Challenging “Slacktivism”： Activism on Social Media Is Not Enough別再做無(wú)用的“鍵盤(pán)俠”

By+Amanda+A.+Jones

網(wǎng)絡(luò)時(shí)代，社交媒體易于分享、交互性強(qiáng)的特性使得人們漸漸淪為“懶人行動(dòng)派”：對(duì)于某個(gè)熱門(mén)事件，我們常常不辨真假就在社交媒體上瘋狂行動(dòng)，又是點(diǎn)贊，又是轉(zhuǎn)發(fā)，發(fā)完?duì)顟B(tài)還要去寫(xiě)評(píng)論，似乎只需當(dāng)個(gè)“鍵盤(pán)俠”，世界就會(huì)因此更美好。然而，這種盲目的跟風(fēng)行為和對(duì)熱點(diǎn)的短暫關(guān)注真能收到什么實(shí)際效果么？相比于在網(wǎng)上活躍，我們是不是更應(yīng)在現(xiàn)實(shí)中做些什么？

. New Oriental English

別再做無(wú)用的“鍵盤(pán)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 “l(fā)ikes” 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(shí)，我被自己收到的推送消息嚇了一跳，因?yàn)槔锩鎺缀跞俏业腇acebook好友們對(duì)同一條消息的轉(zhuǎn)發(fā)。這條被瘋轉(zhuǎn)的狀態(tài)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(hù)區(qū)的人們，從而將他們鎖定為目標(biāo)，試圖擾亂祈禱營(yíng)的抗議活動(dòng)。因此，“水的保護(hù)者們”在此向所有人呼吁，請(qǐng)前往“北達(dá)科他州立巖保護(hù)區(qū)”的活動(dòng)頁(yè)面進(jìn)行簽到，以混淆警方視聽(tīng)。哪怕足不出戶，你也能憑借這一實(shí)際行動(dòng)保護(hù)那些將自己的人身安全和福祉置于危險(xiǎn)中的人。

你會(huì)和我一起參與到立巖保護(hù)區(qū)的抗議活動(dòng)中來(lái)嗎？

如果你要分享你在“立巖保護(hù)區(qū)”活動(dòng)頁(yè)面的簽到位置（你確實(shí)應(yīng)該這樣做）：

1）請(qǐng)將簽到信息設(shè)為“所有人可見(jiàn)”；

2）另外再發(fā)一條澄清狀態(tài)，將其設(shè)為“僅好友可見(jiàn)”；

3）在你的簽到信息里什么也不要說(shuō)，給那些留言說(shuō)“注意安全！”的朋友們發(fā)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(duì)警*來(lái)說(shuō)更有說(shuō)服力/迷惑力；

4）通過(guò)復(fù)制、粘貼來(lái)分享澄清狀態(tài)（就像這一條），因?yàn)閷⒊吻鍫顟B(tài)設(shè)為“所有人可見(jiàn)”可能會(huì)暴露我們的身份；

5）請(qǐng)?jiān)诔吻鍫顟B(tài)中用“Randing Stock”這個(gè)名字，這樣當(dāng)警察在過(guò)濾/搜索這些字符時(shí)，你的狀態(tài)就能被該看到的人看到。

除了轉(zhuǎn)發(fā)這條狀態(tài)以外，我的許多Facebook好友還按照這條被瘋轉(zhuǎn)的信息的指示，前往“立巖保護(hù)區(qū)”頁(yè)面簽到，以便“混淆[警方]視聽(tīng)”。起初，看到這么多人想要參加“達(dá)州輸油管道”抗議活動(dòng)，我覺(jué)得實(shí)在是件了不起的事情，我甚至還考慮自己也要去“立巖保護(hù)區(qū)”簽到。但在仔細(xì)思考了一天以后，我決定不這么做。

有多少人對(duì)立巖保護(hù)區(qū)的實(shí)際情況進(jìn)行過(guò)調(diào)查呢？莫頓縣警局真的在使用Facebook的簽到功能來(lái)甄別抗議者嗎？到底是誰(shuí)說(shuō)的幾千人去“立巖保護(hù)區(qū)”簽到就能“迷惑”警方呢？如果那些身在立巖保護(hù)區(qū)的抗議者原先就知道簽到會(huì)有被警察盯上的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)，那他們?yōu)槭裁催€一定要去簽到呢？沒(méi)人清楚這條消息的來(lái)源，轉(zhuǎn)發(fā)的狀態(tài)消息中也沒(méi)有引用任何能夠驗(yàn)證消息真假的出處。當(dāng)務(wù)之急難道不是要先核實(shí)這條消息是真實(shí)的而不是謠言才對(duì)嗎？

