Hashtags are not Good Enough
Social Media movements are great for raising awareness, but they are even greater for instilling a false sense of action.
Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook are all great platforms for the start of activist movements. Black Lives Matter, for example, started on twitter. Their easy use of hashtag tracking and ‘Trending Topic’s also make it more accessible for users. However, because this process is so easy people tend to send a short message with the hashtag tacked on the end and call it a day. I believe that a hashtag is not enough.
In her book titled “Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center” bell hooks asserts that divisions cannot be fixed with wishful thinking. In others words, it’s not enough to just hope that our issues will be resolved. Instead, we need to confront these divisions head on. While bell hooks is arguing that divisions between black and white women wont be fixed with wishful thinking, I am taking her argument and making a more general statement. I am arguing that broader social issues need action and not thoughts or prayers.
You Can’t Pray the Troubles Away
When Omar Mateen shot up the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, killing 49 and wounding 53, thousands took to twitter with the hashtag “#PrayForOrlando”. Many people had a problem with that. Politicians who did not advocate for better gun control were mainly the ones who sent out a simple tweet with their thoughts and prayers, while ignoring the fact that this mass murder was a result of inadequate gun laws. By tweeting their prayers, they most likely felt that they were doing their part but in reality we want stricter gun control not a semi-thoughtful tweet.
“But if those prayers are not accompanied by some form of action to change course both with how we deal with guns and how we treat our LGBT brothers and sisters, then our prayers are utterly worthless.” -Zack Hunt
When the San Bernardino shooting occurred politicians, again, fulfilled their moral obligations by tweeting out their thoughts and prayers which, set off the Daily News. They featured several of the tweets on their front page with the caption “God Isn’t Fixing This”, but why bring religion into the issue? Simple — because by making the problem one that can be solved by prayers the politicians are able to place responsibilities onto God, or whomever answers the prayers. The debate on gun control can then be halted while everyone kneels before their beds and hopes an event like this never happens again rather than demanding that these politicians address the actual issue; the guns and weapons used to commit these crimes.
Physical Bodies Create Physical Change
When Bernie Sanders lost the Democratic Primary, the younger generation was visibly upset but a lot of us were upset at the people who did not go to vote. He had a massive following online, especially from students who believed he would actually give them a voice. Come election day, his supporters were nowhere in sight and that cost him greatly. Had more people gone and voted then perhaps he would have been our President right now or at least had a fighting chance, but most only showed their support online and didn’t put it where it mattered — the polls.
The same idea of online support actually caused quite a scene during the Presidential Election when a twitter user made fake ad campaigns for Hillary Clinton urging them to avoid the polls and vote early by text. As a result, many people were fooled into thinking they could vote by text and either skipped registration or decided not to actually go to the polls. While the texting ad was eventually found out to be a scam, it wasn’t before it had been shared, retweeted, liked, favorited, and spread to many unsuspecting people. Once something goes viral it’s pretty difficult to stop. However, a viral tweet does not get much done other than acting as a PSA. It takes real bodies to stir up something good.
Putting the “March” in Women’s March
The Women’s March had a huge turnout which is just what we need. Physical bodies marching in the streets, showing their resistance, their strength, and their power in numbers. Yet, other women stayed home and showed their support with a hashtag, like Taylor Swift. Speaking of which, I’d like to address this Taylor Swift debacle hopefully in a way that adds a more clear understanding to what I’m trying to argue in this article.
It is well known that Taylor Swift has tremendous support. With 86.3 million followers on twitter, it’s hard to deny that fact. Yet she stayed fairly quiet during election season and only graced the public with a single tweet during the women’s march.
Her tweet angered a lot of fans who felt she should have been marching along with other celebrities such as Ariana Grande, America Ferrera, and Demi Lovato. I myself was quite annoyed that this self proclaimed feminist (and a white one at that) made one single tweet about the event. Since then she hasn’t spoken out about it or made any other significant remarks. It is undeniable that she has a lot of privilege being a white, well to do celebrity but she doesn’t always use that to her advantage. Her ability to pick and choose when she enacts her feminism is harmful to societies understanding of women because not all of us can make the same political decision that she did. She should have been using her white privilege to march along with the rest of us and make a statement.
Let me be clear, I don’t think that online movements are harmful. If anything, getting something that important to trend online is a good way for the movement to get recognition, but it’s only the first step. By only ever tweeting from the sanctity of their home, people begin to perpetuate the idea they can create change from their bedroom when in reality it takes a lot more than that. It takes real, physical action to even attempt to create change. For example, after Trump was elected many took to twitter urging people to flood their congressmen’s inboxes and voicemails with their concerns about Trump’s new policies. It is likely that no one with legislative power would see a tweet urging for change, but seeing people flood city halls or hearing their voices one after another is a different story.
“What If I Can’t Attend a March?”
Some people reading this might argue that it isn’t always easy to go to a march whether it be due to work or location but many planned marches take this into account. In the case of the women’s march, it took place on a Saturday which many people have off and it was happening in almost every major city and continent. Even some smaller cities had their own marches where no more than tens of people showed up but they made the news anyways.
Your support also does not even have to manifest through a march. A simple protest can also make an impact. In Argentina, women wore black on Wednesdays and stopped working for an hour to protest. They found support within their workplace as well and this caught the attention of many. The point is that as long as you are out with the masses you are helping to make history. The photo of women at the march will circulate and likely end up in textbooks but a tweet sending prayers to the victims of a shooting will get lost among the others.
Twitter is not a platform for change. It is good for raising awareness, it’s great for relaying messages, but you can’t reform laws with a witty hashtag and 140 characters. It takes real bodies to speak with their real voices to make real change. Revolution can start with a hashtag but will only come to fruition with action.
