Slacktivism or Why I Hate Facebook Profile Memes

strangely, i changed my avatar because i’m an easily amused sheep, not because of the meme – which i only read about a day after i’d already changed my pic. i’d have to agree with you for the most part tho’ anna, and its a recurring phenomenon on both facebook and twitter (and, presumably, elsewhere on the net also).but i tend to treat my facebook account fairly blithely anyways, i use twitter in a much more deliberate way (despite what my cursebird rating might tell you) and hence am somewhat more proactive about posting there.i often wonder whether adults should even be on facebook at all, in fact.

Anna, I hear you – I think that people need to be compelled to do more than post a funny picture or memory. However, I don’t have a problem with this type of meme. It’s causing discussion and raising awareness about a topic (even if minimal). I think the best thing about this meme is posts like yours and this one from Karen Costa, who shares a personal experience: http://vanillabean45.wordpress.com/2010/12/05/facebook-meme-more-insulting-than-helpful/ …The key message: this is a real issue and we all have an opportunity to do much more than just post a funny picture.

I hear what you’re saying, and I realize that changing your profile picture in facebook won’t affect child abuse. It does show recognition… and that counts for something. Child abuse (and neglect) are both personal causes to me as well.

I volunteer… and some facebook memes I like and still mean something to me, however “slacker” they may be. Seeing all the cartoon pictures, to me showed that people cared and recognized the cause. That meant something.

*yawn* perhaps you are a bit slow on the uptake here it’s to help bring awareness. it’s to begin a conversation, open dialogue. if people talk, and get motivated then action takes place and children can be helped. if i have a cartoon and someone sees it & asks about it, i can tell them what it signifies. at least this will bring the subject out in the open in a child friendly manner, i think that’s the point you are missing. you act as if those of us who changed to a cartoon av think the cartoon gods will miraculously end child abuse ~ lol. yeah, hardly.

Ms. Obrien, I’m with you.
It’s tacky on more than one level.
I also hate (and reject) the pressure that many of these messages carry with them, using phrases along the lines of “if you care about xyz then you will post this for yada hours on fb” or “if you support this cause, then you will…”
with the implication of non-participation being that I don’t care? Tacky. Tacky. Tacky.

I couldn’t have made better points myself.

I remember back during the Iranian protests, how many people joined groups “in support” of the Iranian students that were getting shot, beaten and killed in Tehran.

How ironic is it that students in Iran were putting their lives on the line to bring about real social change, and the best we can muster in the US is to click “Like” under “Support the Iranian student protests!”

This “child abuse” campaign is the same kind of idiocy that’s so prevalent among our generation, this idea that real change can come from actions with negligible risk and effort.

Keep up the good work.

It’s still a slacker’s way of “making a difference.” And those same people who spend thier free time playing farmville etc, are not going to change thier behaviors because of this meme.

Also another point ( which is not covered specifically in this post) is that some people who’ve been abused as a child find this initiative offensive & feel it downplays the suffering they endured. Take for example this post by Karen Nicole Costa http://ow.ly/3kco. Food for thought.

Thanks for assuming know one I know has suffered from this. They have, several in fact. For all you know- I could be an abuse suffer myself. So who’s the idiot now? I am not spreading negativity about child abuse. My biggest issue is that no one is talking the areas of abuse that need awareness- like how people don’t talk about those being abuse or try to help them because “it’s uncomfortable”. Guess what changing your picture to that of a cartoon image is the digital version of this. Bringing light to an issue in a comfortable way THAT DOES NOTHING.

Also, grow up. If you can’t debate an issue with out name calling- then you obviously aren’t adult enough to participate in the discussion.

slacktivist? more like slagtivist! this current meme came about on the 27th of last month and at that time had nothing to do child abuse. Now its had all this stuff tacked on about child abuse just to get people to actually do it. Perhaps do some research before you blog crap.

I think it does matter. Its propagation of rubbish, just like localising a hoax email and sending it on just because someone believes in a particular cause. The original idea was changed by someone along the line, turning it into a “cause” which I may or may not be interested in, but are now somehow a part of? How does that work?

This really made me think about my actions. I have changed profile photos, listed the colour of my underwear, etc etc, however have never donated to a charity, volunteered or even written to a politician about an issue I have made a so-called ‘stance’ on though facebook. Today I searched for and donated to a charity that supports victims of child abuse, not because a friend asked me to change my photo, but because what you said made total sense.
Well said!

Awareness campaigns are a placebo. By giving us a simple, worthless way to “do something,” these campaigns let us feel like we’ve somehow absolved our responsibility. We think “Okay, I’ve done something about __(insert tragedy here)__, by telling others about it.” No, you haven’t yet.

It’s worse than that: by telling people that all they need to do is talk about it (and make no mistake–changing a profile picture is not doing, it’s talking), you give them an out to avoid the difficult questions and answers.

As Ernest Hemingway said, “Never mistake motion for action.” That’s the problem – a campaign that’s only about awareness creates a ton of motion but little to no actual action. “After all is said and done, a lot more will have been said than done.”

INSTEAD of spreading appeals for awareness, spread appeals for ACTION. (And remember: changing your picture or status doesn’t count as action).

If you actually want to change things, please try the following:

1) Give your time and money to organizations that change things.

2) Live your life in a way to watch out for and protect the needs of the children around you. When you suspect a child is in danger, ACT. Real change happens in person, one family at a time.

3) Encourage others to do the same. Don’t encourage them to know about the issue–we all know about the issue. Instead, encourage them to DO something about the issue.

“Awareness” is not enough. And we don’t deserve to rest easy thinking we’ve done our part if all we’ve done is changed our profile picture. It’s not that simple or easy.

If you want to help children in need, go out and help children in need. Then ask others to do the same.

I hate Facebook because it takes things that are valuable: personal information such as your habits, interests, personal photos, etc. and gives them away for nothing. What you supposedly get in return in terms of “social networking” is, lets face it, a joke. Virtual friends? People from high school you would rather not be found by?

Facebook is basically a scam basically to sell incredible amounts of data (your data!) and keep the money.

Why do you think they are valued at $50B and the very personification of wall street evil – GS – is leading the charge. The investors know that every detail about every FB user will eventually be *sold*, for the exclusive benefit of the company and its investors.

Personally, I don’t have a problem with selling some data about me, so long as *I* get to keep the money. Not Goldman Sachs. Not Mark and his buddies.

Look at is this way: Facebook is a giant wealth transfer from every Facebook user to the founders, employees and investors in Facebook. They will all become billionaires while you will have. . . what?

Facebook exists because we do not correctly value our personal data. We give it away, when we should be bartering or trading it for value in return.