As social movements truly began to take to the streets in the 2010s, it aligned almost perfectly with the social media boom. Suddenly, millions of people all over the world were able to post their support of any ideology or hot-button issue they wanted. Social media also made it easier for celebrities to communicate to their fan bases as well. However, as these two elements correspond, it gave rise to a new wave of performative activism. 

Personally thinking back, the Black Lives Matter movement spiked in 2020. A lot of people posted on stories, but I do not know that those people fundraised for the efforts, educated people in their personal lives, voted in elections, etc. — really anything other than saying something quick online. 

Performance activism always leads people to think of the 2020 protests when thousands of people posted black squares on their Instagram or Twitter feeds. While it can raise awareness of causes it allows for people to “do something” without doing anything. Words only get so far unfortunately. 

While it can help, influencers speaking on their opinions of causes can vary in the benefits. On one hand, it is freedom of speech and if they cite good sources it is good info. However, their platforms can be so large that any misinformation they say can do a ton of harm towards movements, well intended or not

Performative activism has become so normalized lately to a point where many do not feel a need to take real action anymore, because at least they are “spreading awareness” in some capacity. Influencers and celebrities are sometimes forced to participate in it, too. Instead of finding accurate information, sources, fundraisers, etc., public figures release a short video or post a picture to avoid getting hate, which is pointless without follow up information. Simply, performative activism has gotten out of hand because people are becoming incapable of doing the right thing privately and care more about aesthetically supporting a cause. The dislike for performative activism comes more when it is a company or organization for profit than from a celebrity

A lot of celebrities and influencers are guilty of being performative activists. This is mainly because they feel pressured by people to speak up so they just end up saying something just to say something, not because they actually mean it. It is so obvious to tell which celebrities/influencers actually care for the cause vs. ones that lazily repost something on their story. While many do not agree with this type of activism, those same people would feel like people push them to that point. Obviously if they cared enough about the cause, they would have said something on their own before their entire comment section got flooded with them to speak up. But I also cannot stand celebrities who are like “I don’t think what I say will make a difference” *cough* Selena Gomez like you seriously think your voice will not make a difference to the 400 million people who follow you? Ultimately we should stop focusing on celebrities and influencers, and just try our best to speak up ourselves.

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