Online activism sees evolution in a positive way

Slacktivism, or the practice of supporting a cause on social media or through online petitions with a low level of commitment, is changing.

Ramona Pringle, a technology expert and associate professor at Ryerson University, says in the past year more celebrities have made larger efforts to do more to support causes. She said that the evolution of activism has been substantial.

“A lot of the criticism or cynicism around slacktivism had to do with things like campaigns to change your profile picture, where it feels like everyone wants to do good, or they just want to get on board because everyone else is doing it,” she said.

That changed last year when K-Pop groups rallied together to help raise funds for the Black Lives Matter Movement, she said.

“There was this match a million campaign… where they said to their army, their legion of stans that if they could raise a million dollars among the community they would match it,” she said.

“They could have started with that and just brought awareness to it to a global audience, but instead they said let’s raise some funds, put your cash and we’ll match it.”