SLACKTIVISM

“Silence is violence.” This powerful adage is something that has always resonated with me. I’ve always felt a personal, strong moral obligation to a number of social issues and find it almost impossible to sit still when I feel like something is unjust. Growing up in the DC-metropolitan area, the political hub of the United States, I’m certainly no stranger to protests and activist movements and culture. It’s an environment that fosters and encourages the growth of that fire for social and political involvement (if you want it to). And I personally did, writing letters to my congresspeople on issues that angered me, phone banking for a congressional candidate, working the polls on election day, and physically going out to protests. I attended several protests in DC such as the Women’s March and the March For Our Lives, and several walkouts for gun control with other members of my high school community. In high school, social media was significant in my involvement in activism.

But what truly makes one an activist? We live in an age where media and technological development has redefined what that word means to us. Using easily and readily available digital tools, anyone can be an activist from the safety of their living room couch. This is what the United Nations defines as “Slacktivism,” when people “support a cause by performing simple measures” but “are not truly engaged or devoted to making a change.” It’s often characterized as being carried out through means such as social media and online petitions.

My high school in Montgomery County, MD⁠—known by many locals as “Moco”⁠—worked in tandem with several other student leaders in high schools across our county in an organization called “Moco for Change.” Aside from its leaders physically meeting in person, “Moco for Change” uses social media as a major tool in connecting students in schools across the county to act together. Students could repost and share flyers and the action plan for an upcoming walkout or protest in order to galvanize their peers and make them aware of said event.

My parents, coming from the West African nation of Cameroon, would always support my decision to go out and protest- a right provided to me as an American. The ability to protest and raise their voices in the public sphere is a privilege they weren’t allowed back home by a government that suppressed the voices of its citizens. This happens in various countries across the world, not only in physical life but in the digital sphere as well, where governments block citizens’ access to certain social media applications in an attempt to regulate public discourse. We are so fortunate in the United States to have the ability to freely express our sentiments regarding what is happening in the world and should use the means available to us to do so. 

In our rapidly advancing technology-driven world, the very nature of activism has been changed. We’re able to disseminate information in a manner and rate that we have never been able to before. Information no longer must be disseminated by word-of-mouth and other tedious means, but can be done rapidly and to even larger audiences. The way we mobilize and act in unison has also revolutionized through this; one can set up an “event” on Facebook for an upcoming protest, or provide information about this gathering on platforms like Instagram and Twitter, which can be reposted or retweeted out to others. Social media can be such a helpful tool for activism and mobilization. But what matters most is how we utilize this tool. 

This summer, there was a social media movement, #blueforsudan, which was created in response to the violent military crackdown and civil unrest which was occurring in Sudan. Thousands of Instagram users changed their profile pictures to a blue color, also often reposting information about the protests there in order to stand in solidarity with the people of Sudan and shed a light on the issues at hand. There are many naysayers who look down on efforts like this and say that something like changing one’s Instagram profile picture does nothing at all, but I have to disagree. What this collective action does is spread awareness, which I believe is one of social media’s greatest feats. For instance, the 2014 ALS viral ice bucket challenge made waves, raising awareness of the serious illness. Through social media campaigns, numerous people who wouldn’t have otherwise known about this disease or human rights crisis respectively were informed of their existence. However, there is a danger in this movement for awareness⁠—where slacktivism is born—as complacency can come from it. How we should gear our thinking to be is: now that I know about this, what can I do about it?

There’s a social media phenomenon where people feel the need to make it known to the world what they are doing at all times. If you don’t post it, were you even there? Last weekend, a protest in opposition to police brutality against youth of color by the New York City Police Department took place, organized by self-proclaimed “action-oriented movement,” Decolonize This Place. Before the protest, a rally leader stated something along the lines of, “don’t live stream or post [this protest] on social media to brag to your friends…because they don’t care. And if they did, they would be here.” It’s important to know that our action and participation in activism shouldn’t be and is not reliant on the reception and perception of others. And while it’s nice to capture and share moments, your physical presence matters even more than your digital one.

While I admittedly love to flex my ownership of metal straws any chance I get, I know that by using these straws I am not saving every single sea turtle in our earth’s precious oceans. It’s something- a step towards reducing my plastic waste, but more can be done. We can’t allow social media to make us lazy participants in civil discourse and lose sight of what’s important in terms of activism. We must use it as a tool for change. 

If we talk the talk, we must also walk the walk as well. Of her stance on activism, NYU freshman Victoria Husain says, “I can’t just post all these things without doing anything, I have to actually live up to my words.” Let’s be conscious of the fact that social media is a tool for awareness and mobilization, but it doesn’t end there. If you repost a video about a recent climate change-related tragic event, think about how you may be of service to your community with respect to that issue, like local park clean up or community garden planting. If you see a shocking post about a human rights issue, you can donate money to a trusted organization who is doing good work to alleviate that issue, or even donate your time to an organization that is making similar efforts. Write letters to your congresspeople or call them, attend protests for causes you believe in; there’s no limit to how you can be involved. The most important thing is that we are using our voices to help create the world we want to live in. Our silence is an acceptance of the systems that we want to change. Anyone can be an activist, we just have to make sure it doesn’t stop at our screens.