It’s 2021 and Charli Damelio faces a dangerous decision. Should she replace her Black Lives Matter profile photo? Why keep it? After all, the BLM movement hadn’t been trending for months. But, removing it risks significant backlash, and maybe… all-out cancellation! Here lies the danger of performative activism. Above jeopardizing Charli’s career, it’s a dangerous plague to social movements.
Performative activism is the practice of participating in social movements for social capital, rather than actual resonance with the cause. Oftentimes, it may involve actors who continue harming the communities they “advocate” for. Charli, for example, neglected to credit the Black creators whose dances skyrocketed her to stardom. Half-baked attempts at activism diminish reform messages into content designed to manipulate audiences into granting their approval to certain creators for “speaking out.” This means complex issues have to be minimized into easily absorbable information that cuts out any nuance, lessening the viewer’s ability to familiarize themselves properly with discussed topics. It also spreads the message “believe this, and only this… or commit social suicide” as more and more people are taught to say, and think, one thing.
This fast-paced, what’s trending environment also forces activist movements to compete for relevancy. Like fast fashion, whatever is “trendy” skyrockets in popularity. Everyone must know, must have, must talk about this thing, and within a week, on to the next! Maybe there’s another conversation to be had about American consumer culture and Gen-Z’s short attention spans, but nonetheless, regarding social action this is dangerous. Content that isn’t deemed “relevant,” by whatever makes that decision, never makes it into people’s feeds, nor their minds. Things that fall out of the mainstream might as well be as good as forgotten, even though their outcomes still matter. Nearly two years ago, the world and social media sites were flooded with content addressing the barbarity of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Today, I had to search up whether or not the war was ongoing. This flitting between topics also serves to desensitize us. Yesterday, it was climate change, today, war, tomorrow, gun violence. In this environment, how can enough energy be devoted to one topic if everyone is cramming their minds with so many?
On the other hand, this type of activism is likely to introduce important issues to broader audiences. That is the virtue of the internet, after all: facilitating high-speed communication and transfer of information. Not only does it give more people more notice of social movements, but social media is also a great place to connect with like-minded individuals, or find ways to better participate in those movements. And, in a sea of watered-down activism posts, there are gold mines of information to be found. All that being said though, one must take the time to find that truly valuable information, instead of listening to their favorite influencer, who I’d argue, isn’t likely to be an expert on anything.
I propose… stop doing that. Focus on one thing. You don’t often hear Malala Yousafzai talk about climate change. Devote yourself to following one important topic that resonates with you. Step out of the notion that if you don’t talk about everything all the time, you aren’t doing enough to change the world. If anything, posting one black image on your story still isn’t enough to stop the police from brutalizing African Americans. Choose to get well-versed in one thing. If you want, choose to get radical over solving that one thing.
