Meanings
- derogatoryinformaluncountableHalf-hearted activism on the Internet, lacking actual engagement with the real-world issues.
But there’s another danger, too. “Clicktivism” is a well-documented phenomenon, where people click on an online petition and think that their work is done, without actually having an impact on the world.
2019 May 23, Owen Jones, “Woke-washing: how brands are cashing in on the culture wars”, in The Guardian, →ISSN2 more examples
White argues that clicktivist sites (like MoveOn.org) are able to bolster their numbers by asking little of the “activists”. Hence, clicktivism potentially waters down the impact of lowcost forms of activism (like e-petitions).
2015, Todd A. Comer, What Comes After Occupy?, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, →ISBN, page 217Gladwell's article captured the zeitgeist of the moment, in which researchers and journalists were wondering aloud about the dangers of ‘clicktivism’ (or ‘slacktivism’) and asking how the new digital activism compared to older forms of street activism.
2020, Dave Karpf, “After clicktivism”, in William H. Dutton, editor, A Research Agenda for Digital Politics, Edward Elgar Publishing, →ISBN, page 123Synonyms: slacktivism
Synonyms & antonyms
nounHalf-hearted activism on the Internet, lacking actual engagement with the real-world issues.
Origin
Translations
Catalan clictivisme
- clictivismeactivism on the Internet
French clictivisme
- clictivismeactivism on the Internet
Portuguese cliquetivismo
- cliquetivismoactivism on the Internet
Spanish clictivismo
- clictivismoactivism on the Internet
Cite this entry
clicktivism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/clicktivism
“clicktivism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/clicktivism. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “clicktivism,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/clicktivism.
Source: clicktivism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.