Slactivism, now with links!

It's that time of year again. That time of year when everyone is going back to school or work, sitting around on Facebook, pretending to participate in “activist causes” for the world to guess at. The biggest causes I've seen around lately have been Breast Cancer Awareness (by posting things like your bra color without any explanation as your Facebook status) or some pass-it-on chain letters to promote anti-bullying or something.

This method is not true activism. This is what the world refers to as the slacktivist movement, where participating in this only brings you internal satisfaction because you believe you're doing good, when in fact you're not actually helping anybody but yourself. If you are over the age of 18 (hell, even high school students can be activists when they sell candy or goodies to raise money for their music programs, or public school in general) you need to wake up.

Here are a few examples of ways that actually help raise awareness, and money, without spending more than the change in your sofa cushions:

Volunteer. You can volunteer for just about anything in some form or other, help people a few hours a month. This is more effective than posting your birth-month and day like you're pregnant. Sign up for a shift on a neighborhood watch to make the location safer. Volunteer to be an adult supervisor to some less fortunate kids on a field trip. Ask the local animal shelter if you can walk some of their dogs once in a while. Things like that make a difference in the lives of people, kids, neighborhoods, or pets you visit - and it's not even that hard.

Participate in some event. running, walking, biking, head shaving (St. Baldricks) etc. I helped raise over $800 for Girls Inc simply by participating in a kickball game hosted by the DKBC and Denver Roller Dolls. One game. One afternoon. $800. Oh, and I spent $5 on a bottle of water for the fundraiser, which was entirely optional. If you can't play in the game, show up and throw a dollar or two at the raffle tickets. Come by and bring some item to be raffled off without spending a dime. The event was fun to watch and participate in, AND I now know what Girls Inc is. Awareness, and money raised.

(HINT: Businesses love to donate money to causes that you volunteer for or participate in, because it's a great tax write-off and looks good on paper.)

Donate. Every little bit helps is a true statement. I don't mean go out and spend $50 per foundation you wish to support. Even digging out a few dollars, one, or even ten big buckaroos is far more helpful. Imagine if 10 people donated $10. That's $100 between you and a tiny fraction of your Facebook friends. If you have four-hundred friends and each of you donate a dollar, that's $400 for research or treatment of an illness, text books for classrooms, basketballs for a youth center, whatever brand of activism you choose.

Here is a list of things I've donated to in the last year as an unemployed student with bills to pay:

Child's Play

Girls Inc

ASPCA (because Sarah McLaughlin made me sad)

My mother and aunt got together before Christmas one year and decided that since we're all adults, and no one wants trinket crap to fill up their homes, they'd exchange donation forms to whatever foundation they want to support. Game. Set. Match. Each party involved in this exchange learns about the other parties foundation of choice, and money is raised to benefit the other persons cause, and no one has to worry about throwing away stuff they don't want or really care about. Now the Denver Homeless Mission, ASPCA, and other charities get the Christmas gift of giving across the United States.

Coincidental timing of this chail-letter-status-stupidity, a friend of mine is working on a film about bullying this weekend. In doing so, they're raising awareness of the act of bullying by bringing the subject to the screen AND raising money by selling $1 bracelets – a hundred of those bracelets add up quickly. I'm buying one. I'm unemployed and poor as hell, but I can dig up a dollar in change just by checking behind the dryer.

Point in case, this Facebook form of slacktivision is not only irritating in the way you deliver your “haha funny status message with no point, lols” but it's not actually helping a single person in the entire world by doing so, unless you count yourself with the internal pat-on-the-back. It's also insulting to those that do run marathons, shave their heads, or donate their time or money to actually raise awareness.

Here's an example that might make more sense: If there was a carjacker in a neighborhood many of your Facebook pals live in, you wouldn't post “Black with red lace” as a warning, would you? I didn't think so. You'd say "Yo, there's been some carjackings in X neighborhood, lock your cars!" or something with much more specific information to raise awareness and give people a chance to do something about said situation.

That absurd vagueness is especially ineffective and infuriating if the chain message starting this silly fake-activist campaign says ridiculous things like:

“Ok pretty ladies, it's that time of year again, in support of breast cancer awareness!! So we all remember last years game of writing your bra color as your status?.....or the way we like to have our handbag handy? Remember last year so many people took part that it made national news and, the constant updating of status reminded everyone why we're doing this and helped raise awareness!! Do NOT tell any males what the status' mean, keep them guessing!! And please copy and paste (in a message ) this to all your female friends to see if we can make a bigger fuss this year than last year!!! I did my part... now YOUR turn! Go on ladies...and let's have all the males guessing! It's time to confuse the men again (not that it’s really that hard to do :))** Everyone knows it makes their brains work wonders on what we're talking about!! The idea is to choose the month you were born and the day you were born. Pass this on to the girls only and let’s see how far it reaches around. The last one about the bra went round all over the world. So you'll write... I'm (your birth month) weeks and I'm craving (your birth date) as your status. Example: Feb 14th= I'm 2 weeks and craving Chocolate mints!! 1-Skittles 2-Starburst 3-Kit-Kat 4-M&M's 5-Galaxy 6-Crunchie 7-Dairy Milk 8-Lollipop 9-Peanut Butter Cups 10-Meat Balls 11-Twizzlers 12-Bubble Gum 13-Hershey's Kisses 14-Chocolate Mints 15-Twix 16-Reese's Fastbreak 17-Fudge 18-Cherry Jello 19-Milkyway20-Pickels 21-Creme Eggs 22-Skittles 23-Gummy Bears 24-Gummy Worms 25-Strawberry Pop Tarts 26-Starburst 27-Mini Eggs 28-Kit-Kat Chunkie 29-Double Chocolate Chip Crunchy Cookies 30-Smarties 31-Chocolate Cake.”
** = a dash of sexism behind the scenes really jars me, and is entirely unnecessary.

How on Earth is anyone supposed to have a clue what you're talking about, unless they're in on the joke? And if they're in on it, aren't they already “aware” of what's going down?

If there /is/ an actual issue that people actually don't know about, an issue that doesn't have foundations to help raise awareness or funding, then you'd do something a little differently. First, you'd NAME the cause you're supporting in your status (after setting your privacy settings for that post to public so people can actually see it), and explain why this cause needs attention. Some people even make entire Facebook pages for the cause they choose, which can spread like a wildfire. Only then is the cause is in peoples minds, and they can start researching it, or signing petitions, or simply clicking “like” to make sure it gets noticed by others. This is when you'd use a networking site to raise awareness. People know what breast cancer is, and that it's deadly – the only way you can actively help with this cause is to do one of the above listed things (in this case, especially donate money, but doing a pledge walk other people will donate for you, all you have to do is walk).

It's easy to be a slacker and an activist, but you have to do it right. P.S. Child's Play 2011 isn't over yet, so keep an eye out for ways to participate in that on any of your favorite gaming websites. Buy some (inexpensive or outlandishly expensive) games, gaming accessories, or whatever and donate money to buy games, books, movies, and other things to entertain sick kids at the same time. Win-Win.

Child's Play Charity
Saint Baldricks
Girls Inc
ASPCA (The header images will break your heart)