Social media platforms are used for community building, influencing the mass, and as an effective platform for spreading awareness about a myriad of social issues. It is apparent that the advent of advanced technology has changed our lives irreversibly . Almost every individual tends to resorts to the online platforms for raising their voices or opinions, to do campaigns and showcase their talents.
Amidst all the awareness and the talent blooming, a massive challenge has started strengthening its roots in the society- Performative Activism.
What is Performative Activism?
Performative activism is more of a derogatory term and is widely being practised on the different communication platforms available now-a-days. It is the type of activism done more to gain popularity or capital or both rather than true devotion to the people’s problem as the driving force behind it. Some people use camouflage of support and solidarity extensively to promote their own interests. It follows the belief which involves making efforts in order to achieve personal goals or needs rather than community awareness or upliftment of the downtrodden.
There is absolutely nothing wrong in joining movements and protests if the person wants to, but what’s necessary is that people understand that a fine line exists between efforts made to actually dismantle the social obstacle and the efforts made for one’s own self-interest or just for the sake of following the trends and putting an opinion out in public domain without being aware of the issue.
Why is Performative Activism a problem?
A trend which is noticed widely on social media is that it takes no time for a cause or issue to quickly gather recognition and popularity among people on a massive scale which is no doubt a good tool to spread awareness about xyz issue but unfortunately, it is very transitory in nature. Within days and sometimes even hours, people find new things that excite them. Ultimately the whole point of activism and awareness about the issue drowns in silent waters. A large number of activists believe that due to performative activism , people notice and talk about problems only when things get from bad to worse. It is the need of the hour that the society starts looking into the bigger picture than just what the online hype shows. People must comprehend the problems before critical situations arise so that the victim doesn’t have to rely on hashtags alone.
A performative activist usually has an impeccable desire to have an outward appearance as if his opinions and interests are in alignment with those of his mates or his idols. He would often give a hand in the motion just to save himself from being accused of not being vocal about something of national or international importance by his followers or peers. Such fears and dispositions lead to posting on social media just for appeasement rather than true devotion to the solutions of the actual problem.
What are the dangers which arise due to performative activism?
There are two types of people if we look under the purview of Performative Activism. First, those who are truly educated and informed about the issue and who understand its gravity. It might be possible that they themselves have faced the issues similar to the one they are now expressive about. On the other hand , we have people who are a lost cause to the problem and start relying on the superficial knowledge put up by the performative activists who introduce the concept to them through their posts. The inclination towards showing off “wokeness” in order to portray themselves in a positive light which indirectly causes disrespect to the serious issue and hurts the sentiments of people who are actually struggling through it or working hard to safeguard the society from the evil.
People’s intentions may not always be to gain popularity but the type of activism they follow makes the unaware and less-informed people believe that just by reposting a certain picture or tweeteeting related to the cause, their duty ends and they often forget that to actually curb the menace they must put efforts in real life as well. It is often also observed that performative activism sometimes tends to indirectly hinder the progress of the actual activists doing the groundwork as it is selective in nature. It is hurtful to the people who stay up all night because of an issue only to realise that it is “shocking” for the other person to even know a gist about the existence of that problem so relevant to the society for years.
How does the corporate world benefit from Performative Activism?
It is disappointing to witness social entities and private institutions use issues to promote their own agenda, who we believe are responsible for bringing a change. One important purpose they hold is to induce development in the society but some of these institutions initiate campaigns in the disguise of “activism” and rather than educating people about it, they switch to merge their product and the taglines with the motive of making profit out of it which is capitalism and not activism.
Corporates and celebrities often indulge in a practise of introduce to people “hashtags” or some other embedded tools which they think are collective representative of support. What needs to be highlighted is that “using” a hash tag or a tagline for promoting their own agenda or product is not “supporting” a cause and there lies an obvious difference between the two. Unfortunately, people are driven to believe that they have done their part to support the cause while being put away constantly from the reality. It is necessary that people start realising that putting up a facade on social media would not in any way help the society fight the obstacle. It is just one of the steps towards awareness.
What is Real Activism and how is it different from Performative Activism?
Activism not merely involves putting up and choosing facts, with which we are the most comfortable and passionate about, but also truly understanding and getting educated about the movement and the initiative. Understanding motives that why one must or must not support a certain belief, how it would create an impact on the society at large and why is it important- all these parameters are a prerequisite before actually voicing opinions about a social issue or movement.
Citizens definitely hold their right to speech, but the least people can do is talk about the things about which we are passionate and thereby not undermining the value of significant movements and problems in society. The desire to advocate long term changes must be viable because just a redundant repost or a story would not bear any fruit in the battle against the social evils.
What can be done at an individual level ?
The society needs to talk about topics irrespective of the fact whether they affect them personally or not. The first step which must be taken before posting about anything is that the person educates himself and his peers and explains why it is important to actually bring a change. If someone wants to talk about an evil prevalent in the society, they must first think what they are going to do apart from this to curb this problem before posting. Asking relevant questions to oneself like- is it actually going to spread awareness, urge people to contribute, donate more ?
Various social events, workshops, seminars are held at frequent intervals for addressing problems prevalent in the society. People can boost their knowledge and use it for actually getting more and more people involved in raising awareness and getting a consolidated support.
One must understand that you are always open to be questioned regarding the authenticity and significance of words, they do hold the power to influence the mass and bring a change. But what also needs to be highlighted is that the words are just a step in a huge process involving real life efforts and contributions too. Without a concrete action behind them, the value of words stay limited to the platforms only and do not help in bringing vital changes on the ground level. People must inculcate the same values in themselves which they present on social media. Their gestures and line of thought must align with the opinion they have put up online, so that together the society can stand united against the obstacles and fight it with all the might.
