tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/slacktivism-24060/articlesSlacktivism – The Conversation2022-11-17T14:19:39Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1942572022-11-17T14:19:39Z2022-11-17T14:19:39ZSocial media campaigns can be effective – if offline action is also taken. A case study from Ghana<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/494819/original/file-20221111-18-fkr2kh.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Ghana's protest culture has grown along with the spread of social media</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dieu-Donné Gameli/Wikimedia Commons</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Ghana has about six million social media users out of a population of <a href="https://census2021.statsghana.gov.gh/">31 million</a>. WhatsApp, Facebook and YouTube are the three dominant social media platforms, while Instagram and Twitter are gradually gaining popularity. </p>
<p>Most users are young, educated and in the middle class or above. Men outnumber women online. </p>
<p>Ghanaian political parties have used social media largely to complement their traditional communication channels. This was particularly true in the 2012, 2016 and 2020 general elections. </p>
<p>But a new trend is emerging – the use of social media for online activism. This was evident in the <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2014/7/14/occupy-flagstaff-house-wake-up-call-for-ghanas-democracy">#OccupyFlagstaffHouse</a> and <a href="https://citifmonline.com/2014/07/red-friday-protest-against-govt-begins-today/">#RedFriday</a> 2014 campaigns. </p>
<p>The #OccupyFlagstaffHouse campaign was the first to be launched on Facebook and Twitter, on 28 June 2014. It was started by regular citizens engaging online. Within four days, it led to a demonstration at the Efua Sutherland Children’s Park in Ghana’s capital and picketing at Flagstaff House, Ghana’s presidential palace and seat of government. </p>
<p>Ten days after the #OccupyFlagstaffHouse demonstration, the organisers launched “The Red Campaign” (#RedFriday), aimed at compelling the government to address the issues raised in the first demonstration. The campaign encouraged Ghanaians to wear red on Fridays to indicate solidarity with the campaign, and to post photos and videos of themselves on Facebook and Twitter using the hashtags #RedFriday and #OccupyFlagstaffHouse.</p>
<p>In my <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14791420.2022.2130950">research paper</a>, I set out to highlight the synergy between social movement theory and social media critical discourse studies.</p>
<p>I conclude from my findings that the leaders of Occupy Ghana did some work in the physical world that enhanced their online campaign. I, therefore, argue that social media campaigns and digital activism can be fruitful if they are followed up by practical offline actions. The absence of action on the streets can result in people supporting a cause by performing simple measures without being truly engaged or devoted to making a change. This has been termed “slacktivism” in the literature.</p>
<h2>A digital warpath</h2>
<p>I based the study on <a href="https://sk.sagepub.com/reference/socialtheory/n278.xml#:%7E:text=Social%20movement%20theory%20attempts%20to,mobilization%2C%20and%20political%20process%20theories.">social movement theory</a>, which delineates how and why people mobilise themselves for sociopolitical action, as well as the effect of such action.</p>
<p>The data for this study comprised tweets produced by and interactions involving the OccupyGhana Official Twitter account before, during, and after the #OccupyFlagstaffHouse and #RedFriday campaigns. </p>
<p>The name of the Twitter handle is @occupyGh. The sample spanned 12 months of activity, from 28 June 2014 to 30 June 2015.</p>
<p>The analysis showed three mechanisms used in the tweets to promote the objectives of the protesters and put pressure on the government to tackle the issues responsible for the debilitating economic situation. </p>
<p>Specifically, the tweets performed a dual function of social activism in the form of promoting critical awareness and preparing the ground for an offline demonstration.</p>
<p><strong>Constructing the Ghanaian government as insensitive.</strong> The tweeters represented the Ghanaian government as an uncaring administration that showed little-to-no concern for the plight of Ghanaians. Tweets that expressed this constituted about 37% of the entire dataset:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>TWT 31. The government has been slow to respond to our #OccupyFlagstaffHouse petition. The cedi hasn’t fared better. The economy isn’t better.
TWT 36. The reason this government is not getting citizen support is that they deny what the real effects of their lack of ideas is on the masses.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In these tweets, the protesters, via a referential strategy realised by noun phrases such as “the government”, “this government”, “our government” and “they”, explicitly identify the entity they consider to be responsible for their predicament.</p>
<p><strong>Representing Ghanaians as the suffering masses.</strong> Positioning themselves as the voice of the people, the protesters construct Ghanaians as a people suffering due to poor leadership, bad governance and mismanagement of the economy. These constituted approximately 39% of the tweets analysed.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>TWT 247. #RedFriday because we are all living under increasingly harsh conditions and with IMF, we are likely to have worsened living conditions.
TWT 248. #RedFriday because workers face rapidly declining real wages due to the depreciation of the currency and increasing inflation.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Using expressions such as “dire economic conditions”, “worsened living conditions”, “increasingly harsh conditions” and “declining wages”, the tweeters frame the people of Ghana as victims of an irresponsible government; hence the need to “remind our president that he promised us a better Ghana”.</p>
<p><strong>Exploiting stance for sociopolitical objectives.</strong> Stance is a term that refers to “the lexical and grammatical expression of attitudes, feelings, judgements or commitment concerning the propositional content of a message”. It gives an indication of how writers present themselves and communicate their opinions and commitment. Stance enables writers to position themselves in relation to others and to “<a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1461445605050365">stamp their personal authority onto their arguments or step back and disguise their involvement</a>”. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>TWT 73. #RedFriday demands @JDMahama should make prudent economic and social
policies that would make the standard of living better for Ghanaians.
TWT 74. #RedFriday demands Government should manage the exchange rate and save the #Ghana Cedi from the current free fall to prevent price hikes.
TWT 117. What do we want from all this? That we will hand to our children a Ghana better than we inherited from our fathers. #redFriday</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The use of stance in the form of “evidentiality”, “affect” and “presence”
helped the protesters project their positions and underline their advocacy and civic engagement commitments to persuade the masses to support the goals of the protest.</p>
<h2>Proof</h2>
<p>The Occupy Ghana pressure group was founded in 2014 as a result of the #OccupyFlagstaffHouse and #RedFriday campaigns. It continues to play a pivotal role in national discussions. Its leaders and members make regular media appearances, and it has built alliances and partnerships with other civil society organisations, think tanks and political pressure groups to analyse and review public policies and initiatives. </p>
<p>The movement is an example of how social media campaigns and digital activism can be fruitful if they are followed up by practical and strategic offline actions.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194257/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark Nartey does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Digital activism can be fruitful if it is followed up by practical and strategic offline actions.Mark Nartey, Lecturer, English Language and Linguistics, University of the West of EnglandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1633292021-06-29T15:18:43Z2021-06-29T15:18:43ZA decade since ‘the year of the hacktivist’, online protests look set to return<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408871/original/file-20210629-18-e1dmb4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3613%2C2400&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/mulhouse-france-17-january-2019-vendetta-1287142978">NeydtStock/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many of us vaguely remember the word “<a href="https://www.techopedia.com/definition/2410/hacktivism">hacktivism</a>” from a decade ago. This was a time before serious <a href="https://theconversation.com/ransomware-gangs-are-running-riot-paying-them-off-doesnt-help-155254">ransomware attacks</a> dominated current cybersecurity concerns, when certain hacking techniques were being used to send political messages to governmental and corporate entities.</p>
<p>Hacktivism has since <a href="https://www.darkreading.com/the-state-of-hacktivism-in-2020-/d/d-id/1338382">retreated</a> as a form of protest, in part due to the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/jan/24/hacking-us-government-cyber-crackdown">prosecution</a> of prominent hacktivists, sometimes with what appear to be disproportionately <a href="https://theconversation.com/hactivists-arent-terrorists-but-us-prosecutors-make-little-distinction-45260">severe sentences</a>. But with the ongoing pandemic <a href="https://www.cityam.com/extinction-rebellion-cancels-london-protest-over-coronavirus/">restricting</a> physical protests <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)01239-3/fulltext">globally</a>, and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/jun/22/curbs-on-protests-in-policing-bill-breach-human-rights-laws-mps-and-peers-say">new bills</a> being drawn up to curb offline protest, it looks as if hacktivism may be set for a return.</p>
<p><a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-030-55841-3_4">My research</a> into hacktivism and cybercrime helps place hacktivism in its historical context – from which we can understand how, where and why hackers may soon resort once again to digital protest across the world.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/beyond-hashtags-how-a-new-wave-of-digital-activists-is-changing-society-57502">Beyond hashtags: how a new wave of digital activists is changing society</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Hacktivism may have reached its peak a decade ago, but it’s been a feature of online activism since the <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2013/04/29/hacktivism-a-short-history/">early popularisation</a> of the internet. Major hacktivist groups, such as the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Electronic-Disturbance-Theater">Electronic Disturbance Theater</a>, the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080226121652/http://www.networkworld.com/research/2000/0529feat2.html">Electrohippies</a> and <a href="https://www.hacktivismo.com/">Hacktivismo</a>, were already active in the late 1990s. <a href="http://oro.open.ac.uk/5089/">At the time</a>, they supported the <a href="https://theconversation.com/mexicos-masked-marxists-meet-the-zapatistas-21726">Zapatista</a> movement in Mexico, protested global wealth inequality and flagged security issues in popular software.</p>
