Is slacktivism underrated? Measuring the value of slacktivists for online social movements

Abstract

We measure the value of "slacktivists" involved in more than 80 protest movement hashtags on Twitter, focusing on their value for content generation, communication, encouragement, and content diversity. Further, we move beyond the existing literature which primarily focuses on direct content contributions by investigating whether slacktivists induce further contributions from other activists by providing them simple cues of encouragement that enhance non-slacktivists' commitment to a movement. Our findings suggest that slacktivist actions, unlike those by dedicated activists, do not encourage others, and if anything, discourage them.