i v i s m
By Hannah French
Photo
by
Elena
via
ﬂickr

the
support
or
promo+on

of
a
cause
online.
It
is

the
use
of
digital
media

for
facilita+ng
social

change
and

ac+vism.”
[6]

“Clicktivism is
not
exclusively

Photo
by
Surya
Teja
via
ﬂickr

Social media provides a quick-and-easy
way to gain support for organizations and
causes.
Photo
by
Robert
Scoble
via
ﬂickr

Clicktivism can
take the form of
various activities,
including… [6]
ü organizing
protests

ü facilita=ng
boyco>s

ü signing
pe==ons

ü hack=vism

ü crowdfunding

ü online
parody
and
sa=re

ü Google
bombing

ü circumven=ng
news

blackouts/keeping

people
informed

Photo
by
Nate
Grigg
via
ﬂickr

New
ventures
need
resources
to
succeed,

in
par=cular,
the
support
of
funds.

Crowdfunding websites
serve
as
a
plaGorm

where
a
wide
range
of
ventures
are
represented
and

can
be
compared.

Therefore,
the
public
is
be>er

informed
of
projects
they
want
to
support.[9]

Photo
by
Tax
Credits
via
ﬂickr

More
complex,
diﬃcult,
and
boundary-‐
pushing
ideas
can
be
launched.[7]

Success rates are
not
up
to

constraining
regula=ons,
they’re

in
the
hands of the public.

Photo
by
Ma>hew
Simantov
via
ﬂickr

One
of
the
most
recent
examples
of
click=vism
is
the

Goal:
to
raise
awareness
for
amyotrophic
lateral
sclerosis
(ALS),
also

known
as
Lou
Gehrig's
Disease.[1]

Result:
neNed
millions
of
dollars
to
fund
research
for
neurodegenera=ve

diagnoses
and
once
again
showed
the
eﬀec=veness
of
social
media

campaigns.

Photo
by
Global
Panorama
via
ﬂickr

Fundraising
is
a
tedious
process
due
to
associated

+me
and
money.

Internet-‐based
methods
of
fundraising,
like

crowdfunding,
decrease
start-‐up
costs.[7]

Photo
by
Steven
Depolo
via
ﬂickr

In
this
way,
SMALLER
organiza=ons
are
no
longer

disadvantaged
when
launching
fundraisers,
and
have

the
poten=al
to
gain
the
same level of
awareness

and
funding
as
larger
organiza=ons.

Photo
by
Paul
W
via
ﬂickr

Funding rates from traditional
sources in the science
community are well under[8]:

Science
researchers
need
support
from
internet-‐based
fundraising!
[8]

20%
Crowdfunding
for
the
sciences
not
only
has
financial
rewards…

When
the
public
is
involved
in
the
ini+al
stages
of
the

research
projects,
science
and
society
will
bond
in
an

influen+al
way.

Photo
by
Pacific
Northwest
Na=onal
Laboratory
via
flickr

"
But why is it really working?"

People
donate
to
chari+es
predominantly

because[2]:

1.  They
are
asked.

2.  They
are
asked,
in
par=cular,
by
people
they
care
about.

2 reasons!
Photo
by
Chris=ne
Carreira
via
ﬂickr

Fundraising
through
social
media
plaJorms

encourages
people
to
ask
friends
and
family,

people
who
they
care
about,
to
donate
and

share
informa+on.

Photo
by
Tony
Sher=la
via
ﬂickr

Then what are clicktivism critics saying?
“…geMng
involved
in
a
charity
through,
say,
Facebook
or

TwiOer,
merely
creates an impression
of
support.”
[3]

Click+vism
makes
a
person
look
like

an
ac+vist,
involved
in
important
issues.[3]

Photo
by
Chris
&
Karen
Highlandvia
ﬂickr

“Social
media
advocacy
is
great
to
get
the
word
out,
but

sharing
a
post
is not going to change the
world. In
order
for
change
to
happen,
people
need
to

know
about
the
problem
and
then
do something

about
it.”

– Carrie Miller, University of Vermont sophomore [10]

Photo
by
Andrew
Wa>
via
ﬂickr

Digital
ac+vism
has
to
be
supported
by
real-
world activism,
such
as
leOers
to

government
oﬃcials
or
public
demonstra+ons.[5]

Sharing
informa+on
with
a
click
of
a
buOon
is

useless.

Photo
by
wessexman...(Mike)
via
ﬂickr

but…
without
the

w i d e s p r e a d
a w a r e n e s s
created
by
social
media,
real
world
ac=vism

wouldn’t
be
able
to
grow
to
such
a

L A R G E S C A L E .
Social
media
is
a
critical tool for
making
those

who
poten=ally
want
to
support
a
cause,
aware
of
it.[5]

Photo
by
Peninsula
Club
via
ﬂickr

so…

Photo
by
Katrina
Cole
via
ﬂickr

We
need
to
take
advantage
of
the
capacity
for
social

media
to
allow
many
diﬀerent
stories
to
spread

across
separate
social
networks,
and
within
the

same
social
network
simultaneously.[4]

In
a
sense,
we
are

“replicating campaign messages
and relationships from the
physical world in the digital
landscape”.[4]
Photo
by
Eduardo
Fonseca
Arraes
via
ﬂickr

There’s
POWER
in
Social
Media

The
nature

of
today’s

social
media
can
raise

interna+onal
awareness.

