Behind the Black Square: The Quiet Sabotage of Viral Activism

In the current digital landscape, where social media reigns supreme, nearly every facet of culture has had to adapt to the relentless evolution of technology. From shopping to advertisements, what once was done in person has now transitioned to being through large app platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat. With all these changes, the world must adapt to these changes, including activism. From politics to protests to war, social media is used to spread information, educate others, and give people platforms to use their voices. With big social activism movements, people are able to inflict actual change, but is their help doing more harm than good?

During the Summer of 2020, the Black Lives Matter movement took social media by storm as activists from all over the country were speaking out about their outage against police brutality. As an act of solidarity, social media users decided to take a stand by posting black squares in honor of the Black Lives Matter movement. This movement, known as Blackout Tuesday, accumulated over 28 million posts, flooding social media feeds nationwide. As it flooded social media feeds, it was also drowning out important resources, updates, protest information, and educational resources. Attempting to be an act of solidarity, many did not understand the true intent behind these posts.

Another similar instance occurred this past summer of 2024, as people used Instagram to spread awareness about the Israeli-Palestine conflict. Numerous users posted the words “Free Gaza” as an act of social activism against the violence of the war. This image that was being rapidly spread across social media was identified as Artificial Intelligence generated, sparking conflict among users. The Palestinian-Israeli conflict is incredibly complex and some argued that the AI-generated images were undermining the severity of the situation. People brought up concerns stating that the people affected by the war are real communities, real families, real people, something that was not being conveyed in this AI image that was spreading around the internet. To the same effect, this image was flooding the feeds of social media users, taking over important informational and educational posts regarding the war and conveying the impact of the war in an inaccurate light.

All these movements and these posts, are they all for activism or for the act of feeling like you are making an impact in the world? Slacktivism— actions that support a cause without demanding significant effort or commitment. Activism with no real-world change, putting in minimal effort for minimal change. Performance activism— activism with the primary purpose of being seen as socially aware rather than working to change the issue at hand. Whether it be pressure from peers, the internet, or society, activism through social media has the potential to be the quiet sabotage to activism. So next time you think about hitting that post button, think about the lives you are affecting while you hide safely behind your screen.