<p>Even traditional activist groups – such as <a href="https://wayback.archive-it.org/9650/20200403205550/http://p3-raw.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/features/bhopal-protests-move-online/">Greenpeace</a> and the German anti-racist collective <a href="http://www.kein-mensch-ist-illegal.org/">Kein Mensch ist illegal</a> – were known to use hacktivist protest tactics long before its rise to global prominence. </p>
<p>In fact, Kein Mensch ist illegal led a “collective blockade” of Lufthansa’s website in 2001 to <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/1399685.stm">protest</a> the airline’s cooperation with the German government’s deportation policies. <a href="https://edri.org/our-work/edrigramnumber4-11demonstration/">A Frankfurt Appeals court</a> would eventually rule that this hacktivist activity amounted to freedom of expression – not criminal activity – but this legal precedent was not followed by courts <a href="https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783319717579">elsewhere</a>.</p>
<h2>Hacktivism’s heyday</h2>
<p>Hacktivism began attracting global attention when <a href="https://www.versobooks.com/books/2027-hacker-hoaxer-whistleblower-spy">Anonymous</a> – a loose collective of hackers, politicised internet users, trolls and pranksters – decided to focus on political issues. The collective targeted the <a href="https://www.cnet.com/news/anonymous-hackers-take-on-the-church-of-scientology/">Church of Scientology</a> for censoring online content in 2008, and mobilised to protect whistleblower websites such as <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/deciphering-the-murky-world-of-hackers-supporting-wikileaks">WikiLeaks</a> in 2010, among <a href="https://resources.infosecinstitute.com/topic/a-history-of-anonymous/">various other</a> actions with national and international implications. The activities of Anonymous would eventually lead major cybersecurity companies to characterise 2011 as the “<a href="https://www.sophos.com/medialibrary/PDFs/other/SophosSecurityThreatReport2012.ashx">year of the hacktivist</a>”. </p>
<p>Soon, hacktivist groups were springing up across the world. Anonymous itself sported many national branches, and these groups contributed to common political struggles at the same time as weighing in during local uprisings. For instance, Anonymous took down dozens of the <a href="https://thehackernews.com/2012/12/anonymous-hit-egyptian-government.html">Egyptian government’s websites</a> in 2012 during the Arab Spring protests.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ydIOjQW3AJQ?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>This explosion in hacktivist activity did not go unpunished, despite the hacktivist claim that online protest is <a href="https://slate.com/technology/2010/12/pro-wikileaks-denial-of-service-attacks-just-another-form-of-civil-disobedience.html">as valid</a> as offline protest. Some hacktivists were found to violate cybercrime laws, such as the UK’s <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1990/18/contents">Computer Misuse Act 1990</a>, and various protesters were prosecuted and convicted in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/jan/24/anonymous-hackers-jailed-cyber-attacks">the UK</a> and <a href="http://sip-trunking.tmcnet.com/news/2011/09/01/5747845.htm">the US</a>. </p>
<p>Perhaps the most high-profile prosecution was that of the American internet wonder-kid <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vz06QO3UkQ">Aaron Swartz</a>, who’d bypassed university cybersecurity safeguards in an <a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/112418/aaron-swartz-suicide-why-he-broke-jstor-and-mit">attempt to download</a> and make public an entire database of academic papers. Swartz <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/aaron-swartz-suicide_n_2462819?ri18n=true">died by suicide</a> in the lead up to his trial, bringing US cybercrime laws and their <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/jan/24/hacking-us-government-cyber-crackdown">aggressive enforcement</a> into question. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, cybercrime laws have only <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-030-55841-3_4">intensified</a> in the years since, forcing hacktivists into a retreat. But their tactics remain effective and, given that the pandemic has restricted our capability to conduct physical protests <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/world/year-covid-19-pandemic-s-impact-global-conflict-and-demonstration-trends">worldwide</a>, hacktivism could soon be redeployed as an alternative way of expressing dissent in the post-COVID era.</p>
<h2>Hacktivist tactics</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.alexandrasamuel.com/dissertation/pdfs/Samuel-Hacktivism-frontmatter.pdf">Traditionally</a>, hacktivists have tried to mimic offline forms of protest and civil disobedience, but in the online space. They’ve used website defacements, often called “<a href="https://www.sitepoint.com/graffiti-artists-internet/">internet graffiti</a>”, to scrawl political messages on targeted websites. And <a href="https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/collection/denial-service-dos-guidance-collection">denial of service</a> (DoS) attacks, which are designed to overwhelm a website with traffic in order to make it crash, are also common. Hacktivists often call these virtual sit-ins.</p>
<p>In contrast to internet graffiti, which can be facilitated by a single skilled hacker, virtual sit-ins require mass participation. That makes these protests far more democratically legitimate and impactful – as well as sharing the criminal liability among the virtual protesters. </p>
<p>I’ve highlighted the <a href="https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783319717579">positive aspects</a> of these tactics in my research, praising how they bring citizen dissent into the online environment while globalising important political causes. But virtual sit-ins also have financial implications for the attacked organisations and <a href="https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783319717579">systems</a>. Meanwhile, some commentators have criticised hacktivism as a form of empty “<a href="https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104302141&t=1624376009849">slacktivism</a>” which they say isn’t comparable to the political conscientiousness and resolution of street protests.</p>
<p>Although hacktivism in principle is all about promoting <a href="https://www.itpro.co.uk/hacking/30203/what-is-hacktivism">socially beneficial causes</a> while minimising harms, it can also become muddled with a less justifiable vigilantist rationale. For example, Anonymous members have in the past exposed the personal details of individuals such as <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/09/anonymous-goes-after-pepper-spray-cops-personal-info/337447/">police officers</a>, which puts them and their families at risk. Meanwhile, the hacktivist group <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/may/16/lulzsec-hacking-fbi-jail">Lulzsec</a> has been known to target big organisations for the sake of the challenge, rather than for a political purpose. Finally, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/27/india-pakistan-online-war-includes-hacks-social-media.html">nationalist hacktivists</a> have historically been involved in cross-border hacker wars which has, in some cases, escalated into real-world violence.</p>
<h2>Hacktivism’s revival?</h2>
<p>Irrespective of these criticisms, one can’t help but think that in the new post-pandemic era, with all of us spending much <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-55486157">more time online</a>, these political tactics could become popular again across the political spectrum. In fact, there have already been <a href="https://redrevolution.co.uk/2019/04/19/anonymous-declare-support-for-extinction-rebellion-in-italy-data-leaked-from-6-organizations/">activities</a> that indicate hacktivism may be becoming a side-tactic for groups such as <a href="https://extinctionrebellion.uk/2020/04/29/history-corner-how-murder-in-mexico-birthed-online-civil-disobedience/">Extinction Rebellion</a>, which has been reconsidering its future tactics in light of restrictions and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jun/26/12-arrested-raids-extinction-rebellion-london-protest">preemptive arrests</a>.</p>
<p>Hacktivism never went away entirely. Anonymous did in fact reemerge during the summer 2020 <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-52879000">Black Lives Matter</a> protests, targeting police forces’ websites with hacks. But we’re still in a transitional period, with organised hacktivist efforts far less common than they were a decade ago.</p>
<p>Yet the stage seems set for a third wave of hacktivism. New protest movements are gradually gaining traction with the public, and hacktivist activity could make for a popular alternative to in-person civil disobedience in a period when many of us are still concerned about COVID-19 transmission. </p>
<p>As <a href="https://www.undp.org/press-releases/worlds-largest-survey-public-opinion-climate-change-majority-people-call-wide">environmental</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/07/03/us/george-floyd-protests-crowd-size.html">anti-discrimination</a> movements grow internationally, and their underlying goals <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/george-floyd-protests-us-climate-change-strike-green-movement-a9544566.html">unite citizens</a> on a global scale, it’ll be fascinating to see whether hacktivist tactics can seriously contribute to galvanising change in an increasingly politicised world.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/163329/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Vasileios Karagiannopoulos does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The hacktivist collective ‘Anonymous’ has become just that – but the hacktivism they espoused may be set to return.Vasileios Karagiannopoulos, Reader in Cybercrime and Cybersecurity, University of PortsmouthLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/938742018-03-26T10:17:43Z2018-03-26T10:17:43Z#DeleteFacebook is still feeding the beast – but there are ways to overcome surveillance capitalism<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/211716/original/file-20180323-54903-rh8il3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Not creepy at all.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">antb / Shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the wake of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/psychographics-the-behavioural-analysis-that-helped-cambridge-analytica-know-voters-minds-93675">Cambridge Analytica scandal</a>, many people are questioning whether or not to delete their Facebook accounts. It’s not the first time this has happened. I can’t recall how many times I have seen calls to boycott Facebook – on Facebook – ever since I started using the social media platform. </p>
<p>But many people (myself included) simply click the “Like” button of the call, then carry on using Facebook. The latest #DeleteFacebook campaign could well be another hapless boycott. And the irony of this is that the energy and emotion spent on the #DeleteFacebook campaign could well be harvested and used to target us as consumers in one way or another.</p>
