Slacktivism.

I love the English Language. We can invent words at will. Not every language gets to do that unless they get the blessing of at least 5 Popes (or something). Sometimes they're stupid, sometimes they're thinly veiled and politically correct ways to insult others. But sometimes, words like Slacktivism cut right to the heart of something and describe it well.


Slacktivism is a portmanteau of the words "Slacker" and "Activism". And it pretty well covers the meaning of the word within the spelling of the word.


Slacktivism is what you find on Facebook, MySpace, and in about a bazillion spam e-mails that get bounced around the internet. 


It is the process of mental masturbation that people practice when they see a link to something they care about that says click here to stop people from anally violating baby seals (or something).


Sorry folks, but unless there is a Predator Drone ready to be activated by that mouse click to seek out the butt buggering seal rapists and blow their peckers into burger meat...you're just jerking off.


Why do I compare it to masturbation? Because there are many parallels. In both the person is doing a repetitive action with the intended goal of feeling better after it's all over. 


Don't see it? Let me further clarify. You go on the web and you check your Facebook. You see some sad story about how an abused, but still friendly dog was burned by some bad people. This makes you very sad. You want to feel better about the situation so you read further and see "Click here to make a difference". You do so and see "Your profile name has been added to the petition to stop the county from euthanizing this poor poor puppy." You think you've done good and so you feel better.


But what you don't realize is that no one who reads a petition is going to accept the fictitious profile name of "He
_who_teabags_noobs_1138" or "Party_girl_who_puts_out_for_strange_men_while_she's_drunk_off_her_ass_at_clubs_1701" as a valid name on that petition. So the action that was taken did nothing more than what you can accomplish by diddling your naughty bits with the intent of felling good when you orgasm.


The only difference is that (hopefully) the slactivism mouse click didn't require a tissue afterwards.


So is it pointless to do anything on the World Wide Web? Hell no.


There is a website called Ernie's House of Whoop Ass. Don't go there if you are at work or offended by pictures of dubious content. But this is also the guy who does LBEH.org. A charitable organization that gathers up donation of money and frequent flier miles in order to help soldiers get home for the holidays or other important events in their families lives. People who go to that site and actually donate money or the Frequent Flier miles are doing something real. Their actions on the 'net are having a real and measurable impact on the lives of others in a positive way. 


This same guy also helped a badly burned dog. He whipped his readers into a frenzy and they donated the money needed to pay for the operations needed to save this dog's life. This dog lived, was adopted, and now goes around and helps her new owner raise money for animal shelters. Again a positive result brought about by people who really did something.


But some may be thinking "Gee. That's all about money and I don't have much to give". And that's fine. Times are tough. But instead of all the time that they spend in front of a television or in front of a computer, there is a hell of a lot that people could do in that time. There are organizations all over the place that don't need so much in the way of money as they do in manpower. Cleaning up the environment by getting a bunch of people to clear out the garbage clogging up a stream. Taking a bunch of junked components and turning them into functional computers for people who can't afford them. The list is endless. 


So stop clicking on the links and thinking you're saving the world. Go out and find something real that you can do that actually does something good for the world.