You’ve heard of activism, right? Making banners (where did I leave my paints again?), marching in the street (in the sun, in the cold, in the rain… urgh), and signing petitions (yawn!), and all those time-consuming things people in the sixties and seventies did… boring!
- Make sure it is about you.
I mean, of course you care about the cause, but the most important thing about being a clicktivist is to ensure people know it’s you who cares.
- Selfies.
See point one, and it goes without saying: make sure there’s a photo of you involved. If you really have time to kill, scribble something about the cause on a piece of paper and hold it up – but be sure to not cover your gorgeous face with it.
- Share, share, share.
Make sure you don’t focus on one particular cause: you don’t want to bore your friends! Anything that is grabbing media attention is a good share, especially tragedies in the places that count like the US, or Europe.
- “Thoughts and prayers”.
Some people say thoughts and prayers aren’t that useful—but they are! Adding something as simple as “thoughts and prayers to the people of…” will ensure people (not those directly affected of course, that would be #awkward) know you truly care. If you’re in a hurry, an easy #thoughtsandprayers will do. Speaking of which…
- #Hashtags.
This is crucial. Make sure you’re using lots of them to get more #views and #likes. Pick the hottest cause and use the hashtag – your social media post needn’t be related to the cause directly, the important thing is to add the right hashtags to make sure you get seen.
- Inspiration.
Share your true feelings, especially when they’re about about how much #underprivileged people inspire you, humble you, and make you feel so much #gratitude.
- Sacrifice.
Talk about how much you’ve sacrificed to be able to contribute your precious time to the cause. For example, if you were late to your balayage appointment because you were signing a petition to save #strayAfricancats, make sure people know about it.
- Stereotype your way there.
Stereotypes are underrated. Generalising is so much easier – for example, #Africa is sufficient, no need to name the country, let alone the region the tragedy is occurring.
- Don’t be overly Politically Correct.
Nobody likes a PC nazi, so don’t worry too much about stepping on anyone’s sensitivities. Your heart is in the right place, that’s all that matters. If you want to wear a Native American headdress at Halloween to show your support for indigenous struggles – go for it! #hatersgonnahate
- Last but not least, get some disciples to join your cause/s.
Talk about how your clicktivism has made a difference: how many children/trees/dolphins you’ve saved with each click, to really inspire others to join you on your #selfless clicktivism #journey.
Do you have any more #hottips to help clicktivists go #viral? Share them in the comments!
Image credits:
Image 1: Image Source: America’s Black Holocaust Museum www.abhmuseum.org
Image 2: quickmeme.com
Image 3 memegenerator.net
Image 4 makeameme.org
Image 5 Yanko Tsetkov’s Atlas of Prejudice www.atlasofprejudice.com
Image 6: @barbiesaviour