Slacktivism or Activism: Investigating the Influence of Social Media Engagement on Individual Willingness to Resist and Report Sexual Harassment

Abstract

Following the initial euphoria over the Internet's civic engagement potential, sceptics have claimed that the Internet's effect on actual social transformation may be less benign. An essential criticism argues that online social activism is nothing more than slacktivism, or practices that make people feel good but have very little to offer real-world social evils. This study has been conducted to examine social media users’ involvement in individual willingness for slacktivism or activism.  The present study is an attempt to investigate and is centered around the argument that online social activism is nothing more than slacktivism, or practices that make people feel good but have very little to offer real-world social evils.  The authors employed an inferential research design based on the quantitative methodology for the present study. Standard scales were extracted to develop the questionnaire. Data was collected through online surveys by employing snowball sampling. To test the research model and conduct the mediation analysis, the PLS-SEM analysis was performed through SmartPLS. Results indicated a significant positive relationship between slacktivism, activism, and social media engagement; along with this, slacktivism fully mediates the relationship between activism and social media engagement. As social media continues to pervade daily life and become a critical source of news and information in nations experiencing difficult times, it is critical to use social media as a tool to generate interest, awareness, and participation among the public.