Infographics, Empty Voices and Redundant Actions: Thoughts on Performative Activism on Social Media

Infographics, Empty Voices and Redundant Actions: Thoughts on Performative Activism on Social Media

Disclaimer: I want to be careful here to not insert myself as an overbearingly loud voice in an extremely important issue. This article has its basis in my own experiences, and that is all I have grounds to discuss.

It may be an understatement to say that summer 2020 brought vital social issues to the forefront of conversation. The murder of George Floyd, at the hands of U.S police, prompted much support for the already established Black Lives Matter movement. People took to the streets and to social media to protest. At the height of lockdown, activism was limited for some individuals due to concerns about Coronavirus. With individuals spending even more time on social media, one of the only forms of social interaction or access to the outside world, virtual activism gained more traction than I have ever seen. Information, shows of solidarity, expressions of compassion, all flooded social media. With it, however, also came the not-so-useful, performative activism.

Performative activism is the appearance of supporting a cause without actually doing so. Perhaps the most obvious recent example was the posting of black squares on Instagram. “Blackout Tuesday” was originally designed for the music industry to abstain from releasing work for one day, in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Instagrammers took to posting black squares in a confused show of solidarity. This, in turn, filled up the BLM hashtag. Followers of this were unable to access news updates about the movement. The black squares achieved a total of nothing. No change came of this mass-posting. In fact, more harm was done than good. Hijacking the important BLM hashtag prevented useful information from being shared and distracted so many from the issues at hand. As more and more people posted the infamous square, there became a mounting pressure for those who hadn’t to also post. In effect, the black square transformed from being about the cause to being about the individual.

 Other, more covert instances of performative activism also became popular. Many individuals may have had good intentions. At the same time, many posts and shares seemed empty acts with no real effect. Infographics were a particularly popular type of these posts. Infographics are images with quick, simplified points of information. They often have quite a visual nature, hence the term. They gained traction over the summer, beginning as a way of sharing information and educating peers. As time went on, they became less about the cause and more about the individual. A similar path as the black squares, but a change that occurred much slower. Whilst some infographics were useful tools and actual modes of activism, some seemed nothing more than aesthetic. Images reading nothingness phrases such as, ‘I may not understand but I stand’ and the like, were a more convoluted way of yelling ‘I’m not a racist, I promise!’ without doing anything about it. Infographics became a badge. Posting ‘I am not a racist’ on an Instagram story was all that was required to not be a racist. It was proved, just like that; you were not a racist, you said so. People I knew personally to be problematic prior to this, were now proudly declaring themselves racism free, or figuring themselves as very vocal in the movement. Of course, people can change and grow - and they should - but for me, their activity on social media just highlighted the issue at hand. People can say anything, it does not mean it is true.

Instagram and its badges created an intense peer pressure. This was made even worse by the fact that most social interactions were had online, due to lockdown. The smartphone was an essential device for human contact. Spending more time online meant any perceived pressure from social media was intensified. As a result, performative activism was everywhere. Full steam ahead were the empty infographics and their badges. Not posting or not sharing one was like declaring your all-out racism. I, myself, was guilty of succumbing to peer pressure and posting. My following on Instagram is an age group of, mostly, between 18 and 25. This is likely to be the same for most of the people I follow. So, when the same infographic was posted by 50 people, all with similar mutuals and age group followings, it became pointless. The app transformed into groups of like-minded peers all yelling the same thing at each other. Was anyone questioning why they were reposting the same image? If everyone had posted it, who were you educating at that point? It became evident that the point of the repost was not to educate, but to prove one’s self. Difficult to tread was the thin line between ‘silence is violence’ and keeping quiet so not to partake in performativity. Educating one’s self privately could not be seen by social media. If individuals were doing this and did not post about it, it seemed almost unimportant in this atmosphere of proof. 

Perhaps the worst consequence of performative activism was the shrouding of Black voices by non-Black ones. “Allies” took it upon themselves to post as much “information” as they could muster, effectively silencing the people who needed to speak. There became this strange, self-important sort of competition to post something no one else had. The competition to prove you were doing your research and were more informed than the next person, for not mindlessly reposting the same story as 50 others. The Black Lives Matter movement is of vital importance. There are ways for individuals to become educated and be better allies, without this use of performative activism. Again, not all infographics or information shared is useless, I am talking mostly here about the means of sharing information and the reasons which seemingly motivate it. There is much material available to educate oneself on the struggle of the Black community against racial injustice, institutionalised racism and its history. There are real ways to help, such as: donating to useful causes or individuals in need, signing petitions, protesting, writing to people in power, promoting Black voices, reading up on issues and talking to people who are not yet anti-racist. The badge means nothing without action.

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A brief list of useful resources:

• Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth (pdf): http://abahlali.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Frantz-Fanon-The-Wretched-of-the-Earth-1965.pdf

• An extremely useful list of resources: https://www.creativelivesinprogress.com/article/resources-for-supporting-black-lives-matter-movement

• Reni Eddo Lodge’s podcast (available on the apple podcast app and on spotify)

• The Black Lives Matter resource list: https://blacklivesmatter.com/resources/

• Angela Davis, Women, Race, & Class (pdf): https://legalform.files.wordpress.com/2017/08/davis-women-race-class.pdf

• An interview with the creators of the Black Lives Matter movement: https://www.ted.com/talks/alicia_garza_patrisse_cullors_and_opal_tometi_an_interview_with_the_founders_of_black_lives_matter

• Another list of resources: https://www.futurelearn.com/info/blog/black-lives-matter-resources

• 13th - documentary on Netflix (prison system)

• Disclosure - documentary on Netflix (trans lives)

• The Hate U Give - film (police brutality)