The word activist is a loaded term in 2021. In the traditional sense, i.e. before the summer of 2020, the word ‘activist’ probably inspired a mental image of protestors holding signs or washing oil from the feathers of baby ducks. However, with the introduction of ‘activism’ onto social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Tik Tok, the parameters that separate a true activist from a performative activist have been called into question.
What is Performative Activism, exactly?
Coming into relevance with the black lives matter protests over the summer, the phrase performative activism (aka slacktivism) was popularized in describing individuals, organizations, or companies who posted or reposted content in reference to social issues (in this case the BLM movement), but didn’t do any real-life work to reflect their projections online. In her YouTube video entitled “the instagram infographic industrial complex,” YouTuber Amanda Maryanna discusses what she coins as ‘the good, the bad, and the ugly of social media activism.” Maryanna defines the many ways in which performative activism can manifest, ranging from corporations who simply want to profit off of the ‘trend’ of social movements (think feminist and LGBTQIA+ merch) to individuals who simply want to paint themselves as good in the eyes of others.
Performative activism can manifest in multiple different ways online. One example of a very popular form is that of visual posts known as infographics. These infographics, as pictured above, often address very serious matters, usually they define terms or explain what the reader can do to help the social issue at hand. The criticism for infographics comes into play when they are made to be very visually aesthetically pleasing. They posts themselves will feature vibrant colors, fun graphics, and pretty font, but cover incredibly heavy topics such as racism, sexual abuse, famine, civil war, etc. People who post infographics of such nature are accused of performative activism due to the fact that they attempt activism in the parameters of their own visually pleasing profile. This often comes off as tone-deaf and implies that they are using activism simply as content for their followers.
How is it Harmful?
Using activism for an aesthetic or to boost one’s perceived credit online may seem harmless, but it has nefarious ramifications. Firstly, fake activism online (especially if the performer has a large platform) distracts from the real, hard work that many people who are civically engaged dedicate their lives to. The tweet below stands as a perfect example of this. The trend of being “woke” has resulted in people attempting to reap praise and glorification for hard work they don’t actually do, and social media has both popularized performative activism and made it easy.
In addition to discreditng the work of real activists, slacktivism holds the potential to discourage real-life participation in social change. In VoxATL’s article, “The Dangers of Performative Activism,” author Lauren Ashe points to the fact that performative activism distracts from what really matters during times of social injustice. She uses the example of the 29 million people who posted a black square in honor of the death George Floyd. She compares this number with his viral petition, which came short 10 million signatures at only 18 million. “Although the purpose of the day wasn’t ill-intended, it helped many people to believe that posting a black square was enough in this fight against racism and shifted the conversation away from what really matters.” Slacktivism gives many people an easy cop out to dealing with important social issues, such as addressing how racism is still very much rampant in the United States. Instead of having difficult conversations or trying to learn about how they can improve either themselves or their community, they post a black square and their activism box for the week is checked off.
After reading this, you may be asking yourself if the way you participate in social change online is productive. Although nobody is perfect, there are ways to better navigate ‘activism’ in the digital space. Before you post something, ask yourself; why you are posting it, did you take the time to read what it says, did you participate in the recommended actions such as donating or contacting a local representative, do you even truly care? If the answers to these questions are generally yes, post away. However, if the answer you come to is no, then maybe you aren’t someone who is in the position of telling others how to be “woke.”