Activism or Aesthetic: The Illusion Of Action

The time is June of 2020, you’re on your phone watching your Instagram feed filled with black squares. Inspired, you also posted a black square, getting some reactions and being reposted. Now let’s put the phone down and observe. Social media has made it easier for people to be more aware of their surroundings and advocate for social causes. But are we really participating in real action or is it just an illusion?

Young minds on the internet often want to show that they care and nothing is easier than showing care on social media. But while displaying so, sometimes it seems like they often lose the balance between actually caring and doing it for aesthetics. According to Saint-Louis (2021), platforms like Instagram create an environment where users post about causes out of a desire to be seen as “woke.”

Sometimes, performative activism isn’t malicious, rather uninformed. Power in Place Project (2023) states that while social media made activism more accessible, it also made it performative, with people not understanding the issues. When activism turns into an element of building an online brand, it negatively impacts the people who are trying to form an identity and stand for social justice. 

Of course, social media is a source for your entertainment. However, in this era, it is also an impactful medium for activism, but it shouldn’t be the only way you’re just participating. Because change doesn’t begin with your explore page, it begins with you and us.