Written by John Feigelson
The world is full of problems. We have a glaring problem with race relations in this country. We have enormous environmental problems, we have problems with gender discrimination, Islamophobia, and discrimination based on sexuality. The list goes on for much longer than those few examples. It is difficult to fix them all, and fixing them is often the job of the government as well as citizens, if not one or the other. Activism is an essential outlet for the citizenry to express to those who govern what they think is important. Social media is an important resource for activists through raising awareness of issues and letting people know what is happening in the world.
Sharing a petition or an article on social media, however, is not enough to make a difference. Social justice warriors on social media are those who share links and go about their day. This is not enough. Knowing what the issues are is all well and good, but participating in real, physical activism is far more important.
Petitions from Change.org and other websites show up all the time on Facebook feeds: “Save the Glaciers!” “Racially Motivated Killings Still Murder 50 years Later!” Renew Emmett Till Act NOW!” These are noble and essential causes that call for action to create a more just world. But putting your name down will only do so much. Your voice will be raised, but it is just a digital whisper, relegated to one of the 14,276 others who may have signed a petition. And after you sign the petition, it is the easiest thing in the world to open up BuzzFeed and take a quiz on which brunch personality you are. Not to discount entirely the value of petitions, they’re great—they are a manifestation of how many people may support a particular issue, and those voices are being recognized and recorded. White House petitions are an example of how many peoples’ voices can spur a response from the nation’s highest office (60,000). However, sharing petitions and liking people’s posts doesn’t affect change. Expressing opinions on how much you hate the election and want it to change does not affect change. If an individual takes physical action through volunteer work, they will accomplish more.
The point of activism is to affect significant change in our economic, political, and social institutions. Social media activism is an important first step, but it is not enough to actually change a system. A voice is more powerful when it is vocal instead of virtual, physical instead of behind a screen. When thousands of people march in the streets of American cities to protest racial injustice, there is more power in their voices and their cries for change than in the names on a virtual petition or a long status update.
In this day and age, a common perception is that the millennial generation is lazy and enjoys sitting behind a screen. The notion of comfort behind screens is dispelled by real, powerful activism. It takes more energy to stand up and raise your voice than to make a few clicks here and there to fill in your name and email address for an online petition. Marching or participating in otherwise physical protesting demonstrates that millennials can be vocal and expressive. It is not easy to find time in crowded schedules and hectic lives to rise up and say something is wrong, to desire more for a community or nation than one is receiving. It is undeniably easy to click something and say you’ve made a difference. It doesn’t make an individual “woke” if they share a link about how neoliberal capitalist policy has been a disaster for the very idea of equality. It makes no difference if a bunch of computer code has been moved around. Change would be achieved if that person, after sharing an article, then went out and decided to occupy Wall Street again. They are letting people know what they think online, and then they are headed to disrupt the status quo, to raise their voice in support of a cause they believe in. Don’t stop sharing petitions and links, but that action should not be the extent of activism today. Lie down in Grand Central to declare that Black Lives Matter, drive to North Dakota to protest with the Standing Rock Sioux, or march in support of climate justice. Close the computer, and go make a difference with your voice and your body. Do more than click “Share.”