Lately, I’ve been thinking about how we pick up our smartphones to join in activism by supporting a trendy hashtag.
The hashtag, utilized by millions of people around the world, is a way of tagging a topic and engaging with others who want to talk about the same topic. The shared topic can engage us in pop-culture, trends, politics, or social movements.
These movements are the life blood of potential social reforms because of the capacity social media has in engaging people from all over the world. Prominent hashtags like #MeToo, #BlackLivesMatter, and #LoveIsLove are some of the examples that come to mind when thinking about the massive engagement these movements have generated on social media.
If you are reading this, you have probably engaged with an activism hashtag in the past, but have you ever thought about what happens when social media activism stops on your keyboard or phone? If you’re living in the Global North, how does your digital activism directly (or perhaps indirectly) affect marginalized folks in the Global South? How does your access to social media make up for the fact that millions around the world do not have access to the technology we have to voice their opinions? This is some food for thought and a point of discussion to explore the reasons why we use social media to support causes.
We, people in the Global North, have become conditioned to check social media for the latest news and see what others think about a specific issue. We may automatically assume that people in other parts of the world are doing the same. We are predisposed to think that by supporting a hashtag on the Internet, we are helpful in creating social change. But is that enough? Is that enough for millions in the developing world whose voices are mute due to patriarchy, poverty, or censorship? We may assume a lot when it comes to global access to information and communications technology, but reality is that millions do not have the ample access we have.
We must ask ourselves these questions as a self-reflection exercise to do better. Our voices on social media raise awareness globally, no doubt about that. However, does your voice match your actions? Does your digital activism ever go beyond your smartphone?
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Cover photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash