Slaktivism

Slaktivism is a term that started appearing around the mid-'90's and is used to describe those who seek social change, but with minimum energy output. Or better said - people with a conscious who also know how to mobilize technology and social networks to make signficiant change.

Check out this infographic from mashable.com - it highlights, how, over the past 15 years more people are turning on, tuning in, and making a difference through micro-giving, small actions, roll-modeling.

I had a tweet exchange the other day with @alderaphobia around how this type of social communication is changing the way that the philanthropic sector operates. Concern was expressed that I might be jumping on the "slaktivism is killing philanthropy bandwagon." Hardly the case. I do agree with the tweet that because many charities don't understand how to effectively integrate micro-volunteering, and those who self-identify as slaktivists, there is a skewing of what these individuals are trying to achieve.

There are a few assumptions that I am making as I write this piece. Most importantly that we are in a social and economic revolution right now. Just as societies went through the industrial revolutions, we are going through an information revolution. The former had hard, tangible resources; the latter's resources are ideas based. The former had policies that governed the work-place; the later is creating a workplace in a virtual environment that spans the globe and is creating operating policies and proceedures as the systems evolve, new technologies emerge, and new governments are formed.

Just like during the industrial revolution, it took the front-line workers to band together and create changes within their situation, in the idea revolution the slaktivists are the ones that are working alongside the grassroots groups to gain the populous groundswell required for tackling some of these complex problems.

In the next few years over 50Million people will be using mobile phones, not just for calling, texting and taking pictures, but also for engaging in social action activities either through micro-giving, petition signing, people gathering and most importantly information dissemination through social networks (Facebook, Twitter, FourSquare, etc.). How will you be tapping into this phenomenon of easy information access and message sharing? What role should charity boards play in setting policies around grassroots engagement? As a donor to an organization, is it important to you that the agencies you support have a strategy for engaging the slaktivists within your communiity?

What I really like about this lable (and I am not keen on lables) is that it allows those who feel that philanthropy is only for the wealthy, to actually get engaged, have an emotional experience, and as a result of the work of the masses, see signficant change. I also want to temper this by saying that we need to have both sides of the coin. Those who engage in community activities in person over an extended period of time and expend resources (energy or financial) doing so is still the cornerstone of how our current social system operates.

Understanding where a social media campaign ends and a traditional activist campaign begins is what makes an effective rollout of whatever it is you are striving to achieve. We often see what happens when these campaigns aren't successful, or when there is a disconnect between the "mother-ship" and the community. A breakdown of trust and ultimately the fizzling out - case and point: Occupy Wall Street.

Donors - embrace your inner slaktivist and encourage others to join you in your quest. Charities - Make sure you have a clear engagement and follow-up plan - these individuals are your front-line and just as quickly as they type their Tweet and hit send, they can also Unlike your Facebook page because you didn't follow-up. Share you slaktivism story on our facebook page, this blog, or tweet us your story - @DexterityCon