Performative Activism: How Social Media Plays a Part
If you're like me, you might have taken the liberty of sharing an infographic about a social cause. However, by doing so, you could be participating in a phenomenon called “performative activism.” This term lacks a formal definition, but is generally associated with a form of activism used for personal gain rather than for a cause.
Concurrent with the COVID-19 pandemic over the last year and a half, another historical event has gone viral: the social justice movement. As a result, a lot of people have felt pressure to become “activists” even if they didn’t actually care about the social issues they “advocated” for, and those who failed to take a stance were subtly (and sometimes not subtly) ostracized for not caring. On the other hand, some people really did seek to enact change, but went about it the wrong way. These are the individuals that become performative activists, whether they realize it or not.
Social media is a convenient tool for activism, but it is often misused by performative activists. It is being used for trendy social justice hashtags in order to gain followers and support. It’s not just individuals that participate in performative activism, so can brands, except they participate for capital gain. Activism is seen as great PR for brands because it drums up support and attention. Many brands have no history of caring for social justice issues, they are doing it now because they know that the majority of Gen Z values activism.
An example of performative activism on social media is “Blackout Tuesday.” Last year, #BlackoutTuesday trended on Instagram because millions of people posted a black square. Some users did intend on being allies to the Black community, and other users were just simply following any other trend. Either way posting a black square was, and is not, the way to enact change. If all those users signed petitions, donated, or attended rallies instead, real change could have been made to support the Black community. There are a billion other examples all over Instagram and Twitter: look at what your friends are sharing on social media, whether or not they are sharing actual resources or another trending infographic.
In my opinion, performative activism is worse than silence, because it takes attention away from the actual conversations and issues. Refer back to the #BlackoutTuesday example in which users used #blacklivesmatter or #BLM when posting the black squares. This crowded out the important information being exchanged on resources, petitions, and rallies. Highlighting the voices of people being affected and real activists is the key to helping drown out performative activism.
My advice? Be aware of the characteristics of performative activism, and don’t fall susceptible to them. Posting trending infographics or tweets without doing your own research is performative activism. Instead, share resources, places to donate, petitions, organizations, or just real news.
Dahlia Solomon is a sophomore at Syosset High School. She wholeheartedly believes that young people deserve a voice in politics, and that is why she is involved in local politics and the NGP Blog. She loves being able to debate and communicate with new people to broaden her worldview. She hopes to one day pursue a career in law. In her free time, Dahlia can be found reading, writing, and drawing.