Slacktivism: Action or Futility?

Slacktivism:  actions performed via the Internet in support of a political or social cause but regarded as requiring little time or involvement, e.g., signing an online petition or joining a campaign group on a social networking website.


           These days it seems we are all pressed for time.  Be it schoolwork or time devoted to a paying job, we all feel like we are running short of time.  Yet surely we still hold our own beliefs near to our hearts.  Surely we still wish to "make a difference". Thus in this new digital age, we have been given a new route or avenue by which we can express ourselves and let our views be known. 
          "Just click here!"  "Send a message to Washington!" If you're like me, you've seen countless numbers of these messages attached to news articles in your Facebook news feed.  I'll admit to clicking on many of them. I've signed online petitions and added my name to lists in order to voice my agreement or displeasure with a specific action taken by an elected official. But what has this really gotten me?  Has it really accomplished anything other than, as my granddaddy would have said, "keepin' my pressure up?"
          Actually it has.  By making me aware of certain news items, I have become more informed and have taken the time to take the only steps I know that are available to me in order to make that difference. Thankfully I can say that I have done more than just the random click here and there. I have contributed to campaigns, held meet and greets for my local state representative in my home, and placed phone calls and written to my state and federally elected officials. But I have done those things only because I am quite passionate about my political beliefs.  I find almost everything related to the political world fascinating. 
          But what about the armchair activists and slacktivism?  Have they been led by mass media outlets to believe that by making that random click of the mouse they are becoming engaged, making a difference?  Are these outlets being misleading?  I've gone back and taken a look at a few of the pages I've liked on Facebook and their calls to action. Almost every one begins with asking a reader to add their name to a petition.  The next click invariably leads to a plea for money.  I noticed that a few pages stopped at this point, but almost all of them actually went further and urged their readers to contact their state or federal representatives within the government and to let their voices and viewpoints be heard.  And I think that is an honorable and a good thing.
          So slacktivism occurs only when the reader allows it to.  Will the reader take more than just a few seconds to click on a prompt and call a senator's office or write him or her a letter?  The burden and responsibility lies with the reader. 
          How far do the readers take it?
          How far do YOU take it?