We’ve all read a dozen articles with titles like this, about how social media has revolutionized daily life and changed the way people interact with each other. These stories can be optimistic—praising the beauty and connectedness created by Internet culture, or they can be pessimistic, lamenting the selfie-oriented, youth culture plaguing the Millennial generation.
Even I have written about digital technology and its impact on the daily lives of college students—how computers and the Internet have become ubiquitous tools that play a role in many of our daily activities.
But digital technologies also play a pretty significant role in activities outside the everyday—in once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, special occasions and major events. Specifically, connective media has played increasingly obvious roles in modern activism.
“Hashtag activism” is the new thing, a tool used by thousands of people to promote a variety of causes. From #YesAllWomen to the Ice Bucket Challenge, Americans have shared their experiences and fought to achieve visibility for causes they care about. Worldwide, Twitter and Facebook have also been attributed to mass protests in Egypt, Brazil, Mexico, Hong Kong, Ukraine… the list goes on.
Since the “Twitter Revolution” of Iran in 2009, people have hailed social media as the new sphere through which activism will take place, with the power to topple regimes and change the world. But how much of a role does social media really have in activism? It may not be as much as we think.
Since social media became the most visible arena for activism, causes have started to look less like social justice campaigns and more like pop culture trends. Their influence is transient and short-term, lasting only as long as their trending hashtags. Realistically, these campaigns may be adept at raising awareness, but that awareness does not last very long. Nor can it make much of a difference in influencing policies or social behaviors.
What people need to understand is that social media is not a sufficient condition for the success of a social justice campaign. Do you remember “Bring Back Our Girls?" Yeah. Although this campaign had a lot of support, it never really went anywhere. People lost interest quickly, and few have continued to follow the status of the kidnapped girls.
Hashtags trend, but fade quickly. They cannot sustain a cause unless that cause has a strong activist base on the ground, providing more fuel for a social media campaign to continue. Without activists actually doing activism, any cause is sure to fade into obscurity.
The role of social media—and its impact on social movements – has been greatly overestimated. Although mainstream media has considered it to be of major significance in the Arab Spring, the reality is that there were many other factors that contributed to the scale of the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, among others. Although Facebook and Twitter were indispensable tools for igniting activism and coordinating protests, the Arab Spring itself was fueled by mass protests and the physical occupation of public spaces.
Although we might find out about a social movement and spread the word via social media, if we want a cause to succeed we have to actually show up and do something about it. The importance of in-person activism cannot be overstated—social media activism does not equal activism.
This is one of the reasons why I so greatly admire the protesters in Ferguson. Unlike many other so-called social movements, activists in Ferguson do much more than just post on Twitter. They engage in regular protests, hold community meetings and train people on civil disobedience. By continuing to do activism on the ground, they have fueled more than one hashtag over a period of several months. Although they employ social media strategies to raise money for bail funds, to live stream protests and organize events outside of Missouri, they don’t rely on it entirely. It is a tool, not a crutch. This is an example of the power of the human being, not of the smartphone—one that other movements should emulate.
If you consider yourself an activist, ask yourself if you are doing enough for your cause outside of social media. Have you ever attended a protest? Have you donated to any organizations? Have you joined any organizations? When you dedicate more of your time to a cause, you may find it to be more fruitful and engaging—personally and in the success of the movement itself. Be a participant, not a subscriber.
So next time you see a tweet about an upcoming protest, don’t just retweet it. Consider actually attending, or talk to your friends about it. People are more likely to attend a protest if another friend is going, so you may find it extremely productive to spread the word about causes through word-of-mouth rather than through weaker social media networks.
Yes, this approach certainly requires a lot more out of activists. Hashtag activism can be enticing because it requires very little investment—I myself am guilty of this. In real life, you really have to put yourself out there against a tangible opposition. But despite the risk, physical activism can be extremely worthwhile and productive. Twenty years from now, maybe you will have something you are proud to tell your kids about.
McKenna Ganz is a Trinity junior. Her column runs every other Tuesday.
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