When we change our profile pictures using Facebook filters, we may be focusing more on promoting ourselves rather than the issue itself. It comes down to social gain versus social change. If we sit at our phones or computers, one click doesn’t produce substantial results. This is not to say that it’s harmful to change our profile pictures in light of recent news——it’s only degrading if we change it just for the sake of following the convention, which contributes to “slacktivism”, the act of supposedly raising awareness with little effort on social media.
In The Washington Post’s article “Does Slacktivism Work?”, author Laura Seay states that slacktivism does not create tangible results. Referencing a journal written by Kirk Kristofferson titled, “The Nature of Slacktivism”, Seay explains that those who practice slacktivism are less likely to be fully committed to the cause or issue, and tend to sacrifice their time less.
“In other words, those whose initial act of support is done more privately (for example, writing to a member of Congress) are more likely to engage in deeper, more costly forms of engagement later on,” Seay said. “Those whose initial support is public (i.e. through posting to Facebook or Twitter) are less likely to engage more deeply.”
Essentially, we must truly be interested in a cause if we change our profile pictures and engage in social activism. Otherwise we perpetuate slacktivism and detract from the potential of social media. Take the marriage equality filter for example. We changed our profile pictures, but some of us may not feel a personal connection to the cause and simply changed our profile pictures as a way of following the convention. Those who don’t change their profile pictures become the minority and stand out from the homogenous profile pictures in the chat bar. Yet all of us gradually we move on in time and change our profile pictures back to normal, and slowly society forgets about the recent news as social media pours in more and more information to circulate within our minds.
If the issue isn’t on our mind past the meager appearances that these filters make on our newsfeed, we must not feel coerced to hop on the bandwagon.
But not all attempts on social media to raise awareness and instigate involvement fall into slacktivism. Or that slacktivism in and of itself cannot be effective at all, for that matter. Of course, all issues need a foundation to raise awareness from. And slacktivism provides that base for the easy spread of awareness. But the issue lies in filtering out our true selves, and changing our profile pictures only for the sake of changing our profile pictures. Social media in general is for a good cause, and it’s about using it in a right way.
Consider the ALS ice bucket challenge and its prevalence during the summer of 2014. For a good four to five months, people were posting videos of them getting buckets of icy water dumped over their heads after thanking their challenger and subsequently challenging other individuals to do the same. As small of an effort as this may seem to be, the fun challenge raised a whopping 100 million dollars for the ALS organization and spread awareness of the once little-known disease across the globe. Although not every ice dumper donated money to the cause, they generated awareness through their video and may have caused other ice dumpers, or even viewers, to visit the site and donate. The method is not much different than profile picture filters, but the focus of the efforts were concentrated on action rather than just clicking a button to generate awareness.
It’s important to realize that because we are all so connected, little efforts like the ice bucket videos can generate significant momentum that can cascade into creating tangible results. As a result of the recent stabbing in the London subway, #YouAintNoMuslimBruv has become viral on several social media sites following the words of an onlooker taunting the stabber being held down by the police. The stabber loudly announced that his actions were driven by England’s recent bombings in Syria, implying that he was doing what any good Muslim would do.
The onlooker’s comment, “you ain’t no muslim bruv,” has become a powerful statement spreading internationally. People are realizing that Islam is not the cause of the issue, but rather the individuals who claim to be committing acts of terrorism in the name of Islam. The colloquialization and simplicity of this message is the origin of its power. In our own nation, #handsupdontshoot has become a similarly powerful hashtag. Originating first on twitter, it has gained so much attention not only within the nation, but globally, and has started other more powerful hashtags like #blacklivesmatter. We are in the midst of a civil rights movement generated by a mere hashtag, so to say that social media activism isn’t activism, or at the very least, isn’t effective, would be outright ignorant.
The essence of social media can be a double-edged sword in its effectiveness. While participation in social media activism can reap powerful benefits, it’s about finding the right balance between the two ends of the social media sword. Regardless of the effort, if we are going to filter our profile picture on facebook or post a hashtag on twitter about an event, we must be certain that we can do something to actively help the cause, or, at the very least, genuinely care about the efforts. There is a fine line between self-promotion and activism, and if we are just going to hide behind the filter on our profile picture or hide our ignorance —— or indifference —— behind a hashtag or profile picture, then we are not activists. We are mindless filters of conformity.