Is Activism #Trending Again?

Amidst the social unrest of the 2020s, social media became an important tool to spread awareness and inform communities about how to stay politically active. Yet, despite the good intentions, social media as a supplement for community organizing and intentional advocacy efforts quickly became a substitute for organizing in person. Social media has become the convenient, mainstream way to advocate for political and humanitarian issues. Why has such an accessible means for raising awareness become disjointed and misguided so quickly? 

Advocacy and activism; it’s all the same thing right? Wrong. While used interchangeably, these words have different meanings and are contingent on the type of progress sought by community organizations. Advocacy, for example, is defined as actions aiming to gather public support for, or recommendation of, a particular cause or policy. Whereas, activism is the policy or action of using vigorous campaigning to bring about political or social change. Advocacy focuses more on public support, while activism is all about progressively changing policy. While both types of efforts are tools for bringing about social and political change, long-lasting change is brought by strategic, intentional, and consistent efforts.

We’ve entered an era of digital advocacy, a term used for incorporating technology into political campaigning; mobilizing support for various causes by sending out emails and text messages, and holding media campaigns across different social platforms. Advocacy is meant to challenge people to respond to their social obligation of seeking justice for themselves and those around them. Yet, with technological advances, we have taken away the perceived necessity of in-person community organization as a part of that obligation. Digital advocacy has been co-opted, misinterpreted, and abused, resulting in a rise in internet activism, colloquially known as “slacktivism.” 

Slacktivism is an informal term referring to the practice of supporting a political or social cause by means such as social media or online petitions, characterized by very little effort or commitment. In 2023, Pew Research Center released a study observing the overlap between American’s social media usage and a person’s relationship to political or civic engagement. In their findings, it was revealed that only 34% of social media users have followed a group that shares an interest in a particle political or social issue/cause, fewer than 26% of users encourage others to take action, and roughly 14% of users looked up information, either from social media or browsing the web, on protests happening in their local area. The translation from digital involvement to physical action is low, despite data suggesting that users are interested in remaining informed about relevant causes locally and nationally. 

Perfect examples of slacktivism include movements that have been commercialized for personal gain and social currency. In June 2020, the #BlackLivesMatter Movement was co-opted by users on Instagram who posted a black square on their page in “solidarity” towards those who have been affected by police brutality. In May 2024, with the rise of the Palestine-Israel conflict, an artificial intelligence (AI) generated image saying “All Eyes on Rafah” spread like fire on Instagram, with users reposting on their Instagram stories. Earlier this year, in February, there was talk across media platforms of a minor economic boycott that challenged consumers not to buy anything for the entire day—this boycott extended towards Target because the company rolled back its Diversity-Equity-Inclusion (DEI) focused programs and hiring practices. Most social media users reposted the infographic for the event. CNN reveals that it’s too early to tell what the results of this boycott will be, already there’s also been a slight decrease in Target’s web activity and traction but will it be enough to send a convincing message to the corporation?

The focus has shifted from the message to the method. Many of these social media campaigns lack one thing: integrity. These minor spikes in political engagement are nothing more than performative attempts to combat a contentious socio-political climate. The political fallout of the 2020s #BlackLivesMatter movement left many feeling as if the communal efforts over social media were performative; the call to action failed to transcend the digital space and bring the community forward to assist in making change for their local communities. Additionally, it’s hard to track if these small media campaigns lead to as much change as they claim to.

This emergence of “social-media advocacy” and “infographic campaigning” not only exhausts the public with a constant swarm of unclear messaging, social gain and impact, but also continues to diminish the collective efforts of those trying to mobilize their community. It’s critical to recognize the importance of social media, however, we must not let this convenience dissuade us from thinking that change happens as quickly as it appears online. Activism and advocacy work is a continuous fight for a better future: awareness is not the same as action, posting is not the same as progress, and real change is only enacted when we organize outside of the confinement of digital spaces.