<p>This is because Facebook – and many other digital platforms – are built on our data. The platform is one of many companies that are part of a heavily personalised, data-intensive economy that exploits the digital labour of its user base. You might not think of your interactions on Facebook (or Instagram or Twitter) as labour, but the way you produce and manage various emotions on these platforms gives them reams of information about your likes and dislikes.</p>
<p>These platforms are free to use. They make their money by <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/apple-boss-tim-cook-slams-google-and-facebook-for-selling-their-users-data-10295158.html">selling your data to advertisers</a>. So whether it’s reading and interacting with #middleclassproblems or reacting to a cat video, people register all sorts of emotions involved in performing their daily routines. This ranges from managing the frustration of operating technological tools (like apps) to anger about train delays. </p>
<p>The terabytes of data we generate in our interactions on these platforms allows companies to “datafy”, quantify, track, monitor, profile us and sell target adverts to haunt us. This is an economic system that has been dubbed “surveillance capitalism”. And it is fuelled by <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/682920?journalCode=signs">“affective labour”</a> – a concept borrowed from feminism studies to refer to the invisible, yet intense, work embedded in producing and managing our emotions. </p>
<h2>Beyond slacktivism</h2>
<p>The #DeleteFacebook campaign is an emotional response to the Cambridge Analytica scandal. This anger will be recorded and exploited, because again it’s encouraging people to react on Facebook or other social media. </p>
<p>Slacktivism – where people show support for the trending #DeleteFacebook campaign but do little about it in real life – will probably feed into this surveillance capitalistic machine. While I think we ought to hold Facebook accountable, I am not sure supporting #DeleteFacebook without any further action is an effective method for sabotage. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/211712/original/file-20180323-54863-9j0eba.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/211712/original/file-20180323-54863-9j0eba.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211712/original/file-20180323-54863-9j0eba.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211712/original/file-20180323-54863-9j0eba.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211712/original/file-20180323-54863-9j0eba.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211712/original/file-20180323-54863-9j0eba.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211712/original/file-20180323-54863-9j0eba.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Emotional labour.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/like-concept-illustration-young-people-using-496650994?src=tTEv2fl2KBqs4-RWdlfwVA-1-7">shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So, as conscious consumers, what can we do? There are ways to subvert this surveillance capitalism and alternative, fairer platforms have been attempted. </p>
<p>For example, people have developed decentralised social media projects such as <a href="https://freedomboxfoundation.org/">Freedom Box</a> (a system for personal publishing), <a href="https://diasporafoundation.org/">Diaspora</a> (a decentralised social network), <a href="https://mastodon.social/about">Mastodon</a> (a non-commercial Twitter-like service) – to name just a few – to replace Facebook. </p>
<p>But these projects, though creative and unique in their own ways of addressing data privacy and transparency, have not been effective in removing the big data “platform monopolies”, a term coined by researchers at <a href="http://dci.mit.edu/decentralizedweb">MIT’s Digital Currency Initiative</a>. </p>
<p>This is because, while it may be technologically viable to design projects to decentralise the storage of data and allow users to take back control of their data, they cannot save users from being socially locked-in by platforms like Facebook. The tech is there but the human factor appears to be the hardest to address. People need to want to leave and see the benefit of it. </p>
<h2>The GDPR</h2>
<p>Having said that, it does not mean that consumers should be left powerless in a data-driven economy. The new <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/gdpr-47073">General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)</a>, which will become enforceable on May 25 2018, mandates the right to <a href="https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/individual-rights/right-to-data-portability/">data portability</a> in the EU. This is particularly important because it will give users choices and control that helps balance the asymmetrical relationship between them and providers at present. </p>
<p>The GDPR affects all companies operating in the EU. It says people have the right to receive their personal data: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>In a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and have the right to transmit those data to another controller without hindrance from the controller to which the personal data have been provided.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This gives strong basis to command big data companies like Facebook to invest their profits in tech that enables people to transmit their data directly from one platform to another. </p>
<p>By mobilising data flow, we will be able to see greater mobility between different social networks. This should assuage those fears you have of leaving Facebook and losing all the information you’ve gathered on it. It should lead to a fairer economic ecosystem.</p>
<p>Plus, it is imperative to increase data literacy, raise awareness of how transparent a company’s data policy is, and improve consumer education in the digital age. How many people are aware, for example, the extent to which Facebook tracks your online activity and sells your data to advertisers?</p>
<p>The <a href="http://lifeofdata.org.uk/about/">“data journey” framework</a>, developed by Jo Bates, Paula Goodale and myself, helps understand data trajectories from production through to various contexts of big data collation, distribution and reuse. It questions how our values and actions transform as they interact with the data over the course of its journey. This framework can be used to enhance engagement with and education around data literacy.</p>
<p>Only when we understand how data are made, collected, used and exploited, can we appreciate the value of our data, and the importance of transparency with what’s done with it, and privacy. While there is no quick fix to these problems, I hope by raising awareness of the exploitation of our emotional labour and investigating “data journeys” the discussion can be taken to a new level.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/93874/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Yuwei Lin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Slacktivism won’t cut it in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal.Yuwei Lin, Senior Lecturer in Journalism and Media Studies, University of StirlingLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/868582018-03-09T04:24:42Z2018-03-09T04:24:42ZCitizens of the Great Barrier Reef: going beyond our backyard to protect the reef<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193518/original/file-20171107-1068-102b43p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Photo Jorge Alvarez Romero</span> </figcaption></figure><p>From place-based to problem-based campaigns, we are seeing a rise in initiatives aiming to foster collective environmental stewardship among concerned citizens across the globe. These international communities have arisen to meet new environmental challenges and seize the opportunities presented by our increasingly connected world.</p>
<p>Traditional approaches to community engagement have tended to focus only on the involvement of local people. However, the recently launched <a href="https://citizensgbr.org/">Citizens of the Great Barrier Reef</a> initiative highlights the changing nature of community engagement aimed at fostering environmental stewardship. </p>
<p>In a globalised world, maintaining treasures like the Great Barrier Reef and other ecosystems affected by global-scale threats demands new approaches that involve participation not only of people living locally, but also those in distant places.</p>
<h2>A connected world</h2>
<p>Today’s environmental problems tend to be characterised by social and environmental connections with distant places. </p>
<p>In terms of environmental connections, places such as the Great Barrier Reef are increasingly affected by global threats. These include: <a href="https://theconversation.com/shipping-in-the-great-barrier-reef-the-miners-highway-39251">poor water quality</a> associated with port dredging driven by international mining; reef fisheries influenced by national and international markets; and, most importantly, <a href="https://theconversation.com/back-to-back-bleaching-has-now-hit-two-thirds-of-the-great-barrier-reef-76092">coral bleaching</a> caused by climate change. Social and political action beyond the local is need to combat these threats.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/coral-bleaching-comes-to-the-great-barrier-reef-as-record-breaking-global-temperatures-continue-56570">Coral bleaching comes to the Great Barrier Reef as record-breaking global temperatures continue</a>
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</p>
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<p>Social connections are increasing through both ease of travel and social media and other forms of virtual communication. This provides opportunities to engage more people across the globe to take meaningful action than ever before. People are able to form and maintain attachments to special places no matter where they are in the world. </p>
<p>Our <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/114/38/10077">recent research</a>, involving more than 5,000 people from over 40 countries, shows that people living far from the Great Barrier Reef can have strong emotional bonds comparable to locals’ attachments. These bonds can be strong enough to motivate them to take action. </p>
<h2>Harnessing social media</h2>
<p>Increasing social connections across the globe don’t only allow people in distant locations to maintain their attachments to a place. They also provide a vehicle to leverage those attachments into taking meaningful actions to protect these places.</p>
<p>Such strategies can now be used even in the most remote of locations – such as 60 metres above the forest floor in a remote part of Tasmania. </p>
<p>During her 451-day tree sit, <a href="https://theconversation.com/digital-tree-sitting-environmental-protest-when-media-is-everywhere-10993">activist Miranda Gibson</a> co-ordinated an online action campaign. She was able to engage a global audience through blogging, live streaming and posting videos and photos.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/digital-tree-sitting-environmental-protest-when-media-is-everywhere-10993">Digital tree-sitting: environmental protest when media is everywhere</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<p>Social media provide a new way to foster a sense of community among people far and wide. In this sense, “community” doesn’t have to be local; individuals with common interests and identities can share a sense of community globally. Indeed, this is a key ingredient for collective action. </p>
<p>Employing images and language targeted to appeal to people’s shared attachments to a place can help increase collective stewardship of that place.</p>
