PoetPhilosopher
Veteran Member
What is and what is not an activist?
Just asking a question.
Just asking a question.
-
Welcome to Religious Forums, a friendly forum to discuss all religions in a friendly surrounding.
Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:- Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
- Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
- Access to private conversations with other members.
We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!
Activism
- Thread starter PoetPhilosopher
- Start date
Given that it appears to be so ineffective, I would suggest the rule of thumb that: If it involves the internet, it probably isn't activism. It seems that you actually have to go places and physically meet people to have a real, physical effect on the world.
Secret Chief
nirvana is samsara
An activist is one who is challenging a particular area of the political world?
Er... one is not if one... isn't....
Er... one is not if one... isn't....
Secret Chief
nirvana is samsara
Political parties spend a lot of money utilising the internet. They wouldn't if they didn't find it effective, imo.
PoetPhilosopher
Veteran Member
So if I challenged one of Rand Paul's opinions on Twitter, I'd be an activist?
Secret Chief
nirvana is samsara
That's an example of the behaviour of an activist, but perhaps to warrant the label "activist" it would need to be part of an ongoing campaign (presumably coordinated in some way).
Tambourine
Well-Known Member
There is more to online activism than what you see on social media platforms (although I would be more inclined to classify that as "slacktivism").
Even if you're solely focused on the physical world, the internet is a useful tool to distribute information, raise awareness and/or funds and, of course, organize political action.
As for the original question, I would say an activist is someone who organizes, drives, or at least actively supports collective political action, often in service of a specific goal or set of goals, with the key words, for me, being "active" and "collective".
So personally I wouldn't call talking back to a politician on Twitter "activism", but if it was an organized online flash mob whose members all tweeted the same snarky comments, then it might well be.