Taking Advantage of Slacktivism for the Post-2015 Agenda

When we talk about a big UN inter-governmental process, that goes on for a number of years, and where ultimately a decision will be made that will affect the future of the whole planet, it's easy to think it'd take a lot of time, effort and prior knowledge to contribute to the discussion. But whereas the MDGs where decided behind closed doors in the UNHQ, where only the most experienced of lobbyists could even attempt to influence the negotiators, the next set of targets are almost at the opposite extreme. If you are a die-hard slacktivist (almost an oxymoron) you can have a say too.

Slacktivism is a colloquial term to describe the behaviour of taking part in advocacy campaigns, usually through the Internet, in a quick and easy way. Liking campaign Facebook pages, retweeting organisations, changing you profile picture for a time or signing online petitions all count as slacktivism. Reading this blog (you probably came to it from social media) I'd guess you are a slacktivist - even if you didn't know it before now!

Some might see the connotations of the terms as negative, as though depicting people who are only half-hearted in committing to a cause, but I think it's an incredibly positive thing. Call someone an activist and it still conjures up images of the placard waving, anti-establishment, full-time (or often a student) campaigner. However, there's a huge portion of the population who don't have the time, money, or inclination to go wandering through the streets of Westminster in any kind of weather. But they still have valid opinions about the world they want to live in - opinions that need to be heard in preparing the post-2015 agenda.

So that's why I think slacktivism is particularly useful in this case - the negotiators need to know what the population thinks, wants and needs, not just the minority with the know-how to get their ear on the floor of the UN. And the UN has created a number platforms to aid the collection of such voices.

MyWorld2015.org is the main one of these. You're asked to rank 6 priorities from a list of 16, Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus and have their own blog. They must be doing something right as over half a million people have submitted their vote already. One slacktivist to another, I think you should (if you haven't already) help nudge that figure over the 1 million mark. Go on. You know you want to.

give a little bit of demographic data and then, voila! You've helped to influence the global priorities for next development agenda. They're on

For those of you on Twitter who want to follow this discussion, try @post2015 @beyond2015 and, of course, @myworld2015 for a start. On Facebook have a look at www.facebook.com/YouthVoicesUN and www.facebook.com/myworld2015.