The Dangers of Performative Activism

The Dangers of Performative Activism

Social media has, on countless occasions, proven to be a valuable tool. It is a platform that can amplify voices and increase solidarity among those who support a common cause. Unfortunately, this has created a rather harmful byproduct: performative activism. 

What is “performative activism?” 

Performative activism is when one’s actions are aimed to increase social capital rather than genuinely support a cause1. This is likely a consequence of the increasing social pressure to be aware and present in current affairs whether it’s climate change, social justice, and more. While this has amounted to a number of campaigns, organizations, and petitions towards a fair society, it has also bred a stigma against those who don’t participate. Intuitively, it might seem that this stigma should be beneficial because it will encourage people to take action. Unfortunately, social media has given people an easier way out. As a result, they have resorted to performative activism, also commonly called twitter-activism. 

I’ll give some examples. The #blacklivesmatter hashtag was flooded with black squares on Instagram, drowning out the useful posts under this tag that contained links to resources and petitions1. If the millions of people who posted this square also signed petitions or donated to organizations, we might have seen greater change and faster. While the gesture was meant to show solidarity, it ended up being harmful to the movement.

With regards to climate change, performative activism might also do more harm than good. The truth of it is performative action gives people the “moral license” to ignore many other aspects of an issue as long as they’ve “shown support for the cause.” If people feel that they’ve done their part, they’re less likely to engage any further – and this further engagement is the part where actual change could be happening. The recent trend to ban plastic straws might genuinely be what people believe to be causing climate change. After all, it’s what they see on social media so it must be the issue. Twitter users pushing for reusable straws, starbucks changing their lids, and other instances have led people to believe that actual change is happening and they can pat themselves on the back. The reality is plastic straws make up almost 1% – less than one percent – of the plastics in the ocean2

Let’s put it in a little more clear terms. People on social media demand the ban of plastic straws. CEOs are more than willing to sacrifice a insignificant fraction of their profit to redesign a lid that is still – in the end – plastic. People believe they’ve been successful and have proven that they are for the cause. People feel satisfied and stop advocating for change. Climate change is just as bad as it was before.

Performative action is the same as or even worse than silence.

Shaming people for using straws detracts away from things that would be beneficial to spread on social media. We should be providing texts, encouraging people to learn and to read, guiding people towards organizations that need the funds or support, and identifying industries that should be deprived of a consumer base until they drastically reduce their carbon emissions. 

Performative action gives the appearance of doing something when in reality you are doing nothing. 

The Transformation of Social Media

Not all hope is lost, fortunately. We can reclaim social platforms as the tools they once were to enact real and meaningful change, and not just for the environment. We need to start amplifying voices that have genuine action advice, authors promoting their books on climate change, and much more. Do your research and help educate others. We need to eliminate this competition to be “woke” and engage in actual solidarity for the health of the earth. 

Sources:

  1. https://voxatl.org/the-dangers-of-performative-activism/
  2. https://earth.stanford.edu/news/do-plastic-straws-really-make-difference#gs.awteje

Featured Image:

Madelynne Olexa

Leave a Reply