With the rising popularity of social networking websites such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, an increasing number of people are using these sites as tools for promoting civic engagement and collective action (Gil de Zúñiga, Jung, & Valenzuela, 2012). Recently, scholars have debated whether these are effective in facilitating civic engagement (e.g. Loader, Vromen, & Xenos, 2014), or if they merely encourage widespread slacktivism – a willingness to perform a relatively costless, token display of support for a social cause without significant effort to enact meaningful change (Kristofferson, White, & Peloza, 2013). Despite slacktivism, these platforms bear effective tools in organizing social movements across the world, such as the Arab Spring
…show more content…
Civic engagement is broadly defined as individual and collective actions designed to identify and address issues of public concern (American Psychological Association, 2016). Nonetheless, engagement can encompass a range of activities, from engagement in organizations to individual voluntarism, and more recently, activism on social media – although the latter is often omitted as a valid measure of civic and political engagement. Research conducted by Snell (2010) found that 69 percent of emerging adults described themselves as being completely uninvolved politically. However, the study measured only traditional forms of political engagement, such as contacting political officials, attending political meetings, participating in protests, and voting in national elections. While these actions continue to be significant measures of civic engagement, young adults are becoming more active …show more content…
Young citizens that are civically and politically engaged are far less likely to become members of formal civic organizations and are more likely to participate in non-hierarchical networks (Loader, Vromen, & Xenos, 2014). Due to this mismeasure, figures that cite overwhelming political apathy among young citizens may be skewed. Consequently, I argue that this calls for a redefining of what constitutes civic engagement and what it means to be an activist in a world where social media permeates everyday life. These platforms have clearly altered the way in which people interact, and those who discount these interactions as potential catalysts for social change thus rely on an incomplete conceptualization of civic engagement. Moreover, while critics of online civic participation argue that it is largely used for slacktivism and token support, civic participation online often translates to traditional, offline forms of civic
Civic engagement is broadly defined as individual and collective actions designed to identify and address issues of public concern (American Psychological Association, 2016). Nonetheless, engagement can encompass a range of activities, from engagement in organizations to individual voluntarism, and more recently, activism on social media – although the latter is often omitted as a valid measure of civic and political engagement. Research conducted by Snell (2010) found that 69 percent of emerging adults described themselves as being completely uninvolved politically. However, the study measured only traditional forms of political engagement, such as contacting political officials, attending political meetings, participating in protests, and voting in national elections. While these actions continue to be significant measures of civic engagement, young adults are becoming more active …show more content…
Young citizens that are civically and politically engaged are far less likely to become members of formal civic organizations and are more likely to participate in non-hierarchical networks (Loader, Vromen, & Xenos, 2014). Due to this mismeasure, figures that cite overwhelming political apathy among young citizens may be skewed. Consequently, I argue that this calls for a redefining of what constitutes civic engagement and what it means to be an activist in a world where social media permeates everyday life. These platforms have clearly altered the way in which people interact, and those who discount these interactions as potential catalysts for social change thus rely on an incomplete conceptualization of civic engagement. Moreover, while critics of online civic participation argue that it is largely used for slacktivism and token support, civic participation online often translates to traditional, offline forms of civic