Slacktivism, or armchair activism, is a phenomenon that has been discussed ever since the inception of social media. It is the practice of supporting a social or political cause through social media or online petitioning, usually characterized as involving very little effort and commitment. Instead of volunteering, donating and protesting, users are liking, commenting and reposting. Prior to social media, showing solidarity for a cause usually meant committing resources to it, either in the form of time or money. But ever since “change.org” took over, convenience has become king. Why donate a dollar when we can like a post and encourage a third-party to do it? Why volunteer when we can get the same satisfaction by reposting about it? Why sacrifice our safety and get out on the street when we can share our opinions from the comfort of our couches?

The strong emotions that can be evoked after seeing a photograph on social media are temporary. We may be angered, disgusted or even motivated, but soon the message is forgotten and we are back to our daily Netflix binge. We believe that by acknowledging the issue we have “done our part” and that now it is someone else’s responsibility to act upon it and follow up. This may not be very productive, but what harm does asking people to repost on social media do?

Research suggests that we are more likely to follow up on a cause after our initial act of support is private instead of public. This can be attributed to a theory in psychology called the self-completion theory. When we support a cause publicly and people acknowledge it, we feel as though we have already accomplished the task and therefore our desire for a positive moral self-perception is satisfied. This decreases our motivation to engage in subsequent prosocial behaviors. And so under the pretext of “engaging,” we are actually doing a disservice to ourselves and more importantly to the cause we claim to care about.

Every social cause has a catchy hashtag that soon spreads like wildfire. This does help in creating awareness but the fleeting attention of users means that the minute a new one crops up, the previous one is forgotten. Also, just because an issue is trending, doesn’t mean the problem is being proactively solved, for example we all know that posting an image with #poverty isn’t really going to change anything. Likewise, #BlackOutTuesday is just one example of how hashtags become a social trend and do more harm than good. Activist Nupol Kiazolu, President of Black Lives Matter in Greater New York, called #BlackOutTuesday “frustrating” and “counterproductive.” Kiazolu said that “Posting is just one step... If you can’t come out to the front lines, there's always something more you can do besides post.”

Chelsea Miller, from Freedom March NYC, adds that “After a certain point we need to shift the conversation to talk about sustainability... What does it look like to make sure that the message does not end when the lights and the cameras turn off.” Just as our Instagram or Facebook story is lost into the abyss of the internet after 24 hours, so is our attention to the cause. It is important that we actually capitalize on the popularity of hashtags and use them as a call to action instead of a sing-song rhyme. In a clever marketing campaign, UNICEF highlighted how social media likes weren’t turning into dollars. They famously wrote, “Like us on Facebook and we will vaccinate zero children against polio.” They added that they have nothing against likes but noted that vaccines cost money, and so they urged viewers to actively make a difference by buying vaccines on their website that would directly play a role in saving the lives of children.

Slacktivists more often than not, choose to measure the success of a movement with a quantitative metric. “Help us reach an X number of likes,” “This was retweeted an X number of times” or “This hashtag reached an X number of people,” are just some examples of strategies used by slacktivists to determine success. It is absurd to see how an arbitrary number is the goal rather than the intention to enact concrete changes.

Another cause of concern is the polarizing content in some posts. Rather than addressing a problem objectively, slacktivists use hate or judgment as a tool to garner attention. Yes, we must disagree and debate with people on the other side of the issue, but it is important to do so in a civil manner. We can’t see one post and rant endlessly about it, spewing hate at anything and anyone who disagrees with our position. In light of these trends, it is important to remind ourselves that Twitter wars are futile and that convincing someone on a comment thread is like beating your head against a wall. Barack Obama also said that Twitter outrage isn’t activism and “If all you’re doing is casting stones, you’re probably not going to get that far.”

Still, Slacktivism doesn’t take away from the fact there are activists who are genuinely creating an impact and harnessing the potential of social media to bring about change. These content creators employ ingenious ways that enable those without capital to contribute to important causes. For example, some create monetized YouTube videos which have their advertisement revenue redirected to support advocacy efforts, bail funds and help victims’ families.

But what can we nonactivists do to get involved? Well, instead of falling victim to performative allyship and virtue signaling we must take the first step forward by asking ourselves what role we can play to bring about change. If we can’t write a check, we can volunteer an hour to help NGOs canvas signatures for a petition. Rather than posting about how we want to solve global hunger we can cook a meal and share it with someone down the street. Instead of ranting on social media about all that needs to be corrected, we can come up with small actionable solutions that we can implement in our everyday lives. As Trevor Noah put it, “If you believe in a just cause, you can’t be sitting at home and ranting on Twitter. It doesn’t make you an activist, it makes you the former president of the United States.”

Social media activism is only effective when it is done meaningfully. Actions, no matter how small, will change the world; but hashtags with alliterations won’t. And so, we must reconsider the role of social media in promoting the causes we care about. Revolutions might start on social media, but they won’t succeed unless we volunteer, protest and vote, because it is high time we realize that justice is not another trend.