TIME NOTICE: This article was written by a student in the Journalism Fundamentals class in the 2024-2025 school year and may not reflect the most current information of the date of publication.
Think about the time when you reposted a TikTok about the deaths attributed to the Israel-Gaza War, shared an Instagram post on your story about the impact plastic straws have on turtles, or changed your Facebook profile background to the Pride flag during Pride month. Almost all of us can remember a time when we posted about a cause. These actions may feel like they contribute to digital activism and a campaign for social change, but these minimal contributions are all examples of a term called slacktivism.
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, slacktivism is, “the practice of conspicuously showing support for a cause (as by posting on social media or hanging a flag or sign) without taking any real steps to effect change.”
It can be also seen as giving token support for a cause rather than more meaningful support, like dedicating time or money. With social media only continuing to grow, so is slacktivism.
As humans, we take small actions when engaging in digital activism and online campaigns to feel like we are a part of them. In doing so, we are too easily engaged in slacktivism which excessively fails to generate positive social change. Many think social media is to blame, but others may argue something quite different.
Eastern University Social Work Professor Dr. Dianna Montgomery knows why we do it. “We are all social creatures and we’re all wired to be social creatures. It helps us to feel connected to people and to feel that we have a sense of belonging if we join a cause… but it’s not really connection,” Montgomery said. She believes it fosters one of our biggest psychological needs, belonging.
“There is a surface sense of belonging. It gives them [people engaging in slacktivism] this superficial engagement feeling connected to a cause,” Montgomery said. “They feel like they know more than they actually know by taking one second to look at something and feeling like they’re joining a cause, but they haven’t done the research. They haven’t engaged in what the actual mission is.”
“A 2022 study revealed that while many millennials were aware that online activism was the least effective method of enacting change, this was still the most commonly engaged form of activism,” says Forbes contributor, Mark Travers.
Eastern Senior and member of the queer community, Valentina Marino, has at times engaged in slacktivism. “I am the type of person who wants to spread the word but doesn’t really want to get involved,” Marino said. “If I see something on Instagram I will post it to my story for others to see, or I will like a Twitter post or a TikTok about the LGBTQ+ community. I know what the campaign is about, and I am knowledgeable about it. I just don’t like getting fully involved.”
The question is: How can people become more intentional in their actions through digital activism?
Sophia Schiaroli, a member of the queer community, founder of Philly Gay Girls+, and an activist is looking to provide a solution to this problem in the queer community, specifically focusing on women, nonbinary and trans people. Schiaroli got her start after recognizing something missing after graduating college; the ability to grow friendships in the queer community.
That is when she made her first TikTok post about going on a “gay girl walk.”
“Dozens showed up. Encouraged by the turnout, she hosted more walks, eventually organizing picnics, yoga sessions and even visits to pumpkin farms. She dubbed the group “Philly Gay Girls Plus,” according to CBS News Philadelphia reporter, Eva Andersen.
As the group continued to grow to hundreds and thousands of participants, Schiaroli expanded her network to other platforms and apps. She even decided to go back to school to get her master’s degree in nonprofit leadership.
Then about a year ago, Schiaroli had an idea. She was going to start fresh and create an app called Cherry. “[Cherry] is a community building/social networking site really intended to bring people together in more meaningful settings and actually cultivate community and friendships and really just mitigate superficiality that a lot of social media kind of entails. Also, just like bringing people into the conversation that wouldn’t necessarily be a part of it,” Schiaroli said.
She is taking what she sees missing from the queer market and putting it all in one place. The top thing missing for Schiaroli is tangible, in-person activity. With Cherry, she is looking to “bridge that gap” because there may be apps, dating apps and resources that provide that missing piece for queer spaces, but they are nonexistent.
“I think a lot of apps have failed at connecting people more meaningfully even apps such as Instagram or those sort of social media sites that lead to a lot of superficiality with just liking and reposting, and I think there is a shift toward getting people in-person,” Schiaroli said.
Many apps and social media platforms push for activism and campaigning, but there is not always a positive effect due to slacktivism. This effect has the potential to limit the digital and in-person interactions in communities specifically within the queer community.
“While these platforms allowed for some interaction, they often lacked the targeted tools to facilitate meaningful, lasting connections. Cherry seeks to address this by creating a dedicated platform where members can discover events, meet new friends, and connect with like-minded people—all while maintaining a strong focus on safety and inclusivity,” Steve McCann, the executive director of PhillyGayCalendar, said.
“It [digital spaces] makes me feel like I belong because I know I am not alone in what I am feeling. Seeing others online also struggle with being themselves makes me feel like as a community we are constantly going through the struggles together,” Marino said.
People like Marino are why Schiaroli is looking to pioneer this intentional and meaningful app. The ability to get people involved more in the queer community and foster those in-person connections is with Cherry because not only is it meant to connect queer people digitally and in person, but it also gives people an outlet for inclusivity and safety.
So, what’s next for Cherry? Schiaroli’s goal is to have the app fully launched in 2025. As more interactive and action-prone platforms like Cherry start to take the main stage, people have the opportunity to feel that sense of belonging and feel more included in the queer community. It causes people to be more intentional with their clicks, which boosts the overall idea and purpose of digital activism while minimizing slacktivism as a whole.