The socially conscious 'slacktivist'!

 Slacktivism (sometimes slactivism or slackervism) is a term formed out of the words slacker and activism. The word is usually considered a pejorative term that describes "feel-good" measures, in support of an issue or social cause, that have little or no practical effect other than to make the person doing it feel satisfaction. The acts tend to require minimal personal effort from the slacktivist.

I have been wanting to write this for quite some time now. I am sure the more sensitive of you would want to say something as well. Of late, most of our social media timelines have been hit by these waves of activities, that request us to sign petitions, ask us to 'like' certain pages of some 'noble' endeavor and ohh well even in some bizarre cases change our display pictures. 

I have always wondered how Social Media influences every facet of our daily lives. Certainly a lot of it is beneficial but what do these Social Causes on the Internet  achieve? Well if I see rising dissent to this 'note' citing examples like the Anna Hazare revolution in India then I have have to ask you all to take a step back and look at the revolution carefully. Probably P.Sainath here is a better starting point. In a country like India where the access of internet is restricted to a fraction of the literate masses, do you really think the 'click' of a button would solve the burning issues that affect the under-privileged? 

I really hope the phenomenon cannot be attributed to the  instant 'gratification' that the Internet provides for the countless anonymous voices, which suddenly have a following. Probably it's the sudden urge of the lazy and impulsive internet surfer, who has time to kill and is not sure of what to do with it? Probably this creeps into every human being, giving him his '15 seconds of fame'  asking him to be part of something that is 'larger than life'?  

I guess the 'slactivist' feels that he needs to be recognized as a person in society who has a 'voice'. The idea of living in a shell of virtual reality might appeal to his conscience or probably gives him a sense of personal achievement. An achievement that arises out of the 'joy of clicking' or the 'joy of sharing a facebook post on social issues'. 

My only hope is that the next time I see some social issue, I'd rather lend my physical support than virtual support. Tweaking what Swami Vivekananda said , It is an insult to offer sympathy in the form of facebook to suffering people. What they need is hope and some help. It's alright if you can't do it, but just don't give them an illusion of which they are better of not having.