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12
Slacktivism
Social Change
Does Not Just
Come From
Social Media
in us, in that we believe we have the ability to forge change from the
comfort of our bedrooms.
The famous Ghandi quote didn’t come from no where;
you must be
the change you want to see in the world
. Evidently, forging change is only
measured by our ability to take a risk. Sometimes we need to go
further than just posting a picture. I’m sure you’re all aware of the
recent protests regarding fee changes to universities. Whether you
agree politically or not, I can say that thousands posted their
opinions regarding the issue on social media. Yet, there was one
teenage girl who understood that these posts were too easy to brush
off, and if she wanted to make real change she was going to have to
put herself into a risky situation. She commenced a protest around
parliament, joined by thousands of university students. One
policewoman stated,
I asked her her age and she said 15
. When she asked
why she was there, she said
‘I’m fighting for my future.’
Ultimately social change will need to come from more than just
social media. If there’s an issue we believe is important, let’s do
something about it. Real change requires sacrifice. Nelson Mandela,
Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Malala didn’t sit back and like,
share or retweet their cause. We, in a country like Australia, have the
power to make real change, and to not just take the easy option.
‘