Click or Treat; could 'clicktivism' be the real deal?

Click or Treat; could 'clicktivism' be the real deal?

Some call it ‘digital activism’, others refer to it less favourably as ‘slacktivism’. Either way, there’s little doubt that what we’re able to do to support a cause with only a mouse and a laptop has changed the charity sector dramatically. But just how effective is ‘clicktivism’ and does it have a place outside of politics?

Since the 2012 launch of Change.org in San Francisco, over six million people have signed or created a petition on the online platform. Its Director of Communications attributes this to how Change.Org provides a ‘campaigning tool’ that can be used by anyone and does not follow a particular manifesto or campaigning direction.

For example, a call to the major party leaders to place compulsory sex and relationships lessons in schools recently found popularity on Change.org and quickly collected over 33,000 signatures. There is no denying that there is a large appetite for clicktivism in today’s society.

Its success rate is impressive too - Change.Org claim that out of the 1500 petitions started by UK residents every month, around 800 achieve their desired outcome. You need look no further than the highly prolific campaign to nominate Malala Yousafzai for the Nobel Prize, which received 301, 238 signatures and succeeded, for a good example of how digital activism is taking off.

What is also interesting is that whilst we are seeing an upsurge in the number of online petitions making their way into the inboxes of MPs, membership levels in traditional campaign groups have plummeted to an all-time low. For example, just 1% of the electorate now claim to be a member of one of the main political parties. So does digital activism create a bottleneck for further engagement?

With a global audience of 1.2 billion and rising, Facebook has become one of the ultimate tools for charities looking to expand their reach. Just one click and we can ‘like’ our favourite causes and signpost to all of our online friends the causes we are passionate about. I challenge any man aged 18-34 to scroll through his Facebook feed this month and not see one mention of ‘Movember’ alongside numerous photos of sprouting facial hair. However, is this digital awareness translating into higher numbers of men getting tested for prostate cancer?

There is no medical research to suggest that it is. Likewise, whilst the #nomakeupselfie raised £8 million for Cancer Research UK, can we expect to see this influencing the number of women going for mammograms? And is the charity sector really ready to start measuring how clicktivism campaigners continue to engage with the cause long after the initial click? 

My view is that we have a long way to go before we're able to ascertain whether clicktivism is the beginning of a journey to continued engagement with the cause. However, it does seem like a winning opportunity for the next bright spark to pave the way for clicktivism to become a growing part of the social action sector if we can determine how to captivate our digital audiences from the first click.

 

Rachel Egan
 

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