A Different Type of Activism
Can a click make a difference in the world? By itself, probably not, but when combined with tens and even hundreds of thousands of other clicks, it may just have an impact. Social media seems to be offering an opportunity for people to make a difference in the causes they support as they sit at home in front of their computers, and without putting in the time or effort that was needed to support these causes in the past.
There are a growing number of instances where social media activism has begun to make a difference where many of the individuals who participated never had to make a large time commitment which traditional activism requires. With a few clicks of a mouse and a digital signature here and there, changes are being made by a new breed of microactivists.
More and more people are deciding to give their small gesture of support, and when combined with many others' small acts, the effort can create a massive change. An example of this social media microactivism making a difference can be seen with changes taking place in the food industry where treatment of animals and food production has been targeted. Microactivists are also donating tons of free rice with a mouse click at 10 grains at a time by answering simple multiple-choice questions.
While there are still some that debate whether clicks and tweets should count as "real activism," there is little doubt that social media microactivism is a new and growing trend which has the opportunity to compliment traditional activism to create change where it was more difficult to do so in the past. There is little doubt that this new activism will take on a more important role as a partner with traditional activism in the coming years.
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