<p>These global communities reflect “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imagined_community">imagined communities</a>”, a concept developed by political scientist <a href="https://theconversation.com/ben-andersons-legacy-for-our-modern-communities-52323">Benedict Anderson</a> to analyse nationalism. Anderson suggests that nations are imagined in the sense that members “will never know most of their fellow members or even hear of them, yet in the minds of each lives the image of their communion”.</p>
<p>Such communities of environmental stewardship can have significant impact. For example, this type of community – which UTAS Professor Libby Lester termed “<a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1329878X1415000128">transnational communities of concern</a>” – played a key role in the decline in Japanese market demand for Tasmanian forest products.</p>
<h2>Beyond slacktivism</h2>
<p>An important challenge in engaging distant communities in environmental stewardship is to avoid the pitfalls of “<a href="http://foreignpolicy.com/2009/09/05/from-slacktivism-to-activism/">slacktivism</a>”. </p>
<p>This refers to the phenomenon of people taking online actions that require little effort, such as joining a Facebook group. It makes them feel good about contributing to a cause but can stop them from taking further action that has real on-the-ground impacts.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/slacktivism-vs-snarktivism-how-do-you-take-your-online-activism-13180">'Slacktivism' vs 'snarktivism': how do you take your online activism?</a>
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</p>
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<p>More meaningful options are available to people in remote places that can result in real change. These include lobbying national governments, international organisations (such as the World Heritage Committee), or transnational corporations (to prioritise corporate social responsibility, for example). Most organisations that have successfully engaged distant people in environmental stewardship, including <a href="https://www.fightforourreef.org.au/">Fight for Our Reef</a>, have tended to take a political approach to help with lobbying efforts.</p>
<p>Other meaningful actions that can be undertaken remotely include supporting relevant NGOs and reducing individual consumption. </p>
<h2>A new approach to global citizenship</h2>
<p>The Citizens for the Reef emphatically <a href="https://citizensgbr.org/building-a-global-community/">state</a> that they are “not looking for Facebook likes” but seek “real action”. </p>
<p>The six actions being promoted include reducing consumption of four disposable products, eliminating food wastage, and financially supporting crown-of-thorns starfish control. Signed-up citizens are given an “impact score”, based on undertaking these actions and recruiting others, and can compare their progress to others around the world.</p>
<p>The initiative provides an example of a new form of environmental activism that is emerging in response to increasing global environmental and social connection. The significant challenge for this initiative is to gain the sustained engagement of enough people to achieve real-world impact. </p>
<p>Ultimately, however, while the local to global public certainly have a critical part to play in addressing these threats, this does not diminish the responsibility of government and the private sector for safeguarding the future livelihood of the Great Barrier Reef.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/86858/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Georgina Gurney does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New global communities of concerned citizens can help protect iconic places such as the Great Barrier Reef. But the scope of these remote communities must extend beyond mere ‘slacktivism’.Georgina Gurney, Environmental Social Science Research Fellow, James Cook UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/795002017-08-02T00:57:47Z2017-08-02T00:57:47ZMore than ‘slacktivism’: we dismiss the power of politics online at our peril<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/174863/original/file-20170621-30161-12pwj92.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Political groups of all stripes recognise the enormous power of online mass persuasion, one meme at a time.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/fibonacciblue/32452974604/">Fibonacci Blue/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This article is part of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/democracy-futures">Democracy Futures</a> series, a <a href="http://sydneydemocracynetwork.org/democracy-futures/">joint global initiative</a> between The Conversation and the <a href="http://sydneydemocracynetwork.org/">Sydney Democracy Network</a>. The project aims to stimulate fresh thinking about the many challenges facing democracies in the 21st century.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>Log on to Facebook or Twitter and you’re likely to see a deluge of political posts – a humorous <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-donald-trump-won-the-2016-meme-wars-68580">meme</a> or viral video skewering politicians like Donald Trump, the latest hashtag slogan in response to breaking news, maybe even a social movement symbol as an updated profile picture. </p>
<p>The sharing of political opinion on social media is now ubiquitous. But what does it mean for democracy?</p>
<p>For years, debate has raged about the significance of symbolic, expressive political activity at the level of the everyday citizen. </p>
<p>Critics fear it is simply self-satisfying “<a href="https://theconversation.com/slacktivism-that-works-small-changes-matter-69271">slacktivism</a>”. It gives people an easy way to feel they’re contributing to a cause while substituting for more intensive political participation. </p>
<p>Conversely, optimists see a flourishing of civic engagement on the internet that gives people an accessible entry point into politics. If it helps them to develop a sense of political identity and agency, that enables more participation down the line.</p>
<p>These contrasting positions both have merit. Yet are those who take them asking the right questions in the first place?</p>
<p>By evaluating online political expression only in terms of possible impacts on traditional political activity, we risk sidestepping a far more crucial set of issues.</p>
<h2>Forget ‘slacktivism’</h2>
<p>Myriad organisations and institutions see this citizen-level expression on social media as being far from just a private or personal affair. It is increasingly valued for its aggregate promotional power. The marketing professions know this as <a href="http://www.buzztalkmonitor.com/blog/electronic-word-of-mouth-presents-a-window-of-opportunity-for-businesses/">electronic word of mouth</a>.</p>
<p>Political groups of all stripes promote social media participation to amplify the reach and credibility of their persuasive messages. Although each individual act of posting, linking, commenting and liking may look insignificant up close, at a macro level they add up to nothing less than the networked spread of ideas. </p>
<p>There is enormous power here for mass persuasion, one viral share at a time. We dismiss this power at our peril.</p>
<p>During the 2016 US presidential election cycle social media soared to new heights of <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-relationship-between-social-media-and-traditional-media-has-shaped-this-election-61585">prominence</a> in the political media landscape. It appears we are finally starting to recognise this power for what it is. </p>
<hr>
<p><em><strong>Further reading: <a href="https://theconversation.com/trump-the-wannabe-king-ruling-by-twiat-72269">Trump, the wannabe king ruling by twiat</a></strong></em></p>
<hr>
<p>For instance, <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/craigsilverman/viral-fake-election-news-outperformed-real-news-on-facebook?utm_term=.sc0N0nwlP#.laLN2PYkM">controversy over fake news on sites like Facebook</a> has drawn attention to how peer-to-peer sharing can influence public opinion and even the course of elections (in this case by spreading false and defamatory messages about Hillary Clinton that consolidated her image problems). New <a href="https://datasociety.net/output/media-manipulation-and-disinfo-online/">research</a> has highlighted how:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>… far-right groups develop techniques of ‘attention hacking’ to increase the visibility of their ideas through the strategic use of social media, memes and bots.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/174873/original/file-20170621-30211-16o258g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/174873/original/file-20170621-30211-16o258g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=358&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174873/original/file-20170621-30211-16o258g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=358&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174873/original/file-20170621-30211-16o258g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=358&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174873/original/file-20170621-30211-16o258g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174873/original/file-20170621-30211-16o258g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174873/original/file-20170621-30211-16o258g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fake news stories from websites like End The Fed are designed to go viral on social media.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">End The Fed</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The so-called alt-right celebrates its “<a href="http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/03/memes-4chan-trump-supporters-trolls-internet-214856">meme magic</a>” in propagating white nationalist ideology online in service of Trump. The pro-Clinton <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/05/correct-the-record-online-trolls/484847/">“Correct the Record” political action committee</a> admits to paying people to post on social media during her primary battle with Bernie Sanders. We are seeing the persuasive value of citizen-level political media coming into sharp focus.</p>
<p>We need to reflect on how we each use this power. That involves thinking through the consequences of what we share online and how it can both strengthen and harm democratic values.</p>
<h2>The citizen marketer</h2>
<p>Sharing political opinion on social media must be understood in no small part as participation in political <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-citizen-marketer-9780190658069?lang=en&cc=us">marketing</a>. Its practitioners have long circulated persuasive media messages to shape the public mind and influence political outcomes. </p>
<p>This understanding calls for a new kind of media literacy. It requires individuals to acknowledge their own position in circuits of media influence and take seriously their capacity to help shape the flow of political ideas across networks of peers. </p>
<p>We should no longer think of political marketing — or its conceptual forebear, propaganda — as something only powerful elites do. We must recognise that we are all now complicit in this process every time we spread political messages via media platforms that we personally control.</p>
<p>Many citizens are keenly aware of their capacity to persuade their peers through their online posting. They have embraced the role of social media influencer. Most often, they focus on trying to rally the like-minded or undecided, rather than winning over converts from the other side.</p>
