Social Media Activism

Everyone is aware of the fact that technology and social media have become so deeply embedded

in our lives - to a point where it’s become political. With that being said, social media has slowly resembled that of a political tool. From the Arab Spring to the #BlackLivesMatter Movement -where livestreams and trending hashtags are infesting our tablets and smartphones - political activism has become accessible for everyone and anyone. Your contribution to a movement through a simple Facebook status or better yet, an Instagram post, seems to automatically deem you a self-proclaimed activist. It has undoubtedly become the most accessible (and let’s admit — the easier) way to involve yourself. But these movements seem to experience a sort of ‘boom and bust’ effect where you see the ALS Bucket Challenge viral for a few days, only to prepare the terrain for the next upcoming new ‘trend’. And in the blink of an eye, neighbor Sally, who I spoke to once in my life whilst taking out the trash, all of a sudden emerges as a passionate feminist figure in my eyes, albeit subliminally due to her recent Facebook activity.

Sitting in a Digital Politics class one day, my professor introduced a new term - Slacktivism, the idea that Internet users who claim they are‘activists’ might actually be slacker activists because their real politicalactivity is minimal and remains behind laptop screens. The nature of social media is extremely fast-paced, that one second we are reminded of the Syrian refugee crises, and the next of Kylie Jenner’s last vacation (depending on who you follow -of course). The aim of this article is not to shut down opinions or social media activism, because social media is a strong outlet and can actually lead to substantive change. However, it should not feel like a source of comfort or an illusion that we are actually giving back to society through our smartphones. So if we are going to contribute via the web, we should click more buttons like donate or volunteer rather than merely liking or sharing.