Page 10 - Tina Morlock - How to Avoid Slacktivism

the Benjamin Center for Public Policy initiatives at the State University of New York at
Paltz, said in an interview. (Mele para. 14)

In this way, a Change.org petition can leverage the same power that any other social media
network can, if it is used effectively. But, just like the Facebook and Twitter case studies above,
successful online petitions didn’t stop at the petition. They require a lot more work – both online
and offline – to ensure your message is heard.

In an article in Dame Magazine, Nona Willis Aronowitz asks the question – “how much
difference can a signature make” (Aronowitz para. 1)? She answers her own question with
petitions that have inspired real change. For instance, “Cindy Butterworth, a 60-year-old high
school library assistant in Rochester, NY, started a petition urging Verizon to reconsider their
refusal to waive their cancellation fees for domestic violence victims” (Aronowitz para. 4). Not
only did Butterworth get a lot of signatures, but it helped her make a difference for victims of
domestic violence. “Her petition eventually garnered 200,000 signatures and Verizon reversed its
decision” (Aronowitz para. 5). But, in Butterworth’s case, she didn’t stop with the petition.
“[She] had spoken with Verizon multiple times and eventually used a personal connection to get
the attention of a Verizon executive” (Aronowitz para. 10). So, these things don’t exist in a
vacuum. You can’t just launch a social media campaign or an online petition and expect amazing
results. You must implement these efforts into the much bigger picture. Think it through, get
social, and act. That’s how change is made.