<p>This <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-citizen-marketer-9780190658069?lang=en&cc=us">citizen marketer</a> approach to political action can be seen as an outgrowth of the more established concept of the citizen consumer. A citizen consumer deliberately uses their spending power as another way to influence the political sphere. </p>
<p>They may, for instance, buy only environmentally friendly products, or boycott companies whose CEOs donate to campaigns and causes that the consumer opposes. Similarly, we are seeing citizens use their power as micro-level agents of viral media promotion and word-of-mouth endorsement to advance a wide range of political interests and agendas.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ry-hqi9zRuM?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">#BlackLivesMatter forced America to confront racism once more using the power of social media.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There is an enormous opportunity to democratise the flow of political media messages and publicise causes that lie outside the mainstream. </p>
<p>Consider recent activist movements, often built around viral hashtags like #occupywallsteet and #blacklivesmatter. Here, citizens are co-opting the tools and logics of social media marketing to advocate for political ideas that are typically poorly represented in the corporate mass media.</p>
<p>By recognising the potential value of our own grassroots political marketing power, we can gain a foothold in a political media landscape that elite interests traditionally dominated. </p>
<p>Perhaps even more importantly, cultivating a sense of responsibility for what we share on social media puts us in a better position to navigate the emerging digital ecosystem in which these elite actors are capitalising upon — at times even exploiting – our electronic word of mouth.</p>
<hr>
<p><em><strong>Further reading: <a href="https://theconversation.com/not-so-grassroots-how-the-snowflake-model-is-transforming-political-campaigns-54166">Snowflake model is transforming political campaigns</a></strong></em></p>
<hr>
<h2>Know what you are posting, and who you are posting for</h2>
<p>Nowadays, major election campaigns and large-scale issue advocacy organisations have professional digital marketing teams. One of their tasks is to spur the promotional labour of everyday citizens to maximise the virality of their messages, whether these people are truly aware of their participation in political marketing or not. </p>
<p>In addition, for-profit political news sites like Breitbart and The Daily Kos have become dependent on social media shares to boost clicks and advertising revenue, as well as to advance their proprietors’ often-partisan agendas.</p>
<p>In this environment, it is crucial that we make informed decisions when we lend our promotional labour and word-of-mouth endorsement to institutional actors and the interests and agendas they represent. </p>
<p>At times we may be eager to act as “<a href="https://www.ignitesocialmedia.com/social-media-strategy/how-to-build-brand-evangelists-with-3-winning-examples/">brand evangelists</a>” for candidates, parties, advocacy groups or news agencies whose political goals align with our own. At other times developing media literacy might cause us to pause and reflect before we amplify the latest trending political message.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/174864/original/file-20170621-30177-1k2nd9j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/174864/original/file-20170621-30177-1k2nd9j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174864/original/file-20170621-30177-1k2nd9j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174864/original/file-20170621-30177-1k2nd9j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174864/original/file-20170621-30177-1k2nd9j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174864/original/file-20170621-30177-1k2nd9j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174864/original/file-20170621-30177-1k2nd9j.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Human Rights Campaign logo that made the rounds on Facebook.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Human Rights Campaign</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Back in 2013, Facebook users <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/technology/2013/03/what-is-that-red-equal-sign-on-facebook-all-about/">posted a red equal sign</a> as their profile picture to express their support for same-sex marriage. Some had <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-citizen-marketer-9780190658069?lang=en&cc=us">no idea</a> the symbol was the logo of the <a href="http://www.hrc.org/">Human Rights Campaign</a>. This organisation has had a <a href="http://transgriot.blogspot.com/2013/04/why-trans-community-loathes-hrc.html">controversial</a> status in the LGBT movement because of its past treatment of transgender issues.</p>
<p>Would these citizens still have posted the image if they knew they were participating in a viral marketing campaign for an organisation that was not universally supported by the LGBT community, and whose message of equality has drawn criticism for emphasising assimilation over radical structural change? </p>
<p>Or would they have chosen instead to amplify an image and an organisation with a different shade of meaning?</p>
<p>These kinds of important conversations can only be opened up if we start to develop a critical literacy of the citizen marketer approach and how it is transforming what it means to be an active participant in our media-dominated, postmodern political reality.</p>
<p>If we see our online political expressions as mere “slacktivism”, a simple private matter, or just having fun with friends, then we become more vulnerable to manipulation by forces that seek to exploit our citizen marketing power to serve agendas that we may not share.</p>
<p>If we become more aware of our position in these circuits of power, we will be better equipped to resist this manipulation. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>Joel Penney’s new book, <a href="https://www.citizenmarketer.org">The Citizen Marketer</a>, is available from <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-citizen-marketer-9780190658069?lang=en&cc=us">Oxford University Press</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/79500/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joel Penney does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Each individual act of posting, linking, commenting and liking may look insignificant up close, but they add up. There is enormous power here for mass persuasion, one viral share at a time.Joel Penney, Professor of Communication and Media, Montclair State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/692712016-12-16T03:19:53Z2016-12-16T03:19:53Z‘Slacktivism’ that works: ‘Small changes’ matter<p>In 2013, <a href="https://www.change.org/p/no-more-steubenvilles-educate-coaches-about-sexual-assault">an online petition</a> persuaded a national organization representing high school coaches to develop materials to <a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/04/girls-tweeting-not-twerking-their-way-to-power/">educate coaches about sexual assault and how they could help reduce assaults by their athletes</a>. Online petitions have changed decisions by major corporations (<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/nov/02/petition-bank-of-america-debit-card-fee">ask Bank of America</a> about its debit card fees) and affected decisions on policies as diverse as those related to <a href="https://www.wired.com/2016/06/funny-die-helped-congress-finally-agree-something/">survivors of sexual assault</a> and <a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/digitally-enabled-social-change">local photography permitting requirements</a>. Organizing and participating in these campaigns has also been <a href="https://mobilizingideas.wordpress.com/2011/12/12/reflections-on-digitally-enabled-social-change-activism-in-the-internet-age/">personally meaningful</a> to many. </p>
<p>But, <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/10/04/small-change-malcolm-gladwell">a nostalgia for 1960s activism leads many to assume that “real” protest only happens on the street</a>. Critics assume that classic social movement tactics such as rallies and demonstrations <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/03/29/the-fall-and-rise-from-we-shall-overcome-to-we-are-the-world.html">represent the only effective model for collectively pressing for change</a>. Putting your body on the line and doing that collectively for decades is viewed as the only way “people power” works. Engaging online in “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slacktivism">slacktivism</a>” is a waste, making what cultural commentator Malcolm Gladwell has called “<a href="http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/10/04/small-change-malcolm-gladwell">small change</a>.”</p>
<p>This amounts to a debate over the “right way” to protest. And it’s <a href="https://www.cnet.com/news/hillary-clinton-president-change-org-donald-trump-electoral-college/">bound to heat up</a>: The election of Donald Trump is pushing <a href="https://grist.org/living/environmental-organizations-see-an-outpouring-of-support-post-election/">many people who have not previously engaged</a> <a href="http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/bs-md-trump-advocacy-20161112-story.html">in activism</a> to look for ways to get involved; others are redoubling their efforts. People have a range of possible responses, including doing nothing, using online connections to mobilize and publicize support and protesting in the streets – or some combination of tactics.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://mobilizingideas.wordpress.com/2015/11/13/informing-activists/">social movement scholar</a> and someone who believes we should leverage all assets in a challenge, I know that much social good can come from mass involvement – and <a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/digitally-enabled-social-change">research shows that includes online activism</a>. The key to understanding the promise of what I prefer to call “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Net-Effect-Cyberadvocacy-Political-Landscape/dp/1879617463">flash activism</a>” is considering the bigger picture, which includes all those people who care but are at risk of doing nothing.</p>
<h2>Most people are apathetic</h2>
<p>Social movement scholars have known for decades that most people, even if they agree with an idea, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2095297">don’t take action to support it</a>. For most people upset by a policy decision or a disturbing news event, the default is not to protest in the streets, but rather to <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2095324">watch others as they do</a>. Getting to <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9780470999103.ch16">the point where someone acts as part of a group</a> is a milestone in itself.</p>
<p>Decades of research show that <a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/digitally-enabled-social-change">people will be more willing to engage in activism that is easy, and less costly</a> – emotionally, physically, or financially. For example, <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-can-the-mass-check-in-at-standing-rock-tell-us-about-online-advocacy-68276">more than a million people used social media</a> to “check in” at the Standing Rock Reservation, center of the Dakota Access Pipeline protests. Far fewer people – <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38087180">just a few thousand</a> – have traveled to the North Dakota camps to brave the arriving winter weather and risk arrest.</p>
