Adding your name to an online petition, tweeting a photo holding up a placard with a phrase on it, or dumping ice water onto yourself before nominating two friends to do it is almost a rite of passage for people using social media.
It’s easy to share a link on Facebook, or reblog a Tumblr post. It requires little effort and you can feel as if you’ve accomplished something.
On June 8, Shonda Rhimes—producer, writer, and creator of hit TV shows Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal—addressed Dartmouth college, “A hashtag is not helping. #YesAllWomen, #TakeBackTheNight, #NotAllMen, #BringBackOurGirls, #StopPretendingHashtagsAreTheSameAsDoingSomething. A hashtag does not change anything. It’s a hashtag. It’s you, sitting on your butt, typing into your computer, and then going back to binge-watching your favourite show.”
But social media does actually benefit many organizations.
The ALS Association received $115 million in contributions during the “Ice Bucket Challenge” craze. In the U.K., #NoMakeupSelfie became associated with raising awareness and funds for cancer research. Women posted a photo and donated $5, which ended up raising more than $13 million in a week for cancer research.
Hashtags can be a base for activism and raise consciousness about issues, but awareness that produces no action is meaningless.
Yes, it is good to keep conflicts in the news and on people’s minds. People need to be informed and hashtags are good at bringing awareness. But, this doesn’t mean typing 140 characters on a subject is the same as facilitating change.
You might remember the photos that clogged your Twitter feed a few months ago of people holding signs that said “#BringBackOurGirls.”
As long as Boko Haram keeps their promise, the Nigerian schoolgirls are finally going home, but it’s not because of the social media campaign.
According to CNN, they are being traded as a result of a ceasefire between the Islamic militant group and Nigeria.
As Charlotte Robertson said in an article published by the Huffington Post, “The mothers, fathers, siblings, and friends of the Chibok girls have surely not forgotten them. What did our momentary, fleeting compassion mean to them?”
There are so many more stories out there that need the attention social media can give them, but because of the hyperactivity of the Internet, they are quickly swallowed up by the ever-expanding twitter feeds, or abandoned as soon as they are considered old news.
But now we are drowning in tweets about gender equality, protests, and human rights, right next to pictures of cats and videos of otters holding hands.
In short, tweeting about something is an easy way to ease the conscience before stepping back from the issue and moving on.
Activism should not be a solo venture. Marches, letters to politicians, and strikes cannot be replaced by Twitter and Tumblr.
We have to stop using Twitter as a forum for complaints with no genuine activity involved. If you want to change the world, do it.
But put down the iPhone first.
