In 2021, a political movement bursted in popularity across the Internet to protest rising Asian hate crimes, known as #StopAsianHate. The movement, which gained significant popularity after racially motivated shootings in Atlanta, had millions of related posts reposted every day at the height of its fame. All over the internet, people were shocked at the appalling rise in violence against Asians (with anti-Asian hate crimes increasing by over 339% nationwide in 2021), expressing sympathy for victims of discrimination. Countless posts called for action, with many users attempting to garner support for the cause. But netizens couldn’t focus on the crisis forever; after all, world issues seemed to arise every day. Soon, they would turn their attention to other problems, such as gun control or police brutality. In 2022, anti-Asian discrimination still continues to persist at an increased level, yet news of such topics have rarely made headlines since 2021.
When it comes to social media, it seems that a new trending topic appears every couple of weeks before disappearing from the public consciousness. This sequence of events is typically referred to as the “social media cycle.” Examples of these topics include wildfires in Southern California, the Stop Asian Hate movement, and the Israel-Palestine conflict. Even though none of these issues are trending anymore, they still persist. Social media has significantly boosted publicity for many social justice movements, such as Black Lives Matter or #MeToo, but the average person can do far more than repost or tweet when it comes to advocating for a cause. While it is true that social media users cannot do much to fix these issues (for example, social media can’t single-handedly end the Ukraine invasion), there has been little sustained effort relative to the initial outrage that the users have provoked.
This lack of continuous, concrete activism can be explained by a phenomenon known as “slacktivism.” As the name suggests, “slacktivists” advocate for a certain cause without contributing anything meaningful. For example, slacktivists will repost abortion-related posts on their Instagram story or retweet messages demanding for change, but fail to take tangible action to bring about such change through signing petitions or contacting local politicians. People tend to engage in slacktivism because they sympathize for a certain cause and want to feel like they’re doing something meaningful. In other cases, they may do so in order to feed their own consciences or conform to others on social media. Although slacktivists will state that they’re “spreading awareness,” which helps a little, their actions ultimately do not contribute to a tangible change.
Unfortunately, the social media cycle (and slacktivism) comes with other consequences as well. When a certain topic blows up on the internet, it ends up drowning out other important issues. In 2020, millions of Instagram users posted a single black square on Instagram with the hashtag #BlackoutTuesday in order to raise awareness for Black Lives Matter. However, these black squares lacked context on the movement, as the captions in each post only contained a single hashtag. In addition, Blackout Tuesday drowned out important informational posts on related hashtags, such as critical news updates from prominent activists; thus, the event had the opposite effect of raising awareness.
So what should the average person do if they want to help? Instead of simply liking or resharing posts, aspiring activists should take action in other ways, whether it is through contacting local politicians, joining (or starting) an advocacy group, or signing petitions. For example, Hear Our Voices has helped lobby for NJ bill S4021, which mandates the education of AAPI history in New Jersey classrooms, paving the way for a more antiracist education and possibly preventing biases that could lead to anti-Asian discrimination. By supporting policies like bill S4201, citizens can make long-lasting contributions to their communities. Additionally, instead of switching to a new cause every couple weeks, supporters should fight for their cause for a sustained period of time, just as full-time activists do.
Although social media is a helpful stepping stone for activism, the only way to ensure effective change is through policy and assertive action. It’s time to move on from this superficial trend cycle and truly make a difference.