Like your typical member of Gen-Z, social media is a huge part of my life. And I’ll be honest — I spend a lot of my time on Instagram. Over the last 2 years, I’ve noticed one specific kind of post that has dominated my Instagram stories: the “activist post.” Here’s how it works: someone I follow will repost an aesthetically pleasing infographic, which informs on a relevant political topic. Climate change, elected officials, international affairs… you name it, there’s a pastel-hued text-post about it.
With around 1 billion users around the globe, Instagram has become an important tool for connecting with people and spreading awareness about all different types of topics. And these visually pleasing and seemingly informative posts appear to only be growing in popularity. But here’s my controversial opinion: “Instagram activism” is not necessarily a positive thing, and it shouldn’t take the place of actual activism and education.
If an infographic shared widely on social media looks organized and well-researched, many people tend to accept it as fact. This makes it oh-so-easy to spread misinformation and even fake charity causes. In 2019, the account @sudanesemealproject gained thousands of followers and reposts after an upload that stated: “For every STORY REPOST this post gets, we will provide one meal to Sudanese children, and you will help spread awareness on what’s happening in Sudan.”
Soon after, the account administrator deleted their post, and said in a statement to The Atlantic that “what I am obtaining is followers and exposure.” This account, which had looked so legitimate, did not actually have the means to send thousands of meals to Sudanese children. Instead, they had just scammed millions of users. Although the participants in this sharing frenzy had been well-meaning, they had just contributed to a huge spread of misinformation and caused more harm than help.
Other activism pages that come across as well-meaning have recently fallen out of public favor. The account @so.informed, formally @soyouwanttotalkabout, received extreme backlash for using a racial slur in an infographic. The account, run by Caucasian woman Jessica Natale, has also been criticized for using a similar name as POC author Ijeoma Oluo’s bestselling book So You Want to Talk About Race. Many thought she was the face behind the account and were upset at the lack of transparency on Natale’s part. On her own Instagram story, Oluo said it was “frustrating” that “a white woman… is capitalizing on the work of other people of color,” referring to how many POC have done similar research previous to Natale in order to spread awareness about specific issues.
Of course, there are some benefits to widely spread, organized, and digestible information. The easy-to-consume packaging of these stories makes learning about a topic (the very basic elements of it) simple. But that’s exactly it — these infographics are too simple. Spreading awareness by reposting a well-packaged, watered-down version of current events propels the guise of being educated. So many people read an Instagram story about a political event and then assume they know everything about that topic. Just the opposite is true. Politics, international affairs, and even charities are nuanced and have many different sides to them. Advocates of these causes study for years to be able to speak eloquently about government and diplomacy.
An Instagram story will never do the same thing as actual education — reading articles, watching the news, and seeking out different viewpoints. It shouldn’t be where all of your knowledge comes from, and it shouldn’t be where you stop educating yourself on current events. Seek out other forms of information, check what sources these infographics are using, and think about whether reposting would actually help someone.
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