And,
the
larger
the

crowd
engaged
in
a

cause,
the
more
money

that
can
be
raised.[8]

Photo
by
Frits
Ahlefeldt-‐Laurvig
via
ﬂickr

Ac+vism
is
increasingly
being
driven
by
digital

ar+facts
(e.g.
videos,
photos,
etc.).[11]

2 out of 3 millennials
believe
that
sharing
informa+on
about
social
issues
online
is

more
eﬀec+ve
in
crea+ng
change
than
a
person
rallying
or

protes+ng.[12]

Photo
by
Mathew
G
via
ﬂickr

An
internal
survey
on
Tumblr
showed
that
64%
of
users

care
about
social
issues
and
engage
in
them
on
Tumblr.

As

50%
of
Tumblr
users
are
between
ages
15-‐34,
the
survey

suggests
that
millennials do care and are
involved in social issues.
[11]

Photo
by
Algirdas
Choclanas
via
ﬂickr

And
virtual
social
ac+vism
through
social

media
plaJorms
has
translated
to
notable

par+cipa+on
in
the
real
world…
[12]

Photo
by
jvoves
via
ﬂickr

Just look what happened when
“Kony 2012” was released…
The
film
became
an
interna+onal
focus
because
of
the
fast flow
of
informa+on
that
occurs
on
the
Internet.

Short
film
“Kony
2012”
was
made
to
expose
Joseph
Kony,

Ugandan
Mili+a
and
cult
leader,
and
his
alleged
war
crimes.
[12]

Afer
its
release,
66%
of
TwiOer
conversa+ons
concerned
the
film

for
a
WHOLE
WEEK,
but
many
young
adults
also
supported
the

Kony
2012
movement
by
puMng
up
signs
in
the
physical
world.[12]

Photo
by
Invisible
Children
via
flickr

So look on the
bright side of
clicktivism!
What
if
one
day
a
‘like’

could
cure
a
disease?

Or
sharing
a
video
could

greatly
reduce
everyone’s

carbon
footprint?
[10]

Photo
by
Jonathan
Kriz
via
ﬂickr

Literature Cited
[1]
Sharma,
R.
(2014,
August
20).
Stop
Pouring
Ice
on
Click=vism.
Huffington
Post.
Retrieved
from
hNp://www.huffingtonpost.com/
ritusharma/stop-‐pouring-‐ice-‐on-‐click_b_5692555.html

[2]
Cas=llo,
M.,
Petrie,
R.,

Wardell,
C.
(2014,
January
25).
Fundraising
through
online
social
networks:
A
fi
eld
experiment
on
peer-‐
to-‐peer
solicita=on.
Journal
of
Public
Economics,
114,
29-‐35.
Retrieved
from
hNp://mason.gmu.edu/~rpetrie1/
JPubEcon_Fundraising_through_online_social_media_2014.pdf

[3]
Stern,
C.
M.
(2015,
March
21).
In
Praise
of
Click=vism.
Huffington
Post.
Retrieved
from
hNp://www.huffingtonpost.com/caryl-‐m-‐
stern/in-‐praise-‐of-‐click=vism_b_6978314.html

[4]
Adhikar,
A.
(2012,
April
5).
How
chari=es
can
use
social
media
for
digital
campaigning.
The
Guardian.
Retrieved
from
hNp://
www.theguardian.com/voluntary-‐sector-‐network/2012/apr/05/chari=es-‐social-‐media-‐digital-‐campaigning

[5]
Kielburger,
C.,

Kielburger,
M.
(2015,
April
10).
A
click
is
not
enough
to
have
impact
on
world.
Canoe
News.
Retrieved
from

hNp://cnews.canoe.com/CNEWS/World/2015/04/10/22337541.html

[6]
Lau,
O.,

Prosser,
N.
(n.d.).
What
is
click=vism?.
In
Click=vist.
Retrieved
June
2,
2015,
from
hNp://www.click=vist.org/what-‐is-‐
click=vism/

[7]
Dupree,
Steven.
Crowdfunding
101:
Pros
and
Cons.
Graduate
School
of
Stanford
Business
.
N.p.,
n.d.
Web.
3
June
2015.

hNp://www.gsb.stanford.edu/ces/crowdfunding-‐101.

[8]
Wheat,
R.
E.,
Wang,
Y.,
Byrnes,
J.
E.,

Ranganathan,
J.
(2013).
Raising
money
for
scien=fic
research
through
crowdfunding.

Trends
in
ecology

evolu=on,
28(2),
71-‐72.

[9]
Mollick,
E.
(2014).
The
dynamics
of
crowdfunding:
An
exploratory
study.
Journal
of
Business
Venturing,
29(1),
1-‐16.

[10]
Oteng,
J.
(2014,
August
18).
Genera=on
ideal:
Millennials
and
social
media
ac=vism.
The
USA
TODAY
-‐
College.
Retrieved
from

hNp://college.usatoday.com/2014/08/18/genera=on-‐ideal-‐millennials-‐and-‐social-‐media-‐ac=vism/

[11]
Safronova,
V.
(2014,
December
19).
Millennials
and
the
Age
of
Tumblr
Ac=vism.
The
New
York
Times.
Retrieved
from
hNp://
www.ny=mes.com/2014/12/21/style/millennials-‐and-‐the-‐age-‐of-‐tumblr-‐ac=vism.html?_r=0

[12]
Braunstein,
S.
(2014,
April
18).
Social
media
fuels
millennials'
genuine
ac=vism.
San
Jose
Mercury
News.
Retrieved
from
hNp://
www.mercurynews.com/teens/ci_25593969/social-‐media-‐fuels-‐millennials-‐genuine-‐ac=vism

Photographs
from
flickr
all
have
Crea+ve
Commons
Licenses

Photo
by
Hiroyuki
Takeda
via
flickr

Debbie Down-ing on Clicktivism

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