Fake activism leads to real consequences
Ava Memarzadeh, Staff Writer
The fixation on political activism increased during the pandemic and has ultimately led to the problem of performative activism. Many have taken topics of social change and turned them into a fight for social capital. However, the lingering question is whether or not these performative activists are instigating any change. In most cases, no impact is made and the image of a movement is tarnished.
One of the most common examples of this are the colorful Instagram infographics that we all know and love, informing us of yet another tragic incident. Seeing Instagram stories crowded with posts about a pressing issue may not always be coming from a genuine place, but from not wanting to get canceled. Typically, the infographics are not fact checked, and audiences have no way of knowing the sources of information. This is dangerous because as soon as one person posts an infographic, others don’t want to seem insensitive and immediately repost. This is how misinformation is spread. Overall, this can be extremely harmful for a movement, as it makes them look distrustful.
However, many argue that they are introduced to relevant news, typically regarding an important humanitarian issue. Samo student Ella Crandall (’23) resonated with this point.
“I’ve learned about topics to look into through posts on social media, that I wouldn’t have otherwise known about. I didn’t know much about Juneteenth until I saw lots of people repost it on social media. I’m not sure if those people actually care about the cause, but I still learned from it,” Crandall said.
During the Black Lives Matter Movement, many were eager to hop on the bandwagon and increase their social status with their involvement. In a way, the movement fueled preformative activism. Most people changed their social media bios to say “BLM,” and posted black screens, canceling anyone who didn’t follow. Considering the lack of change that comes from any of those actions, they are most definitely considered performative activism. If anything, it allows others to ridicule the cause and give a reason for people to be annoyed with it. Many of the BLM “activists’’ were not and didn’t even care to be educated on the matter. The Black Lives Matter Movement morphed into a cause that allowed others to simply want to brighten their image.
Overall, activism should ideally be coming from a place of passion and concern. However, if that is not the case, it is important to be aware of one’s acts of activism and make sure no harm is being done.
Posts such as these serve little educational purpose, often used to feign awareness