I was playing on Facebook Facecrack tonight when I noticed how many groups, pages, and causes I’ve joined. The accumulated weight of my mouse clicks shocked me not only because of these groups’ sheer purposelessness (i.e., the various Farmville hate groups) but also because joining generally leads to nothing fruitful even when the groups are actually meaningful to me (i.e., Southern Poverty Law Center).
Now, I could justify my joining via the route that says Facebook allows us to construct ourselves in this very strange hybrid space of reality and virtual reality. So that means that I want all these groups/pages/causes in my profile. They are little hyperlinks to represent who I am and who I associate with in the hyper-reality that is Facebook. They actually do mean something — to me, to everyone who fans or joins because I’ve done it, to everyone whose fanned or joined before me which prompted me to follow suit. It’s an exponential meme of joining and belonging. We are the world. Every scifi fan club, indignant social movement, or arrogant “better than you” group represents the fabric of my being, the code of my virtual self, the multitudinous relationships of my social life…the…. bleh.
A brief content analysis of my various joinings reflects a couple of disheartening things — in addition to the honest recognition that I spend too much time on Facebook.
First, I’m amazed at how many breast cancer joinings I’ve made. I’ve made them for cities other than where I live or have ever lived.The pink profile pics have somehow managed to propagate all over my causes and groups pages. The irony is that I completely abhor pink washing, or the pinking of breast cancer. Still, I feel guilty if don’t join someone’s pink ribbon group. So even though I never donate any money, I still add my tiny profile pic to large galleries of other tiny profile pics. All I’ve done is assuage my guilt. I don’t feel like I’ve accomplished anything of merit, and that’s probably because I didn’t.
Second, I’m amazed at the breadth of things I’ve joined. My list was shockingly long. So what’s the big deal of having a long list of links on my profile page? Well, nothing. It’s rather harmless. And that’s precisely the point. Joining adds up to absolutely nothing, whether it’s a group for a Facebook dislike button or CodePink, a pinking I can really get behind. My impact on the world is rather miniscule, not even pixel sized in the scope of things. I think the only real thing that a Facebook group ever accomplished is getting Betty White as an SNL guest host. The only money I’ve donated to any of these groups has been to former students (for a tattoo and a trip to Mich Fest), worthy of my financial support but hardly of social or political importance. It’s amazing how many groups I’ve joined have hundreds of members and less than $25 in contributions.
So Facebook basically flattens the significance of things. In the real world outside of Facebook, people must make choices about where they spend their time and money. We are forced to confront the extent of our political commitments by prioritizing our joinings while so many interests and needs vie for our attention. There is no need for such choices on Facebook. I can be everywhere and do everything, or so my cluttered profile page would suggest. I can proudly brandish my causes right next to my Friendship Teas and Shite Gifts for Academics (an app I adore). All this busyness on my page visually equates CodePink with a Super Poke. In terms of action or concrete social change, there’s no substantive political difference between joining Sh*t My Dad Says and the Human Rights Campaign.
Third, I cannot begin to fathom the amount of free advertising people give on Facebook via fanning and joining. I’ve seen people fan things like Diet Coke and McDonald’s. I’ve fanned products myself. As I’ve written before, this whole fanning business is the economic engine that drives Facebook. Does that even occur to me when my index finger is hovering over the mouse button? Nope.
The essence of slacktivism is the sensation that you’ve accomplished something of political impact when you’ve done nothing. I’m proud that I helped get Betty White on SNL. I’m smug that I’ve ignored the cacophony of pleas for Farmville animals and Cafe World dishes. I’m guilty that I felt guilty enough to support causes I don’t believe in even while I recognize how ineffectual my support actually is. Mostly, I’m just happy that I deleted 48 pages, 32 groups, and 17 causes. This now clears up my news stream for more important things such as Lolcat pics, YouTube videos of birds rocking out like Elvis, my friends’ incessant complaints about their jobs, and the regular info blasts from Color of Change and Al Franken. At least when I read those info blasts I actually feel like I’ve accomplished something. I’ve risen to a more honorable class of slacktivists.
