Clicktivism: The Next Stage in Social ActivismHow to properly utilize the new era of Hyperconnectivity

By: Cory Turk

Photo by: Radek Grzybowski

Or Social Media Activism on its own does not promote real change but relevant Social Media Activism coupled with a larger campaign, can lead to effective results.

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1. What  is  Clicktivism  and  why  it’s  beneficial

2. Failed Attempts

3. Success Stories

4. Tips  for  Success

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Part 1: What is Clicktivism?

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Clicktivism is the use of social media and other online methods to promote a cause

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1. What  is  Clicktivism2. Failed Attempts3. Success Stories4. Tips  for  Success

We live in a world of overexposure, where

we are unable to properly pay

attention to one thing for an extended

period of time

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Why  is  it  Beneficial?

1. What  is  Clicktivism2. Failed Attempts3. Success Stories4. Tips  for  Success

“It takes seven to eightexposures, on average, to motivate someone to take action. So any help with awareness is a boon.”

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“The goal of clicktivism isn’t to solve problems;

it’s to bring awareness to a cause that we

otherwise wouldn’t know about.”

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people are on social media. That’s roughly 7times the population of The United States. This number increases by roughly 10 million a year.

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There are roughly 2.22 Billion people on social media. That’s roughly 7times the population of The United States. This number increases by roughly 10 million a year.

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As More and more people turn towards social media. There is

an opportunity to spread messages and ideas about

causes that would have been previously impossible to spread

to the masses.

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“The real power of social media, compared to passive mass media, is that they can be used by any person or self-organizing group for a common goal.”

Be warned, you have to be careful how you go about your cause, or nothing may happen!Photo by: William

Iven

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was a social media campaign designed to raise awareness over the kidnapping of 276 girls in Nigeria by terrorist group Boko Haram. 58 of them escaped, 218 are still missing.

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3 million retweets were sent using this hashtag. Worldwide attention was on these girls but Boko Haram, was not going to respect political pressure.

#BringBackOurGirls got worldwide attention but was not structured to succeed since they were targeting an unrealisticgoal.

“One year ago the world stood with a small Nigerian community to demand authorities “bring back our girls.” Today, there may be no one to bring back.”

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The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge and the UNICEF Tap Project both properly utilized clicktivism by incorporating a larger campaign that was tailored towards individual contribution and overall tangible success.

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Was a social media campaign that received worldwide recognition and got numerous celebrity endorsements. The challenge was to get people to either dump a bucket of ice water on their heads or donate $100.

Photo by: Elise Amendola Forbes http://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2014/08/19/think-the-ice-bucket-challenge-is-stupid-youre-wrong/#37d7461839b0

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The ALS ice bucket challenge raised tremendous amounts of money. 15.6 million from July 29 – August 18 Alone! 800% over what was raised in the same period last year.

ALS’ achieved greatsuccessbecause they were able to involve everyone individually and offer a tangible and fun contribution that helped a noble cause and took the social media world by storm

“The ice bucket challenge is raising awareness by being inclusive, fun, humorous, and touching. It is a true viral offline/online campaign, and a great blueprint for other nonprofits to follow.”

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Was a social media campaign that raised money by people being unplugged. The more time people stayed off their devices, the more money donated to clean water projects. Fifteen minutes of “digital detox” lead to a day’s supply of clean water.

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In 2014, 2.6 million UNICEF Tap Project participants from around the world generated more than a million dollars. Over 350,000 referrals to the site were sent on Facebook.

success can be credited to a cool approach to clicktivismby encouraging people to turn off social media. The campaign was paired with corporate sponsors, tangibleresults, and a larger cause, led people to feel their individual contributions were making a real difference

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Part 4:Tips for success

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1. Pair  online  task  or  challenge  with  a  much  larger  ongoing  campgin.  real  

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1. Pair online activism with a larger ongoing campaign. Real world issues resonate with people and tend to grab their attention!

2. Promote a cause that can lead to an actual result. spreading awareness is great but if you want change, the results need to be achievable.

3. 60% of Clictivists have expressed their opinion on a political issue by writing emails to government or signing a petition. Any cause can be impactful, find one you are passionate about and go for it!

As  with  any  stand-­alone  action,  a  petition  cannot  sustain  a  campaign by  itself  and  is  unlikely to  create  change.  But coupled with offline actions, media, and grassroots

activism, a petition can bring new voices into a campaign and cause effective results

Final Thoughts

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1. Prosser, Nate. "What Is Clicktivism." Clicktivist - Digital Campaigning One Click at a Time. Web. 01 June 2016. <http://www.clicktivist.org/what-is-clicktivism/>. Continous blog with no date

2. Sharma, Ritu. "Stop Pouring Ice on Clicktivism." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 20 Aug. 2014. Web. 03 June 2016. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ritusharma/stop-pouring-ice-on-click_b_5692555.html>.

3. "Number of Worldwide Social Network Users 2010-2019 | Statistic." Statista. Web. 02 June 2016. <http://www.statista.com/statistics/278414/number-of-worldwide-social-network-users/>.

4. "Countries in the World by Population (2016)." Worldometers. United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, 2015. Web. 01 June 2016. <http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/population-by-country/>.

5. Bresciani, Sabrina, and Andreas Schmeil. "Social Media Platforms for Social Good." 2012 6th IEEE International Conference on Digital Ecosystems and Technologies (DEST). June 2012. Web. 02 June 2016. <http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.proxy.queensu.ca/xpls/icp.jsp?arnumber=6227944>.

6. "Bring Back Our Girls." Bring Back Our Girls Now. 2014. Web. 01 June 2016. <http://www.bringbackourgirls.ng>. continuously updated blog 23

7. Kielburger, Craig, and Marc Kielburger. "A Click Is Not Enough to Have Impact on World." Canoe.com. 10 Apr. 2015. Web. 01 June 2016. <http://cnews.canoe.com/CNEWS/World/2015/04/10/22337541.html>.

8. Stern, Caryl M. "In Praise of Clicktivism." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 31 Mar. 2015. Web. 03 June 2016. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/caryl-m-stern/in-praise-of-clicktivism_b_6978314.html>.

9. Xie, Jenny. "Pew: Online Political Activism Grows, But ‘Slacktivism’ Problem Remains." Pew: Online Political Activism Grows, But ‘Slacktivism’ Problem Remains. Web. 03 June 2016. <http://mediashift.org/2013/05/pew-online-political-activity-is-growing-but-slacktivism-and-class-related-gaps-loom/>. no published date

10. Dewey, Caitlin. "How Facebook Knows Who All Your Friends Are, Even Better than You Do." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 2 Apr. 2015. Web. 03 June 2016. <https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2015/04/02/how-facebook-knows-who-all-your-friends-are-even-better-than-you-do/?wprss=rss_technology>.

11. Moore, Garth. "When Clicking Counts: In Defense of Slacktivism and Clicktivism." ONE. 03 May 2012. Web. 03 June 2016. <https://www.one.org/us/2012/05/03/when-clicking-counts-in-defense-of-slacktivism-and-clicktivism/>.

12. Each  photo  is  from  www.UnSplash.com ,  every  photographer   is  credited  on  their  photo.  (unless  stated  otherwise)  

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