By+Amanda+A.+Jones

網络时代，社交媒体易于分享、交互性强的特性使得人们渐渐沦为“懒人行动派”：对于某个热门事件，我们常常不辨真假就在社交媒体上疯狂行动，又是点赞，又是转发，发完状态还要去写评论，似乎只需当个“键盘侠”，世界就会因此更美好。然而，这种盲目的跟风行为和对热点的短暂关注真能收到什么实际效果么？相比于在网上活跃，我们是不是更应在现实中做些什么？

. New Oriental English

别再做无用的“键盘侠”

Challenging “Slacktivism”： Activism on Social Media Is Not Enough

Upon checking Facebook this morning， I was blown away1） by my news feed that consisted almost entirely of the same message posted and re-posted by my Facebook friends. This was the viral status：

The Morton County Sheriffs Department has been using Facebook check-ins2） to find out who is at Standing Rock3） in order to target them in attempts to disrupt the prayer camps4）. So， Water Protectors5） are calling on EVERYONE to check in at Standing Rock， ND to overwhelm and confuse them. This is concrete action that can protect people putting their bodies and well-beings on the line6） that we can do without leaving our homes.

Will you join me in Standing Rock？

If youre sharing your location at Standing Rock （which you should be doing）：

1） make it public；

2） make the clarification post separate， and so that only your friends can see it；

3） dont clarify on your check in， message friends who say “stay safe！” to let them know whats up—the stay safe posts are more convincing/confusing for p*lice；

4） copy paste to share clarification messages （like this one） because making it public blows our cover7）；

5） say “Randing Stock” in clarification posts so that when they filter out/search those terms， your post is visible to the right people.

In addition to posting this status， many of my Facebook friends followed what the viral message said to do， which was to “check-in” at Standing Rock with the intent “to overwhelm and confuse [police].” At first， I thought it was awesome to see so many people wanting to participate in the protest of the Dakota Access Pipeline and I even considered checking-in at Standing Rock myself. After a days worth of consideration， I decided not to.

How many people did a fact check on the situation at Standing Rock？ Is the Morton County Sheriffs Department actually using Facebook check-ins to identify protesters？ Who ever said that thousands of people checking-in at Standing Rock would “confuse” police？ Why would the protesters who are physically at Standing Rock check-in if they knew they would risk being targeted by police in the first place？ It remains unclear where this idea even originated and no sources validating this information are cited in the statuses at all. Is it not imperative to first verify if the information is true and not just a rumor？

In my opinion， viral activism8） on social media—like checking-in at Standing Rock， sharing trending hashtags， or changing ones profile picture to have the color of a countrys flag， for example—is， for the most part， incredibly superficial. Sure， it is great for garnering attention about an issue （which is important）， but it is ultimately just fads that suddenly boom in popularity but die out as quickly as they appear. People mindlessly join in before swiftly moving on to the next campaign in vogue and abandoning the previous one. On the outside， it may look like true activism but in reality， this activism is paper-thin “slacktivism，” as I call it. Online “slacktivism” is often as shallow as the participants knowledge on the movements themselves.

It seems to me that people are so eager to do as their social media friends do and jump on the latest activist bandwagon9） before researching and familiarizing themselves with the cause and what it is that they are doing. I admit， it is tempting to hop on the bandwagon， but before I do anything I take a step back to think critically about whether what I am doing will actually achieve anything or whether it will only get “likes” that are ultimately meaningless. Despite the enthusiasm and appearance of genuine concern running rampant on my news feed， I ask myself， where is the depth and the passion？ How can something with little depth have an impact in the real， non-virtual world？

Participating in social activism on Facebook does not do much more than help people construct a “socially aware” image of themselves and give them the sense that they are actually making a difference. Sometimes people can make an impact by engaging in viral activism on social media， even if it is a small impact； however， they most often do not. Remember the infamous #Kony201210） “movement” to capture the Ugandan cult and militia leader and stop forced recruitment of child soldiers？ Or #bringbackourgirls11）， the worldwide campaign that took social media by storm？ It aimed to convince the Nigerian government to work harder to find the 276 girls abducted in Chibok by Boko Haram12）. Was the fact that millions of people posted the same hashtag going to bring back the girls？ The ultimate measure of success is the outcome： The girls are still missing， more than two years later.

Social media activism is merely an acceptable starting point for someone to participate in a cause they truly believe in. There is much more that can be done that many people—already content with their contribution on social media—do not do. Posting a status or hashtag is the bare minimum. I realize that people have busy lives and personal constraints and that one may not have the time or money to contribute to a cause. If this is you， do what you can； if that means sticking to activism on social media， make sure you fully understand the cause you are supporting， truly believe that your post can help， and are not just doing it because it is trending.

I encourage everyone who stands with the Standing Rock Sioux， who considers themselves allies of any marginalized community， or who wants to fight injustice to go out there and find more effective ways to participate in social and political change. March. Protest. Write letters to politicians. Donate to organizations. Attend talks to educate yourself further so you can more effectively bring about change. Volunteer. Engage in dialogue with others. Do what you can to UTILIZE YOUR POTENTIAL because we are all capable of changing this world for the better. It is up to each one of us individually to take this potential and run with it past our own expectations.

今天早上查看Facebook时，我被自己收到的推送消息吓了一跳，因为里面几乎全是我的Facebook好友们对同一条消息的转发。这条被疯转的状态消息如下：

莫顿县警局使用Facebook上的签到功能查找位于立岩保护区的人们，从而将他们锁定为目标，试图扰乱祈祷营的抗议活动。因此，“水的保护者们”在此向所有人呼吁，请前往“北达科他州立岩保护区”的活动页面进行签到，以混淆警方视听。哪怕足不出户，你也能凭借这一实际行动保护那些将自己的人身安全和福祉置于危险中的人。

你会和我一起参与到立岩保护区的抗议活动中来吗？

如果你要分享你在“立岩保护区”活动页面的签到位置（你确实应该这样做）：

1）请将签到信息设为“所有人可见”；

2）另外再发一条澄清状态，将其设为“仅好友可见”；

3）在你的签到信息里什么也不要说，给那些留言说“注意安全！”的朋友们发私信，告诉他们具体情况——签到信息下面那些提醒你注意安全的留言对警*来说更有说服力/迷惑力；

4）通过复制、粘贴来分享澄清状态（就像这一条），因为将澄清状态设为“所有人可见”可能会暴露我们的身份；……