TY - JOUR AU - Christensen, Henrik Serup PY - 2011/02/02 Y2 - 2024/03/28 TI - Political activities on the Internet: Slacktivism or political participation by other means? JF - First Monday JA - FM VL - 16 IS - 2 SE - DO - 10.5210/fm.v16i2.3336 UR - https://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/3336 SP - AB - <p>The impact of the Internet on political participation has been a debated issue in recent decades. Internet activities have been criticized for being <em>slacktivism</em>, where the real life impact of the activities is limited; the main effect is to enhance the feel-good factor for the participants. This article examines whether this accusation is valid. It does so by examining two aspects of Internet campaigns: Whether they are effective in affecting real life political decisions, and whether Internet activism substitutes traditional forms of off-line participation. Although it is not possible to determine a consistent impact of Internet campaigns on real-life decisions, there is no evidence of the substitution thesis. If anything, the Internet has a positive impact on off-line mobilization. Accordingly, there is little evidence to support the accusation of Internet campaigns being slacktivism. It is at worst harmless fun and can at best help invigorate citizens.</p> ER -