<p>Once people are primed to act, it’s important not to discourage them from taking that step, however small. Preliminary findings from my team’s current research suggest that people just beginning to explore activism can be disheartened by bring criticized for doing something wrong. Part of the reason people volunteer is to feel good about themselves and effective about changing the world. Shaming them for making “small change” is a way to reduce numbers of protesters, not to increase them. Shaming can also create a legacy of political inactivity: Turning kids off from involvement now could encourage decades of disengagement.</p>
<h2>‘Success’ takes many forms</h2>
<p>“Flash activism,” the label I prefer for online protest forms such as online petition, can be effective at influencing targets in specific circumstances. Think of a flash flood, where the debilitating rush of involvement overwhelms a system. Numbers matter. Whether you are a high school coach, Bank of America, the Obama administration or a local council member, an overwhelming flood of signatures, emails and phone calls can be quite persuasive.</p>
<p>Further, all that 1960s-era street-style protest is effective only in certain circumstances. Research shows it can be very <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/4495030">good at bringing attention to topics</a> that should be on the public or policymakers’ agenda. But historically protests are <a href="http://responsivegov.eu/images/documents/Caren.pdf">less successful at changing entrenched opinions</a>. For instance, once you have an opinion about abortion access, it is fairly difficult for movements to get people to change their views. And, while the protests we are so nostalgic for sometimes succeeded, <a href="http://www.cambridge.org/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9781107539211">they also often fail where policy change is concerned</a>.</p>
<h2>The glass can be half-full</h2>
<p>Online protest is easy, nearly cost-free in democratic nations, and can help drive positive social change. In addition, flash activism can help build stronger movements in the future. If current activists view online support as an asset, rather than with resentment because it is different from “traditional” methods, they can mobilize vast numbers of people.</p>
<p>Take, for example, the “<a href="http://invisiblechildren.com/kony-2012/">Kony 2012</a>” viral video campaign calling for the arrest of indicted war criminal Joseph Kony. Some <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/12/business/media/kony-2012-video-illustrates-the-power-of-simplicity.html">hated the campaign</a>; others highlighted its ability to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/15/opinion/kristof-viral-video-vicious-warlord.html">draw attention to an issue many thought Americans wouldn’t care about</a>. Think about the possibilities. Would Planned Parenthood be unhappy if 100 million Americans watched a persuasive short movie on abortion rights as civil rights today, and shared it with friends? Would the effort “matter”; would it help drive the direction of the public conversation about abortion?</p>
<p>And flash activism isn’t necessarily just a one-time game of numbers; MoveOn showed that with a big enough membership base, you could mobilize large numbers repeatedly. People who participate in one online action may join future efforts, or even broaden their involvement in activism. For example, <a href="http://ypp.dmlcentral.net/sites/default/files/publications/Participatory_Politics_New_Media_and_Youth_Political_Action.2012.pdf">kids who engage in politics online often do other political activities as well</a>.</p>
<h2>Many hands make light work</h2>
<p>Critics often worry that valuing <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/03/29/the-fall-and-rise-from-we-shall-overcome-to-we-are-the-world.html">flash activism will “water down” the meaning of activism</a>. But that misses the point and is counterproductive. The goal of activism is social change, not nostalgia or activism for activism’s sake. Most people who participate in flash activism would not have done more – rather, they would have done nothing at all. </p>
<p>Worse yet, when people denigrate flash activism, they are driving away potential allies. Critics of online efforts no doubt know that not everyone is willing to march or rally – but they miss the important potential for others to take actions that support and actually result in change.</p>
<p>Scholars and advocates alike should stop asking if flash activism matters. We should also stop assuming that offline protest always succeeds. Instead, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/1944-2866.POI357">we should seek out the best ways to achieve specific goals</a>. Sometimes the answer will be an online petition, sometimes it will be civil disobedience and sometimes it will be both – or something else entirely.</p>
<p>The real key for grassroots social change is to engage as many people as possible. That will require flexibility on how engagement occurs. <a href="https://mobilizingideas.wordpress.com/2015/11/13/informing-activists/">If people want larger and more effective social movements</a>, they should be working to find ways to include everyone who will do anything, not upholding an artificial standard of who is a “real activist” and who is not.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/69271/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennifer Earl receives funding from The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the National Science Foundation. </span></em></p>Much social good can come from mass involvement – and research shows that includes online activism. The bigger picture takes in all those people who care but are at risk of doing nothing.Jennifer Earl, Professor of Sociology, University of ArizonaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/618622016-06-30T12:28:59Z2016-06-30T12:28:59ZReferendum petition hack shows even democracy can be trolled<p>The electronic petition submitted to parliament calling for a second referendum on Britain’s exit from the European Union is a notable development in digital democracy. The number of signatories has passed 4m – how many will be required for it to represent a legitimate form of mass protest that deserves a political response? It’s certainly the most significant example of <a href="http://www.clicktivist.org/what-is-clicktivism/">clicktivism</a> the world has ever seen.</p>
<p>The internet has transformed the petition from a cumbersome pile of paper into a real-time gauge of disaffection from those too busy to gather together and paint banners and march, but sufficiently impassioned to follow a link on Facebook.</p>
<p>An online petition can be a viral mode of retribution, as was demonstrated by the recent controversy around the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-36414813">shooting of the gorilla Harambe in Cincinnati Zoo</a>. Although the parents of the child who fell into the gorilla’s enclosure were exonerated from accusations of neglect, many felt that the African-American family were only investigated following a <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/our-reaction-to-the-death-of-harambe-the-gorilla-and-the-black-toddler-who-was-saved-has-everything-a7059796.html">racially-motivated petition</a>.</p>
<p>However, e-petitioning is a form of legitimate protest with some notable successes: it <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/organgrinder/2010/jul/05/bbc-6-music-saved">saved BBC Radio 6 Music</a>, and was behind the <a href="https://www.rt.com/op-edge/194820-nobel-peace-prize-objectivity/">nomination of Malalai Joya for the Nobel Prize</a>. But it appears increasingly vulnerable to misuse and manipulation. The House of Commons is now investigating the possibility that 77,000 of the signatures in favour of a second referendum <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jun/26/petition-for-second-eu-referendum-may-have-been-manipulated">were fraudulent</a>, with numerous signatories in unlikely locations such as Ghana and North Korea – hardly hotbeds of pro-European sentiment. The dead giveaway was perhaps the 39,000 signatures from the Vatican City, which has a total population of 800.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"747063424132255745"}"></div></p>
<p>According to former Tory MP Louise Mensch the culprits of this fraud were not fervent tech-savvy Remainers pushing the limits of democratic legality, but a <a href="http://heatst.com/uk/exclusive-brexit-2nd-referendum-petition-a-4-chan-prank-bbc-report-it-as-real/">murky group of malcontents from the website 4chan</a>. 4chan has around 22m users a month generating anarchic, tasteless, witty and at times poisonous comment. While many internet memes such as lolcat and rickrolling were created by the 4chan community, there is also a well-documented dark side – such as the <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/jennifer-lawrence-4chan-naked-pictures-hack-actress-explains-how-she-copes-a-year-after-stolen-a6731361.html">theft and spread of intimate photos of celebrities</a>. Hacking this petition marks a worrying trend, moving from targeting individuals to attempting to influence politics.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/128853/original/image-20160630-30632-1lvlti1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/128853/original/image-20160630-30632-1lvlti1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128853/original/image-20160630-30632-1lvlti1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128853/original/image-20160630-30632-1lvlti1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128853/original/image-20160630-30632-1lvlti1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128853/original/image-20160630-30632-1lvlti1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128853/original/image-20160630-30632-1lvlti1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Actress Jennifer Lawrence, one of numerous women to have intimate pictures leaked on 4chan.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/gageskidmore/9362868330/in/photolist-fgn9yj-ffG3oe-fg9pxT-iJgBna-iJgBzK-iGMdr1-deHtJg-deHtMD-deHt19-dUkB72-d8KBE1-dwWWr4-dXDfTd-dRKjik-aJ1mAF-d8sSdC-deHt5b-oTdnzM-y9Ypea-jzUCLp-jyZUep-p5sTz7-J4KKYY-Bu7EBe-fg7zPr-bs5Bky-bHSLBK-dKzRYZ-p67Qyy-zGpjfT-pcYxEm-yQe3if-bnmYpQ-bnmYrm-bnmYrW-iqg6uo-iqfXob-iqfS9K-vEmT1h-v173Sn-v17bCH-fgn8Xj-fg81in-w7ysSt-vPxK9Y-fg9kA6-vUDttf-vEmgZq-vPwMM5-vPE2Ja">Gage Skidmore/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>During the Euro 2016 tournament in France, Russian officials offered evidence that Russian fans in Marseille were provoked by English fans – but the Twitter posts given as evidence <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/jun/16/russia-fake-euro-2016-violence-fans-twitter">were shown to be from false accounts</a>, and UK intelligence services suggested that the trail led back to the Kremlin. Russian president Vladimir Putin regards hacking, propaganda <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/05/europe-vladimir-putin-russia-social-media-trolls">and media manipulation</a> as a central part of his hybrid warfare against the West. As Islamic State has demonstrated, social media can be used not only as a means for propaganda but can also be weaponised into a medium for global terror.</p>
