The rise of the Slacktivist: On the back of Kony 2012

With a new Kony 2012 video on the horizon, it seems we have come to a new chapter in Slacktivism. Slacktivism is a portmanteau of slacker and activism. It’s basically the act of supporting a cause via some social platform tends and to require minimal personal effort from the slacktivist.

The issue people tend raise around slacktivism is whether or not one can make real social change without hitting the street and protesting. The success enjoyed by Kony 2012, which was primarily a social media campaign, may suggest that one can.

Forbes predicts that this year’s Time Magazine’s Person of the year award will go to the Slacktivist. “So I’m being more than a little tongue-in-cheek when I ‘predict’ that Time picks The Slacktivist in 2012,” writes Erik Kain.

Kane argues that Slacktivism has come into its own thanks to the rise of social media. Citing the previous Time Magazine person of the year awards such as 2006’s “You” and 2011’s “Protester” as both pieces of the slacktivist equation, he reckons it makes perfect sense in a year that has seen “politics so widely affected by social media to pick the slacktivist”.

A new infographic by Sortable takes a look at the rise of the slacktivist, and how much power this group of people really have. Pinpointing the history of slacktivism, the graphic also explores some examples of slacktivsm making real change. Oh and there’s 10 signs that you might to be a slacktivist.

Sortable The Rise of the Slacktivist