Real activists aren’t hypocrites; Performative advocacy on social media

    During quarantine of 2020, social media activism was at an all time high. Our boredom was cured from constantly scrolling on various platforms. But if you recall, society was also at an all-time rage from racial injustice, causing social media to flood with activists.

      Activism is a term used when individuals are campaigning to bring awareness to a specific political or social change. We call the individuals who do this “activists.”

      Bringing awareness to causes important to you is very crucial for society to get anywhere with change- without awareness or action, there is no reformation.

      While quarantine was abroad, activists used social media to vocalize their rage within racial injustice, abortion laws, and other serious topics.

      As you may remember, the Black Lives Matter movement was a huge deal. It always has been, and attention was brought into its view. Posts coursed through Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and more.

     These posts uplifted the cause and eventually brought so much attention that change actually happened. Finally, there was justice within the court system, and George Floyd’s murderers were placed in jail.

      This is a prime example of activism bringing change. True activism looks exactly like this. Bringing attention and giving your all into causes. Whether that’s reposting petitions, going to protests, donating, or any other sources of change.

      However, what isn’t true activism, is reposting an infographic on your story about racial injustice, and then go and hang out with your friends who use racial slurs three times a day.

      This is an issue because this is what we call fake activism. Posting on your Instagram story about why women’s rights are so important- and then calling up your guy friend who has degraded women multiple times is not okay. 

     It is extremely hypocritical and reflects the idea that you don’t actually care about the movements you claim to be concerned about.

      Doing this disregards the entire point of being an activist. You can not call yourself an ally or supporter to a movement and follow it up with being friends with the exact type of people you are against.

      You also can’t support the content and not the cause of a campaign. Reposting a simple post on your story to make it seem like you care about it is just extremely insensitive.

      Although doing this helps bring awareness to a situation, it also doesn’t do any good if you can’t take three seconds out of your day to sign a petition, make a small donation (if you can) or even call out your misogynistic friends. Activism is true through literal actions, not digital ones.