#slacktivism

As many of you may know, Proposition 8, or the law banning same-sex marriage in California, was finally brought before the Supreme Court today. Regardless of your stance on the issue, I’m sure many of you also noticed the flood of people on Facebook changing their profile picture to the equality sign in front of a red background. As I was scrolling through Twitter, a tweet of friend caught my eye. It read “I know, I'll change my profile picture. Then the government is sure to listen! #slacktivism.” This reminded me of the article “Small Change” by Malcolm Gladwell, that we had read earlier this semester, and made me think.

In case you don’t remember, his subtitle for the article read “why the revolution will not be tweeted” and he was arguing that if you want something to change, you must have a strong tie to it. The first time I read through the article, I thought he was being too harsh and that showing support for a cause online could do some good. Today, however, made me rethink my views. As I continued to log on to social media sites throughout the day, each newsfeed was flooded with the same picture. I’m not criticizing those who did this, but I think it is absurd to think that changing a picture is going to be a catalyst for reform.

I now have a better understanding for what Gladwell was saying, and really see what he meant by “a strong tie.” Many of the people that did post the photo today do have reason to, as they know someone that Proposition 8 effects directly. I wonder though, if as the day went on people were just following a new trend. Marriage equality is a great topic, but if people really want to see the laws change, they need to call their representatives. Facebook and Twitter are great tools for spreading the word about something and raising awareness, but that alone won’t change things.

Even though I think changing a profile picture will not lead to the change people want, I am left with some hope as my generation is passionate about something. There are many other injustices happening today, and I hope awareness of those spreads as well.