Say It, Don’t Spray It: Three Habits to Counter the Pitfalls of Armchair Activism
Let’s be real, I am guilty as charged — as an opinionated, early millennial, I’ve posted a whole lot of political content in my years on the internet. If I’m honest about it, my goal in posting has been primarily to suss out my inner circle of like-minded individuals, or to unload my rage. When I’ve gotten pushback about posts, I’ve sometimes unfriended, blocked, debated, or ghosted people.
But as I move through my 30s and consider the trajectory of my actions, I’ve realized that I want to be more intentional about my activism. Like, it would be cool if I actually made a difference. As someone who is relatively resourced, I have the ability to. Unfriending, blocking, debating, and ghosting aren’t really that…effective. But you know what is? Basic writing skills. And I happen to be an English teacher! Much of the time, I’ve sh*tposted without a second thought for my audience or my purpose — both key components of essay planning that I’d definitely mark down my high school students for…
1. Check Your Audience
When you are making a post, who is your primary target? Is this post a reaction to something another friend posted, or are you deliberately aiming for a larger, public audience?
In The Case for Social Media Mobs, Zeynep Tüfekçi explains how social media can sometimes act as the only available “deterrent.” [1] This was the case with Amy Cooper, who called the police on an African American bird watcher and was subsequently fired from her job after the public worked hard on social media outlets to hold her accountable. Some of the public outcry took on a more serious tone: the rest of it carried a sharp humor that hit the mark.
Tüfekçi delineates in her book Twitter and Tear Gas the instances in Turkey (her home country), as well as in other countries, where parody and humor “have a long history as genres for dissident politics.” [2] This can be really effective when trying to reach the ears of an audience otherwise too far removed — such as a jester making a fool of an Ottoman caliph.
2. Check Your Ego
On the other hand, if your target is someone you know, there are other viable paths than a public post. Maisha Z. Johnson urges us to consider the outcome we are striving for. [3] She asks, “Do you actually want this person to learn and do better, or just to feel bad about what they did?” If you need a place to vent, then vent — but do it strategically. Find a safe space where you can lay your feelings, your hurt, your rage.
Shaming the culprit publicly may cause you to lose your primary audience. Sometimes, our public rants, call outs, or repostings have an effect opposite to what we are looking for, and they only create echo chambers in which we enact performative activism — that is, activism that makes us look good to other activists. It also feeds our ego, because it can feel really good to receive affirmation when someone agrees with what we’re posting — but that’s just preaching to the choir rather than creating measurable change.
Consider starting with a private conversation, and see where it takes you.
3. Check Your Sources
It is nearly effortless to share or repost easy-to-read infographics or explanatory videos put out by influencers. Who has time to read everything, anyway? However, the ease of reposting can sometimes be offset by the harm created when your sources are biased — or worse, false.
During the pandemic, we’ve seen some of the major pitfalls of mass social media campaigns, such as the rapid spread of disinformation about COVID-19, vaccines, and mask wearing. Major outlets such as Facebook were asked to deplatform the “Disinformation Dozen,” a set of twelve individuals linked to spreading the most disinformation on social media. [4]
Before reposting a soundbite or a quick quip, consider doing the following…
a) Go to the page of the original poster. What might their biases be? What ideologies do they stand for? Are they credible enough to be sharing this information?
b) Check out at least 2 other sources (I would say 10, but let’s be realistic) to see if what you are posting aligns with what else is out there. Be careful to diversify your sources to avoid confirmation bias.
Social media is powerful, especially when you use it with intention. An interview with Kalle Lasn, author and co-founder of the Adbusters Media Foundation in 1989, takes us through a deep dive into some of the benefits of the early activist memes spread on social media. [5]One is that the centralization of the media dissipates when the public instead becomes a widespread contributor to media content via the internet, in some cases known as “Media Carta.”
This, paired with the ability to mobilize quickly and in large masses, can make such movements extremely successful.
Sources:
- Tüfekçi, Zeynep. “This Social Media Mob Was Good.” The Atlantic. May 28, 2020. https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2020/05/case-social-media-mobs/612202/.
- Tüfekçi, Zeynep. Twitter and Tear Gas: The Power and Fragility of Networked Protest. New Haven: Yale University Press,2017. 45.
- Johnson, Maisha Z. “6 Signs Your Call Out Is About Ego and Not Accountability.” The Body is Not an Apology. May 22, 2019.https://thebodyisnotanapology.com/magazine/6-signs-your-call-out-isnt-actually-about-accountability/.
- Gavura, Scott. “The ‘Disinformation Dozen’ Spreading Anti-Vaccine Messaging on Social Media.” Science Based Magazine. April 1, 2021. https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/the-disinformation-dozen-spreading-anti-vaccine-messaging-on-social-media/.
- Wendi Pickerel, Helena Jorgensen, and Lance Bennett. “Culture Jams and Meme Warfare: Kalle Lasn, Adbusters, and Media Activism Tactics in Global Activism for the 21st Century.” http://depts.washington.edu/ccce/assets/documents/pdf/culturejamsandmemewarfare.pdf.
