Slacktivism or Social Revolution
Gen Z’s Relationship with Online Activism
As a generation that has grown up with the internet at their fingertips, it’s only natural that Gen Z would have a close relationship with social media. From Twitter to Instagram and now TikTok, Gen Z is able to have their finger on the pulse of anything happening anywhere in the world in a matter of seconds.
Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, social media has proven to be a prominent source for spreading awareness and social activism. Movements like Black Lives Matter, Get Out The Vote for the 2020 U.S. presidential election, Stop Asian Hate, and Free Palestine have all been able to circulate at breakneck speeds across social media. Social media users have even used their platforms to encourage other young people to follow COVID-19 procedures and get their vaccines.
The question that remains is this: Is this latest iteration of activism substantial enough to create genuine change? Or is posting a series of “woke” infographics on your Insta story simply a trend that will inevitably fade out?
The Aesthetic of Infographics
In writer Mary Retta’s article titled The Revolution Will Be Aestheticized, she defines infographics as “glossy, informative slideshows that conveniently break down our most important political issues into beautiful, bite size chunks” that are “usually curated by activists, academics, or regular folks with the time and the knowledge.”
From there, they are rapidly shared through Instagram story reposts, effectively saturating your feed with information about the most prominent social topic of the time. This has quickly become one of the most popular ways of spreading social justice information on Instagram.
“It can educate people who don’t have the patience, energy, learning style, or just general capacity to sit for hours reading scholarly articles, or journals, or books or — I don’t know — stuff in The New York Times,” YouTube content creator, Khadija Mbowe, said in one of their video essays. “This type of activism can also help people who can’t afford to donate to still feel like they’re supporting causes by spreading awareness at the very least.”
Social media activism in this most recent form came about at the perfect time. Across the world, people were stuck in their homes due to stay-at-home orders. Consequently, their day-to-day lives changed drastically. If there ever was a worry that people were spending too much time online before, that reality increased over the course of the pandemic. What better way to connect with people and get educated about key issues happening around the world than with social media? Most people are already on their phones, anyway.
However, as social issues have faded in and out of the public conversation, what I’ve noticed throughout this past year have been a couple of trends known as “slacktivism” and “virtue signalling.”
What is “Slacktivism” and “Virtue Signalling?”
Defined by the United Nations, slacktivism is when people “support a cause by performing simple measures” but “are not truly engaged or devoted to making a change.” Similarly, virtue signalling is “the action or practice of publicly expressing opinions or sentiments intended to demonstrate one’s good character or the moral correctness of one’s position on a particular issue.”
Often during prominent social justice movements like Black Lives Matter, many brands, celebrities, and average Instagram users will post one or two statements on their feed to appear as if they are on the “right side” of the conversation. It’s an easy way to ensure that they are not called out for being ignorant of the situation without putting in much effort on their part.
The best example that comes to mind: The black square.
On June 2nd of last year, Instagram was flooded with posts of black squares under the hashtag #BlackoutTuesday. According to CNBC, more than 14.6 million posts had been tagged under the hashtag at its peak, all coming from various brands, organizations, and regular Instagram users.
While the original intent behind Blackout Tuesday was to have a day dedicated to pausing all business and going silent on social media to leave space for Black voices, the effect left far more confusion and diversion from the intended message. In their efforts to appear supportive and “woke” about the Black Lives Matter movement, 14.6 million black squares had effectively blacked out any and all attempts to boost the conversation around the original issue.
The most frequent and natural outcome of virtue signalling and slacktivism is the lack of any substantial change coming from the individuals that partake in these symbolic forms of solidarity. Throughout various social media-based movements this past year, I’ve noticed that, as the news cycles and conversations change, those acts of solidarity disappear just as quickly as they came. The social movement no longer has the desired aesthetic for their Insta feeds, and so they go right back to posting the usual selfies and vacation photos.
Continuing the Conversation
As I’ve noticed the individuals on my timeline who have faded off into the distance, I’ve also noticed a significant number of people that have continued to regularly post social justice resources on their Instagram stories or TikToks. While there may not be as many people posting about the same thing, it might be enough to have at least a few people on someone’s timeline to show that there are still issues worth caring about, and there are still ways to continue to educate yourself and others.
“It’s a repetitive thing,” Laila Halim, a full-time student at the University of California, San Diego, said in a phone interview. “Like, if you keep seeing it, you’re like, ‘Oh, okay, maybe I should check that out.’”
Halim has been particularly active in sharing resources and fact checking on her Instagram about the Free Palestine movement. She stresses that social media activism is a good starting point to spread information and awareness, but needs to be followed up by action outside of the performative internet space.
Halim also cautions against using social media as the defining place to know whether or not someone supports a cause or is doing the work to stay educated on a topic. “I think it’s harmful to kind of just assume people don’t give a shit if they’re not posting, because you don’t know what they’re doing offline,” she said.
AJ Hansen, another full-time student at Portland State University, is someone who has also been fairly active in sharing information and resources about various social justice issues on their Instagram stories. Going through the past year online and seeing the way that online activism has evolved, they are hopeful for Gen Z’s future impact on the world.
“We have any piece of information at our hands at any second that we want to learn,” they said in a phone interview. “I remember last summer, there were a bunch of things that were led by our generation. We’re gonna change the world. This generation’s already changing so much.”
So, while social media is not the end-all-be-all of social justice in the modern age, it is generally a great place to start the conversation. At the very least, a concise ten-slide infographic could pop up on someone’s timeline and inform them on a topic they previously knew nothing about. It might even encourage them to do their own research to learn more. With all the information you could ever want at your fingertips, sometimes it’s just helpful to know what to look for.