<p>This still doesn’t quite explain why 4chan users want to undermine democracy. Perhaps the answer lies in the site’s forum that goes under the innocuous name of /b/. Demos think-tank researcher, <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/the-dark-netinside-the-digital-underworld-by-jamie-bartlett-book-review-9696473.html">Jamie Bartlett</a>, identifies /b/ as part of the “dark net”, used as a base for the sort of extreme, aggressive trolling they call a “life ruin”. Life ruining is trolling whose intensity and technical ingenuity can all but destroy the life of the person targeted. Although /b/ makes up only a small proportion of 4chan activity, it is not unrepresentative of the sort of cruelty that takes place. So it was perhaps inevitable before those with such attitudes would find common cause with those with more nefarious political agendas. </p>
<p>In comparison, the trolling of democracy in the form of hacking the referendum petition is little more than just a prank. It’s obvious that demagogy is on the rise worldwide. In particular, the UK’s ill-advised referendum has shown that public opinion can easily be swayed by disinformation. While the fraudulent signatures on the petition are relatively few in number their presence is noxious: those 77,000 spammed signatories delegitimise the power of the 4m who have signed, prompting us to question the legitimacy of the rest.</p>
<p>With demagogues like UKIP’s Nigel Farage and US presidential hopeful Donald Trump capitalising on people’s prejudices and misconceptions, and legitimate politicians like Michael Gove and Boris Johnson <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jun/28/the-uk-needs-eu-experts-more-than-ever-now">mocking the world of facts and experts</a>, the potential exists for internet trolling to expand into a whole new dimension. In truth, cyber-bullying was never virtual. Its effects were always tangible and violent, only now they have moved out of the shadows and can be felt at a national level.</p>
<p>If a country can be swayed by a <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/eu-referendum-result-nigel-farage-nhs-pledge-disowns-350-million-pounds-a7099906.html">false statistic on the side of a bus</a>, imagine the result when the pranksters of 4chan realise that the trolls no longer need hide under the bridge awaiting their victims, but can now emerge onto the national stage and take their place along Farage, Trump, Le Pen and all the other monstrosities of our new politics of hate.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/61862/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>William David Watkin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>When politics and political institutions are trolled by the internet, the outlook is grim.William David Watkin, Professor of Contemporary Philosophy and Literature, Brunel University LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/532742016-02-02T11:07:33Z2016-02-02T11:07:33ZSo long social media: the kids are opting out of the online public square<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/109862/original/image-20160201-32244-rry1ki.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Phones out, but today's students are less likely to have Facebook or Twitter open.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=345889130">Phones image via www.shutterstock.com.</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When my digital media students are sitting, waiting for class to start and staring at their phones, they are not checking Facebook. They’re not checking Instagram, or Pinterest or Twitter. No, they’re catching up on the news of the day by checking out their friends’ Stories on Snapchat, chatting in Facebook Messenger or checking in with their friends in a group text. If the time drags, they might switch to Instagram to see what the brands they love are posting, or check in with Twitter for a laugh at some celebrity tweets. But, they tell me, most of the time they eschew the public square of social media for more intimate options. </p>
<h2>The times, they are a-changing</h2>
<p>For a few years now, alarms have been sounded in various quarters about Facebook’s teen problem. In 2013, one author explored <a href="http://www.cnet.com/news/why-teens-are-tiring-of-facebook/">why teens are tiring of Facebook</a>, and according to Time, <a href="http://business.time.com/2014/01/15/more-than-11-million-young-people-have-fled-facebook-since-2011/">more than 11 million young people have fled Facebook since 2011</a>. But many of these articles theorized that teens were moving instead to Instagram (a Facebook-owned property) and other social media platforms. In other words, teen flight was a Facebook problem, not a social media problem.</p>
<p>Today, however, the newest data increasingly support the idea that young people are actually transitioning out of using what we might term broadcast social media – like Facebook and Twitter – and switching instead to using narrowcast tools – like Messenger or Snapchat. Instead of posting generic and sanitized updates for all to see, they are sharing their transient goofy selfies and blow-by-blow descriptions of class with only their closest friends.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/08/19/mobile-messaging-and-social-media-2015/2015-08-19_social-media-update_03/"><img width="424" height="521" src="http://www.pewinternet.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2015/08/2015-08-19_social-media-update_03.png?w=424" class="attachment-large size-large" alt="Mobile Messaging Apps Particularly Popular Among Young Adults" srcset="http://www.pewinternet.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2015/08/2015-08-19_social-media-update_03.png 424w, http://www.pewinternet.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2015/08/2015-08-19_social-media-update_03.png?resize=244,300 244w, http://www.pewinternet.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2015/08/2015-08-19_social-media-update_03.png?resize=160,197 160w, http://www.pewinternet.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2015/08/2015-08-19_social-media-update_03.png?resize=330,405 330w, http://www.pewinternet.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2015/08/2015-08-19_social-media-update_03.png?resize=200,246 200w, http://www.pewinternet.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2015/08/2015-08-19_social-media-update_03.png?resize=260,319 260w, http://www.pewinternet.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2015/08/2015-08-19_social-media-update_03.png?resize=310,381 310w, http://www.pewinternet.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2015/08/2015-08-19_social-media-update_03.png?resize=420,516 420w" sizes="(max-width: 424px) 100vw, 424px"></a></p>
<p>For example, in <a href="http://www.pewinternet.org/files/2015/08/Social-Media-Update-2015-FINAL2.pdf">a study</a> published in August last year, the Pew Research Center reported that 49 percent of smartphone owners between 18 and 29 use messaging apps like Kik, Whatsapp or iMessage, and 41 percent use apps that automatically delete sent messages, like Snapchat. For context, note that according to <a href="http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/08/19/the-demographics-of-social-media-users/">another Pew study</a>, only 37 percent of people in that age range use Pinterest, only 22 percent use LinkedIn and only 32 percent use Twitter. Messaging clearly trumps these more publicly accessible forms of social media.</p>
<p>Admittedly, 82 percent of people aged 18 to 29 said that they do use Facebook. However, that 82 percent affirmatively answered the question, “Do you <em>ever</em> use the Internet or a mobile app to use Facebook?” (emphasis added). Having a Facebook account and actually <em>using</em> Facebook are two different things. While Pew does have data on how frequently people report using Facebook (<a href="http://www.pewinternet.org/files/2015/08/Social-Media-Update-2015-FINAL2.pdf">70 percent said at least once a day</a>), those data are not broken down by age. And anecdotal evidence such as what I’ve gathered from class discussions and assignments suggests that many younger people are logging in to Facebook simply to see what others are posting, rather than creating content of their own. Their photos, updates, likes and dislikes are increasingly shared only in closed gardens like group chat and Snapchat.</p>
<h2>Why would they leave?</h2>
<p>Although there is not a great deal of published research on the phenomenon, there seem to be several reasons why younger people are opting for messaging over social media. Based on my discussions with around 80 American college students, there appear to be three reasons for choosing something like Snapchat over Facebook.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/109861/original/image-20160201-32251-1yofn4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/109861/original/image-20160201-32251-1yofn4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/109861/original/image-20160201-32251-1yofn4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109861/original/image-20160201-32251-1yofn4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109861/original/image-20160201-32251-1yofn4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109861/original/image-20160201-32251-1yofn4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109861/original/image-20160201-32251-1yofn4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109861/original/image-20160201-32251-1yofn4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Granny did not need to see what you got up to last weekend.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-283931414/stock-photo-senior-woman-shocked-with-something-on-laptop-screen.html">Woman image via www.shutterstock.com.</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<ol>
<li><p><strong>My gran likes my profile picture</strong> As Facebook has wormed its way into our lives, its <a href="https://theconversation.com/thank-an-aging-audience-for-facebooks-proposed-dislike-button-47676">demographics have shifted dramatically</a>. According to Pew, 48 percent of Internet users <a href="http://example.comhttp://www.pewinternet.org/2015/08/19/the-demographics-of-social-media-users/">over the age of 65</a> use Facebook. As social media usage has spread beyond the young, social media have become less attractive to young people. Few college students want their parents to see their Friday night photos.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Permanence and ephemerality</strong> Many of the students I’ve spoken with avoid posting on sites like Facebook because, to quote one student, “Those pics are there <em>forever!</em>” Having grown up with these platforms, college students are well aware that nothing posted on Facebook is ever truly forgotten, and they are increasingly wary of the implications. Teens engage in <a href="http://info.ils.indiana.edu/%7Eherring/teens.gender.pdf">complex management of their self-presentation</a> in online spaces; for many college students, platforms like Snapchat, that promise ephemerality, are a welcome break from the need to police their online image. </p></li>
<li><p><strong>The professional and the personal</strong> Increasingly, young people are being warned that future employers, college admissions departments and <a href="http://www.psmag.com/nature-and-technology/mo-friends-mo-problems-might-have-to-defriend-joey-with-the-jet-ski-bankruptcy">even banks</a> will use their social media profiles to form assessments. In response, many of them seem to be using social media more strategically. For example, a number of my students create multiple profiles on sites like Twitter, under various names. They carefully curate the content they post on their public profiles on Facebook or LinkedIn, and save their real, private selves for other platforms. </p></li>
