This morning I received a Facebook invitation to join a group called “Libraries Across Africa”. Now, I don’t know what “Libraries Across Africa” exactly is, but I quickly clicked the link, glazed over some copy about wanting to “radically accelerate the construction of public libraries in Africa in order to provide information access, for the largest number, at the least cost” and clicked “Like”. I thought, ‘It’s Africa. I like Africa. It’s libraries. I also happen to like libraries. It’s a seemingly innocent, well-intentioned attempt to bring light to a situation that if remedied would have significant and long lasting effects on the entire continents present and future. I’m in!’ I clicked “Like”. I felt better. I’m think my voice was heard.

But in truth, that elated feeling of pride in action, was fleeting. Soon after my morning foray into ‘feel good activism’, I was checking movie times; illegally downloading music and trying to find a good thesaurus app for my phone that’ll make me sound smarter. This is when I realized I’d committed an egregious act of “Clicktivism”.

Let’s do some quick reflection.

Sometime between the naiveté of the ‘60’s, the cynicism of the ‘80’s and the oh-so predictable capriciousness of the ‘00’s, the spirit of activism was willfully hijacked and stripped to a near catatonic state of apathy. Now, in an undefined space, neither dedication nor good intent can wriggle out the least bit of real world care from a group so suddenly dependent on the marketization of Internet activism; they’ve practically etched it into their design.

According to Adbusters contributing editor and Guardian writer Micah White, this phenomenon is called “Clicktivism”. No longer is social change measured in the results of the actions that led to it, but in the amount of clicks and sign ups a particular cause can garner via the social networking sites, email petitions and advertisements. It’s lazy, armchair politics at its most bleak and ironically, most calculated. What disturbs White and his position on the rising tide of Clicktivism is based in the roots of modern day digital activism. At its core, these tactics fall more under the umbrella of marketing than they do of social action. And marketing ideas rather than enacting physical change makes for a comatose lot, mindlessly clicking “Like” buttons in passing.

White writes,

“Clicktivists utilize sophisticated email marketing software that brags of its "extensive tracking" including "opens, clicks, actions, sign-ups, unsubscribes, bounces and referrals, in total and by source". And clicktivists equate political power with raising these "open-rate" and "click-rate" percentages, which are so dismally low that they are kept secret. The exclusive emphasis on metrics results in a race to the bottom of political engagement.”

Sure, protests do happen, but far less frequently. Demonstrations can occur, but with lower attendance. People simply have turned their activist bone into another quickly silenced branch of the conscience. An “I did that. I feel better for now” attitude prevails, while real flesh-and-bone activism slowly suffers.

Are the long coveted practices of the marketing and advertising world slowly killing the spirit and subsequently the value of true activism?

Links to consider:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/aug/12/clicktivism-ruining-leftist-activism