Slactivism is basically attempting to "make a difference" by way of re-sharing emotionally manipulative stuff.

I've had it to here, and this is where I'll put my rant-backs to such drivel. The main rant follows the linkage.

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Rudolph The Insufferable Reindeer

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Slactivism.

What is it, and why does it make me so freaking ticked off?

to start with, it never comes literally from the heads of my friends, in their own words. It has nothing to do with my friends other than succeeding to play on their emotions enough to get them re-sharing. Adding to the sickening is the praise people sometimes get from others for re-sharing this schlock.

Slactivism is the sort of crud that claims "will change the way you feel in less than x seconds/minutes" or is another "Stand up against bullying/in support of cancer awareness/to fight gender inequality/child abuse" and the list just goes on. It could be anything from videos with extremely sad pictures, music, and details of some kind of abuse and suffering, to breathless outrage articles about the "disabled" always being given the short end of the stick, and it's always assumed it's because of the disability, to short little statuses that mention cancer and tell you to re-share and like.

and let's not forget all the "anti-bullying" re-shares. we must always be sure to cheer on every single supposed "anti-bullying" message too, no matter how exaggerated, sappy, sanctimonious, whiny and passive-aggressive it actually is, and no matter how many others just like it have splatted across your screen in the past. Because the human race is apparently so week-minded that we all need to be reminded every so often that "Hey, bullying is wrong!" and that whoever re-shares this stuff must be especially caring and very anti-bully.

we must always be sure to cheer on every single supposed "anti-bullying" message too, no matter how exaggerated, sappy, sanctimonious, whiny and passive-aggressive it actually is, and no matter how many others just like it have splatted across your screen in the past. Because the human race is apparently so week-minded that we all need to be reminded every so often that "Hey, bullying is wrong!"

Then there's the big deal being made over gender and disability. "Wear red for women!" No. Why should I exult one group of people above another just for being women, just because women didn't get a fair shake in the past?

Then there are two kinds of slactivism concerning the "disabled" similar to the feminist slactivism.

One strain practically worships anyone because of the "disability" as in, this person wouldn't even be noticed at all for what s/he is doing if s/he didn't have the "disability" or artificial limb or whatever. Still looks like pity by obligation to me, not to mention condescending.

The other strain is the "They done this person wrong because s/he is disabled! They are bad bad bad and must be exposed!"

Just how is that literally going to improve living conditions and means of independence for people everywhere who have special needs? All such articles do is give me the message that if you're blind/deaf/etc. and you think your life doesn't currently suck, it will eventually, because the big bad world has a hate on you. Look at this example where a blind man got his cane stolen, or that blind man ran into some trouble when his guide dog wasn't permitted in that grocery store or restaurant. Or OMG Kanye West demanded his audience all stand up because he didn't know or believe he had fans in wheelchairs.

Oh, please.

Kanye West sucks anyway, so who cares about him?

And what, really, can I do about the this case in Chicago where some teacher said this or that to upset a "disabled" person, or that case in San Fransisco where somebody expressed concern about a dog in the grocery store? Oh, right, re-share 'em all and populate my social network stream with it as if I think I'm on some crusade to bring justice to the world when in reality I'd just come off looking like a sour, pessimistic, "disability"-obssessed jerk who has a big chip on my shoulder about my own limitations.

Not gonna do that.

The point is, I'm really sick of being told via such re-shares that my life ought to suck because I'm blind, and being met with fear and loathing is the best I can hope to expect wherever I go, because the world is awesome like that.

Something these re-shares never mention is that being a woman, a "disabled" person or a victim of bullying does not a saint make. Indeed, there are jerks, even downright abusive ones in all three categories, so yes, even victims can sometimes turn into bullies too.

Something else these emotion-stranglers love to do is juxtapose what is assumed to be your comfortable life with the lives of those who have it worse off elsewhere.

Basically, it's like this. You're having a good day, maybe even a great day, and then something pops up in your email or social network feed from a friend or a few that reminds you that someone else has it really bad off. Not only that, but they often stick in a double whammy into it with the message that someone somewhere suffers just so you can have a nice life.

And then there are others that attempt to demean your own really bad days, because while you may be feeling down in the dumps, scared or concerned about something in your life, that's totally unimportant and your feelings are invalid because someone somewhere else has a worse life than you.

So you're not allowed to feel good because someone has it worse off than you.

You're not allowed to feel terrible about your life not always going quite right because someone's got it worse.

All you're supposed to do is stop being selfish, because that's what you must be if you're enjoying life even a little and you're not thinking of all the poor afflicted souls elsewhere who you really aren't helping by reading and re-sharing this stuff… Instead, you must think only of the people the re-shares tell you to care about. And of course, make a difference by sharing the guilt-trippers and downers on.

It does make a difference with me, only not for the better.

I don't like seeing my friends getting used by these anonymous manipulators. And here's another kicker, often when someone has re-shared, they just go on with their day, happy to have "made a difference" by supposedly having done a good deed and shown how much they care… Then they forget about it. They haven't given time or money to any charity that actually works to fight starvation or disease etc. The only thing they've done is make other people feel bad.