</ol>
<h2>Is this a problem?</h2>
<p>We may be seeing the next evolution in digital media. Just as young people were the first to migrate on to platforms like Facebook and Twitter, they may now be the first to leave and move on to something new.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/109885/original/image-20160201-32231-x1227v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/109885/original/image-20160201-32231-x1227v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/109885/original/image-20160201-32231-x1227v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109885/original/image-20160201-32231-x1227v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109885/original/image-20160201-32231-x1227v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109885/original/image-20160201-32231-x1227v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109885/original/image-20160201-32231-x1227v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109885/original/image-20160201-32231-x1227v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Young adults still are the most likely to use social media.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/10/08/social-networking-usage-2005-2015/">Pew Research Center</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This exodus of young people from publicly accessible social media to messaging that is restricted to smaller groups has a number of implications, both for the big businesses behind social media and for the public sphere more generally. </p>
<p>From a corporate perspective, the shift is potentially troubling. If young people are becoming less likely to provide personal details about themselves to online sites, the digital advertising machine that runs on such data (described in detail by Joe Turow in his book “<a href="http://yalebooks.com/book/9780300188011/daily-you">The Daily You</a>”) may face some major headwinds. </p>
<p>For example, if young people are no longer <a href="http://www.phillyvoice.com/facebook-plans-use-likes-targeted-ads/">“liking” things on Facebook</a>, the platform’s long-term value to advertisers may erode. Currently, Facebook <a href="https://www.facebook.com/notes/facebook-and-privacy/a-new-way-to-control-the-ads-you-see-on-facebook/926372204079329">uses data it gathers</a> about users’ “likes” and “shares” to target advertising at particular individuals. So, hypothetically, if you “like” an animal rescue, you may see advertisements for PetSmart on Facebook. This type of precision targeting has made Facebook into a formidable advertising platform; in 2015, the <a href="http://investor.fb.com/secfiling.cfm?filingID=1326801-16-43">company earned almost US$18 billion</a>, virtually all of it from advertising. If young people stop feeding the Facebook algorithm by clicking “like,” this revenue could be in jeopardy.</p>
<p>From the perspective of parents and older social media users, this shift can also seem troubling. Parents who may be accustomed to monitoring at least some proportion of their children’s online lives may find themselves increasingly shut out. On the other hand, for the growing number of adults who use these platforms to stay in touch with their own peer networks, exchange news and information, and network, this change may go virtually unnoticed. And, indeed, for the many older people who have never understood the attraction of airing one’s laundry on social media, the shift may even seem like a positive maturation among younger users.</p>
<p>From a social or academic perspective, the shift is both encouraging, in that it is supportive of <a href="https://www.aclu.org/issues/privacy-technology/internet-privacy">calls for more reticence online</a>, and also troubling. </p>
<p>As more and more political activity migrates online, and <a href="http://politybooks.com/book.asp?ref=9780745695754">social media play a role</a> in a number of important social movement activities, the exodus of the young could mean that they become less exposed to important social justice issues and political ideas. If college students spend most of their media time on group text and Snapchat, there is less opportunity for new ideas to enter their social networks. Emerging research is documenting the ways in which our use of social media for news monitoring can lead us to <a href="http://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaa1160">consume only narrow, partisan news</a>. If young people opt to use open messaging services even less, they may further reduce their exposure to news and ideas that challenge their current beliefs.</p>
<p>The great promise of social media was that they would create a powerful and open public sphere, in which ideas could spread and networks of political action could form. If it is true that the young are turning aside from these platforms, and spending most of their time with messaging apps that connect only those who are already connected, the political promise of social media may never be realized.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/53274/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Felicity Duncan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Young people are starting to skip the very public postings of some of social media’s original platforms. Why? And where will that leave the companies that rely on our willingness to divulge everything?Felicity Duncan, Assistant Professor of Digital Communication and Social Media, Cabrini CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/532992016-01-18T05:29:49Z2016-01-18T05:29:49ZIndonesia needs more than hashtags to defy terror<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/108389/original/image-20160118-13796-3l9he0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5034%2C3494&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">If people really want to create a social movement to counter terrorism, we should expand our reach offline.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Darren Whiteside</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>People were commenting on social media within moments of the terrorist bombings and shooting on Thursday in Jakarta by attackers linked to Islamic State (IS).</p>
<p>Two popular hashtags emerged on Twitter and Facebook: #PrayForJakarta and #KamiTidakTakut, which translates as “We are not afraid”. </p>
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<p>The Pray-for-something hashtag is a common phrase on social media to show concern and sympathy. Following the terrorist attack in Paris, #PrayForParis was also popular on social media.</p>
<p>The hashtag #KamiTidakTakut, which has been used by more than 100,000 people a day since the attack, has a tone of defiance against terrorism. We can see this in comments and memes using the hashtag. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"687651877241004032"}"></div></p>
<p>International media reported on <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/01/14/463018742/terrorists-hit-jakarta-and-indonesians-say-kamitidaktakut-we-are-not-afraid">Indonesians’ defiant reaction</a>. But how effective is the response on social media in countering the goal of terrorists? </p>
<h2>What does #KamiTidakTakut mean?</h2>
<p>Social media users in Indonesia are mostly urban middle class, according to a <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/internetsehat/profil-pengguna-internet-indonesia-2014-riset-oleh-apjii-dan-puskakom-ui">study</a> by the University of Indonesia’s Centre for Communication Studies and Indonesian Internet Service Providers Association.</p>
<p>Thus, the hashtag #KamiTidakTakut reflects the attitude of urban middle-class Indonesians, not the general public. In reality, Indonesians have diverse attitudes <a href="http://islamlib.com/gagasan/muslim-indonesia-toleran-atau-intoleran/">toward extremist groups</a>, ranging from feeling apathetic to being on guard to being afraid. </p>
<p>Social media users in Indonesia tend to use it to follow trends. Their use of social media does not always reflect their real daily lives or connect with the goals they want to achieve.</p>
<p>They move from one issue to another very quickly. Most netizens don’t continuously campaign for a cause on social media to inspire action in real life. </p>
<p>It’s not surprising, then, that after #PrayForJakarta and #KamiTidakTakut, the next hashtags that became trending topics are #KamiNaksir (We have a crush) and #PolisiGanteng (Handsome Police), which commented on the good looks of police at the scene.</p>
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<p>The general social media users in Indonesia come from diverse backgrounds. They are free agents, not affiliated with each other as a group or strongly connected to the cause they support using hashtags. Therefore it’s not easy to carry out a serious civil-society-based counter-terrorism movement online. </p>
<p>It’s difficult, for example, to define what Twitter users meant with #KamiTidakTakut and what kind of activities can be a manifestation of it either in cyberspace or in real life. Therefore, aside from visiting the terror scene when it was safe to do so, it is not clear what else #KamiTidakTakut supporters would do to continue to campaign against terrorism.</p>
<h2>Effective use of social media by terrorist groups</h2>
<p>Radical groups also use social media to promote their movement. </p>
<p>The terrorist groups are fighting in two arenas: the online and real world. While their main battlefield is in the real world, their social media campaign helps them achieve their goals. The issues they convey on social media can be diverse but still within the frame of their cause. </p>
<p>Extremists use social media to communicate, spread their propaganda and recruit members. These recruits are usually young. Social media users in Indonesia are on average <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/internetsehat/profil-pengguna-internet-indonesia-2014-riset-oleh-apjii-dan-puskakom-ui">between the ages of 18 and 25</a>. </p>
<p>In the real world, perpetrators of terror are individuals who are part of a network of groups. They share a very strong commitment to their cause. It’s not hard for them to organise, either online or in real life, people in their circle to carry out activities for their cause. </p>
<h2>Hashtags activism is not enough</h2>
<p>By comparing their ongoing commitment and impact, it’s clear that terrorist groups are more effective at using social media as a tool for their movement compared to general social media users, particularly the followers of #KamiTidakTakut. </p>
<p>Defiant hashtags do send a message of defiance to terrorist groups and inspire people to denounce terrorism.</p>
<p>But hashtags are not enough. If people really want to create a social movement to counter terrorism, we should expand our reach offline. </p>
<p>We should continuously work to oppose extremism by creating debate on relevant issues, such as on the meaning of jihad. That means we would have to engage with religious leaders. People would have to organise themselves to counter terrorism in real life, outside the online sphere. </p>
<p>Otherwise, #KamiTidakTakut will only be an online rhetoric that ends with absurd hashtags such as #KamiNaksir and #PolisiGanteng.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/53299/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andi Rahman Alamsyah does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Indonesians reacted defiantly on social media after the bombings and shootings in Jakarta last week. But how effective is the response on social media in countering terrorism?Andi Rahman Alamsyah, Lecturer in Sociology, Universitas IndonesiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.