在我看來(lái)，社交媒體上如病毒般瘋狂傳播的行動(dòng)主義——比如去“立巖保護(hù)區(qū)”簽到，分享熱門(mén)標(biāo)簽，或是將自己的頭像換成某一國(guó)家國(guó)旗的顏色——大多是非常膚淺的。當(dāng)然，這對(duì)為某件事情贏取關(guān)注而言很有用（這確實(shí)很重要），但就其根本來(lái)說(shuō)，不過(guò)是突然迅速流行一陣，來(lái)也匆匆，去也匆匆罷了。人們不假思索地加入進(jìn)來(lái)，又立刻被下一個(gè)熱點(diǎn)事件吸引，將前一個(gè)事件拋在腦后。從表面上看，這似乎是某種實(shí)實(shí)在在的行動(dòng)主義，但實(shí)際上，這種行動(dòng)主義徒有其表——我將其稱為“懶人行動(dòng)主義”。網(wǎng)上的“懶人行動(dòng)主義”就像參與者們對(duì)這些活動(dòng)的了解程度一樣，是非常淺薄的。

在我看來(lái)，人們熱衷于和他們社交網(wǎng)絡(luò)上的朋友們一道，對(duì)最新一波的熱點(diǎn)活動(dòng)跟風(fēng)轉(zhuǎn)帖，卻不去調(diào)查和研究這些活動(dòng)背后的真實(shí)原因，也不去思考他們到底在做什么。我承認(rèn)，扎堆兒跟風(fēng)很有誘惑力，但是在我做任何事情之前，我會(huì)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(chǎn)生什么結(jié)果，還是只能得到那些就本質(zhì)而言毫無(wú)意義的“贊”。盡管我的消息推送里滿是高漲的熱情和看起來(lái)真誠(chéng)關(guān)心的姿態(tài)，但我問(wèn)自己，這背后的深度和激情在哪里？一個(gè)缺乏深度的行為又怎么會(huì)在一個(gè)真實(shí)、非虛擬的世界里產(chǎn)生影響呢？

在Facebook上對(duì)社會(huì)活動(dòng)表現(xiàn)出積極熱情，只能幫助人們?yōu)樽约核茉煲桓薄瓣P(guān)心社會(huì)”的形象，使他們覺(jué)得自己好像為社會(huì)變革做了點(diǎn)事情，僅此而已。有些時(shí)候，人們通過(guò)參加社交媒體上那些瘋狂傳播的社會(huì)活動(dòng)確實(shí)能帶來(lái)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(dá)反政府武裝頭目和軍事領(lǐng)袖以及阻止強(qiáng)制征召娃娃兵的臭名昭著的#Kony2012“行動(dòng)”嗎？或者在社交媒體上紅極一時(shí)的#bringbackourgirls全球活動(dòng)？這個(gè)活動(dòng)的目的是敦促尼日利亞政府以更大的力度將在奇博克鎮(zhèn)被博科圣地綁架的276名女孩解救出來(lái)。數(shù)百萬(wàn)人發(fā)布帶有同一熱門(mén)標(biāo)簽的推文是否將這些女孩子營(yíng)救回來(lái)了呢？檢驗(yàn)成功與否的最終標(biāo)準(zhǔn)是它的結(jié)果：兩年多過(guò)去了，這些女孩依然不見(jiàn)蹤影。

社交媒體上的行動(dòng)主義僅僅可以被當(dāng)做是某一個(gè)人參與到某一項(xiàng)自己真心相信的事情中去的起點(diǎn)。后續(xù)本來(lái)還有非常多可以做的事情，而許多已經(jīng)對(duì)自己在社交媒體上所做的貢獻(xiàn)心滿意足的人們卻沒(méi)有去做。發(fā)布一條狀態(tài)或分享一個(gè)熱門(mén)標(biāo)簽只能算是最微小的行動(dòng)。我知道人們生活忙碌，個(gè)人能力有限，很可能沒(méi)有時(shí)間或財(cái)力為某項(xiàng)活動(dòng)做貢獻(xiàn)。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(xiàn)活躍，那么請(qǐng)確保你完全了解你所支持的那件事情，確實(shí)相信你所發(fā)布的內(nèi)容有所幫助，而不僅僅是為了湊個(gè)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(zhēng)的人們，我鼓勵(lì)這些人走出門(mén)去，尋找更有效的方法，參與到社會(huì)和政治的變革當(dāng)中。去游行。去抗議。寫(xiě)信給政客。為組織捐款。參加座談會(huì)，豐富自己的知識(shí)，以便更有效地促使變革發(fā)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?yàn)槲覀兌加心芰κ惯@個(gè)世界變得更美好。這要靠我們每個(gè)人自己去發(fā)掘出這份潛能，使其產(chǎn)生超出我們預(yù)期的結(jié)果。