For those of you who logged on to Facebook March 26, you probably noticed a sea of profile pictures changed to a red and pink equals sign.
At a time when the United States Supreme Court justices were preparing to hear arguments for two pieces of landmark marriage equality legislation, the profile pictures represent support for the equal rights cause. While a photo change is nice, it is also completely void of any real meaning and fundamentally fails to create lasting change the way traditional, boots-on-the-ground activism does.
What is even more frustrating is the small act of changing a picture has become so pervasive that it is now seen as an acceptable substitute for real, bona fide activism. This “slacktivism” lacks the fervor of engaged involvement.
It cannot take more than a minute to upload a picture of the equality sign to Facebook, crop it and put it on your profile. That is not caring, fighting or working for a cause. It is a hollow, halfhearted attempt to convey some sort of deeper concern for an issue. It is representative of the problematic “slacktivist” culture that threatens the effectiveness of traditional activist behavior.
I do not mean to be cynical. The equals signs are a gesture to show support for an important cause. But that is all this is: a gesture. It is meaningless in helping sway the Supreme Court in any particular way, unless you foolishly believe that Justices Roberts, Sotomayor or Kennedy actually care what is on your Facebook profile.
Although well-intentioned, the danger behind relegating a significant issue to a symbol or image is that it distracts supporters from taking necessary steps to promote momentous change. This is complacent activism.
No one has suddenly changed his political beliefs because of a bumper sticker, the same way nobody will suddenly support same-sex marriage because of a profile picture. Change takes effort, time and persistence that a group of pixels in a small box does not have.
Take an animal rights activist who supports numerous causes combating animal cruelty, chooses to volunteer at humane societies and animal protection agencies and continually pledges his money when he is unavailable to volunteer. Now imagine if all this individual did to support the cause was made his profile picture a cute dog with a caption that read, “stop dog fighting” for two days, changed it back and went about his life. This would do nothing for the cause.
There should have at least been something considerable attached to the red and pink sea of pictures on Facebook — monetary donations, organized rallies, anything. Instead, the support came not only far too late, but also far too insignificantly.
It’s great if you want to support the cause, but if that is the case, do something worthwhile that will actually help. “Slacktivism” cannot replace real activism. Changing your profile picture will never be more effective than marching in a rally.
These social media movements are threatening to undermine the very causes they claim to support.
So next time our nation faces a significant social issue, are you going to crop a profile picture, sit back and pat yourself on the back or are you going to pick up a sign, open your wallet and insist on actual, lasting change?