Due to the societal climate nowadays, it isn’t hard to attach yourself to some form of movement. Whether it’s racial injustice, equality, etc. Everyone has found something that they can identify with and latch to because it affects them directly. And that’s a beautiful thing, everyone should feel heard, feel welcomed, and feel understood.
Yet, in the midst of everything there has been heightened levels of slacktivism in mainstream culture as a stunt in order to gain attention from individuals in an attempt to save face. And there needs to be an established difference between those who are affected and genuinely care versus those who don’t and pretend to.
What is Slacktivism (video):
In the past two years, celebrities and influencers have been put on blast for the number of insincere gestures when it comes to these events. Whether it’s having a photo op at a Black Lives Matter protest, or blindly talking about situations that conflict with their professions, we’ve seen it all. But this isn’t something that just happened as of late, this has been a trend for awhile.
Viral Footage Fiona Moriarty McLaughlin Reporter Fakes Activism for Instagram Photo Op — YouTube
Latching on to these organizations that stand for real-life changing problems can be used to make yourself look better in the eye of the public. The only difference between now and then is the number of eyeballs on those who choose to do so. Social media is one of the greatest tools that mankind has ever seen, but one pitfall of using it is that it exposes the type of person you already were before you got on it. And now that millions of people have access to it, there is a heightened amount of people who see your day-to-day interactions, and there’s going to be more people who call you out on the things that seem fake, and you can’t get mad when it happens.
“Clicktivism is to activism as McDonalds is to a slow-cooked meal. It may look like food, but the life-giving nutrients are long gone.”- Richard Fisher (BBC)
These people are under a lens; therefore, they will be scrutinized and there have been people who have been called out for these actions. And when such matters happen, they become defensive as any normal person would. And that’s not an issue, the issue was knowing that you were completely wrong in the first place but still decided to try and garner attention by using something you did not necessarily care about to begin with.
The trend of trying to be first can be a slippery slope, especially when you aren’t knowledgeable about something. It’s clear that attention is the goal at the end of the day, but the people are becoming less lenient with letting this stuff slide. We all need to come to a point where we understand that it’s okay to be empathetic but jumping into something without having an understanding of who it affects, and everything that comes with it is dangerous.
Taking huge steps with little ground below you can be troublesome.
