The Future of Activism

On May 28th, 3 days after the death of George Floyd, more than 8 million tweets under the #blacklivesmatter were published.

Social media ecompasses and surrounds so many of our lives; the average teenager spends up to 3 hours on social media daily. With the COVID-19 pandemic hurtling into our lives, and things that used to be in person moved online, it's no surprise that activism has become a prominent part of social media. 5 months after the death of Eric Garner back in 2014, the amount of tweets tagged with #blacklivesmatters hit a peak at 146,000- so what has lead to this massive spike in activism on social media? What does it mean for the future of activism on social media?

The COVID 19 pandemic has undeniably accelerated the amount of time and energy people put into social media. There was an 85% increase in the number of Tik Tok users between 2019 and 2020, a platform which has been a significant base for social media activism. An example of this was Former US President Donal Trump’s Tulsa rally in June of 2021, which was ruined when thousands of Tik Tok users reserved tickets only for none of them to show up, leading to a failed rally. This is just one example of the power social media has on political activism, and the increasing sphere of influence social media has on politics.

Social media activism has also allowed for information to spread at an unprecedented rate. Never before has there been such easy access to information, petitions and charities; social media allows for a level of accessibility which lets people all over the world learn and promote awareness about events that happen on the other side of the globe. Social media has presented an opportunity for unfiltered, uncensored information to be spread to momentous heights. However, with the lack of filtering, and a lack of censorship, the issue of disinformation being spread becomes a huge issue. According to a 2018 MIT study, false information is 70% more likely to be spread than actual information. With so much content flooding our screens on the daily, we have to question how much of it is true.

With social media activism comes the much dreaded performative activism, or activism to increase one's social standing, or to follow a trend. With this month's theme being culture in a cosmopolitan century, one may wonder how much of the activism within social media is just another trend that is being blindly followed. Performative activism can lead to more harm than good, where people are sharing whatever information they find no matter what it's about just to keep up with trends. A big example of performative activism was the trend of Black Out Tuesday, where people posted a black square to show solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. Many big brands and celebrities jumped onto this idea. The main issue with Black Out Tuesday was that most people posted a black square and went back to normal. People believed that posting a single black square was their part to play in fighting racism and discrimination and was adequate in dismantling a systemic issue- just one example of the dangers of performative activism.

Social media presents a new way to share information and fight for social justice, however it brings with it a host of new issues. People will always find a way to fight for what they believe in, whether that be on social media, through a newspaper article, or just starting conversations in their everyday lives. What is for certain however is the future is online. The future is digital. How we choose to use it is up to us.

By Dia Nanda 11F