As students, most of us have grown up with social media. We have seen it evolve and have evolved with it. Recently I have noticed a new trend on social media: ‘wokeness’ or social media activism. Being ‘woke’ on social media has become as much of a requirement as posting your acai bowl or a pretty sunset to your Instagram story. Urban Dictionary describes being ‘woke’ as, “the act of being very pretentious about how much you care about a social issue.” Initially, one would desire to be described as ‘woke’ but now the term has become overused and insincere.
I hate ignorant boys but I hate woke boys too because they are just ignorant boys with good vocabulary
— ????????? (@Indigo_BayB) March 24, 2020
Social media allows us to portray whatever version of ourselves we would like.
Being ‘woke’ has become a personality trait on social media and everyone – from influencers to your girlfriends – would have taken part in this new trend. By simply sharing a picture to your story you can be perceived as an open-minded activist, when in reality what you truly believe is unknown. We desperately try to cancel and call out others while hoping we won’t be the next person with a target on our back.
Social media activism makes us feel good about ourselves. We do the bare minimum and still get to feel a positive sense of purpose. It becomes impossible to distinguish if one is doing something for the ‘clout’ they will receive online or if it is genuine. We try to prove ourselves by sharing as many posts to our story as possible, but in reality we are not held accountable to anything. No one can tell if we truly believe in the causes we share or if our social media habits translate into real life. Posting a hashtag gives us the same feeling as signing a petition or attending a march, and that is a serious problem.
In America, social media activism has created major confusion for the left. Online, people appear engaged and ready for a revolution, but this is not reflected in the voting polls. It appears it is one thing to post about the importance of voting and another to actually show up in numbers at a voting station. This is a clear example of online presence not translating into reality.
Last year, in the wave of anti-gender based violence protests, this fakeness on social media became dangerous. When men were accused, women jumped to their defense with phrases like, “but they were so vocal on social media” or “he is a self-proclaimed feminist online.” This period of anger and frustration led to many protests and thus, the protest-gram was born. It became impossible to simply attend a protest without posting a picture of yourself with a sign in hand and a caption such as #NeverAgain. Protests had finally lost their novelty; people weren’t afraid to attend them anymore. In fact, a run in with the police would fare excellently with their Twitter followers.
A measure of your activism became how loud you could shout on social media or how pretty your sign was at the protest. It must be difficult to have one’s life-threatening issues trivialized and simplified into pretty graphics that get shared without much thought.
Please don’t sexually harass my friends but be woke on social media.
— becky (@beckykewsimpson) February 4, 2020
It is hard to pass judgment on this issue, as you cannot know everyone’s true intentions all the time. Some may argue that it is better to just appreciate support from anywhere, regardless of true intentions. Ultimately, raising awareness on social media is positive – as long asyou practice what you preach and it is not the only activism you participate in. Participating in community outreach and projects, attending debates and marches, donating your money to causes, reading and educating yourself on important topics and voting are all methods that will have a greater impact than posting an inspirational quote to your story.
Finally: always ask yourself, “Am I participating because this is something I believe in? Or do I just feel obligated to?”