Social media influencers and content creators as inspiration for digital protests

“You must unite behind the science. You must take action. You must do the impossible. Because giving up can never ever be an option.”

Greta Thunberg in the US Congress, Washington DC, 17 September 2019

How can we reach as many people as possible? Content that goes viral is not often from the accounts of companies or NGOs but from personal accounts. To gain maximum volume on social media, one way (not maybe the cheapest) is to collaborate with social media influencers and, in a way, buy their audience.

What is the role of influencers and content creators in social movements? Charismatic leaders have always been meaningful in moving the social movement forward, but how does it work in the digital era? How are social media influencers, activists, NGO´s, and development actors intertwined?

Greta Thunberg is one of the most famous activists of our time. She became well known for her street protests, and Fridays for Future –movement. The movement grew to become also a huge digital protest and digital movement. Greta Thunberg is nowadays a famous figure and, you could say, a social media influencer and digital activist.

Motaz Azaiza is a photojournalist from Gaza, who has become familiar to the Western audience during the last year.  Motaz Azaiza documented the war in Gaza and its impact on civilian daily life. He is now abroad from his homeland, traveling around the world, meeting people giving interviews, and raising his voice for the Palestinians.

I watched a videocast in Zeteo where Greta Thunberg and Motaz Azaiza talked about Gaza and activism. The setup itself is very interesting. Two famous activists of our time delved into the feelings and motives of activism. Greta Thunberg became known as a climate activist but has been also active in standing up for Palestinians. Her choice has been criticized, but in this article, she explains that the main driver for her activism is always to defend human rights in climate issues and conflict zones.

Movements need forerunners

In the interview, Motaz Azaiza says that there are a lot of good people in the world and that his intention now is to gather those people together. Greta Thunberg praises him for being an invaluable voice in articulating how everyone needs to step up and take action to call out Israel’s actions and the complicity of the West. With his platform, pictures, and footage, he has made sure that no one can remain unaffected by this live broadcast of genocide and apartheid.

Why Thunberg decided to speak up and to interview Azaiza, she explains that: We need a media that challenges the status quo, holds people in power accountable, and communicates the stories of real hope that make us want to step out of our comfort zones and actually make a difference.

Digital activists and digital forerunners are essential for movements to grow and gain an audience. We need forerunners like Azaiza to use their persona and platform to gather people together. And we need a new kind of storytelling and narrative, that contests the mainstream media, as Thunberg suggests, and for that, we need digital activists and content creators.

The motive behind the action

Motaz Azaiza explains that his motive for standing up for the rights of Palestinians is different from those who are not Palestinians. In the interview, he describes that activism is part of his responsibility towards his home and land. It´s a way to serve his homeland.

In his case, the motive behind activism is very personal. For many Westerners choosing activism is supporting what they believe in, and their own right to live is not in danger. As Thunberg says: “People like me, who have privileges, we have to use them.”

Social media influencers using their platform

But what happens when social media influencers use their privileges and platforms? Social media influencers who already have a big audience are often asked to use their platform to make noise about social issues. The world’s most successful YouTube content creator MrBeast (aka Jimmy Donaldson) is using his success for a good cause by donating his money. 

When someone is profiling himself as a good doer (white savior) the question of doing good or looking good is always there. If you are a social media influencer, how much good do you need to do, or how well do you need to know the topic, to be able to post about it – and not get criticized?

In the aidnography blog, Tobias Denskus reflects on MrBeast´s footprint in the aid industry, and pops up an interesting question “We also have to ask ourselves what better ways of communication we have in the third decade of the 21st century”. It is undeniable that social media influencers and other celebrities have the channels and means to reach a wide audience. Last spring during the Super Bowl, social media memes hoped that pop star Taylor Swift was in love with a climate scientist. Swift rushing to the Super Bowl to cheer on her boyfriend Travis Kelce got so much media attention that climate activists can only dream of something similar.

Do you know any good examples of activists on social media? I will come back to this topic in my last post.

Best,

Noora