Activism moves online post Covid. Is it effective?

Many hail virtual activism as supplementary to on-ground work, but can the former bring about change on its own?

Before the pandemic hit, there were pockets of protests across the country against CAA and NRC. The threat of the virus dispersed these movements, but they didn’t disappear.

Many moved online. Social media activism has been gaining ground for a long time and perhaps proved its worth during the Arab Spring.

Regardless, it has been called slacktivism, armchair activism and has generally been criticised for being less effective than on-ground work. But with Covid, there is a renewed attention on social media as an effective tool for activism.

Metrolife spoke to social media activists to see how it works and how they define results. N, the woman behind Badassbrownactivist on Instagram has almost 33,000 followers on the platform. She says that activism is important in any form.

“Online and on-ground activism serve different functions, and aren’t interchangeable. The latter is invaluable and plays an indispensable role, but that doesn’t mean online activism doesn’t have its own place. There’s enough room for all of us,” she explains.

Teresa Braggs, a student activist who was active during the city’s CAA protests, says that using social media was, initially, complementary to her on-ground work and used to communicate with and mobilise people. While the pandemic has completely shifted activism online, she feels that many activism pages have fallen into a cycle of content creation.

“Because I’ve not labelled myself as an activist page I can take a step back and take space to observe,” she explains. @iawaken.in, an activism page on Instagram with over 59,000 followers say that content creation can be tough work.

“Working with algorithms, curation, creation and development of content, designing creatives, choosing mediums/channels, marketing and engaging the audience and getting results takes time and effort,” says the admin.

N says that a large number of people who would not otherwise pay attention are being introduced to politics through social media.

“This propels many to become more empathetic, responsible citizens who fight for real change,” she explains. Teresa too agrees. “I think social media has expanded the conversation to include many young people, especially now, when more people are spending time online,” she says.

Is awareness enough?

There is an underlying sentiment that online activism only creates awareness and that is not enough.

“Creating awareness is a form of activism, especially at a time when even talking about some things can get you tagged as ‘anti national’. But, I agree, it should yield tangible changes too. If not, we need to rethink our strategy,” says the admin of iawaken.

N says that awareness is a key feature of activism. “When topics trend on social media, it sparks conversations, which is the first step towards change,” she explains.

N also points out that people getting arrested for their posts on social media is enough proof that a dissemination of information and awareness is enough threat to the establishment.

iawaken’s admin says that increasing the reach of an issue that may not have gotten as much attention offline or in traditional media is a push for change.

“We share fundraisers that can help change lives. We share discourses with field experts in the form of static posts or Instagram lives, which helps overcome the taboo around topics such as menstruation, sex ed and more,” she says.

How is real change measured? N says that creating social awareness and empathy is the biggest impact. “Many teenagers and young adults message me saying that their eyes had been opened to social issues which they didn’t know existed or the open conversation about mental health and sexuality on my page has helped them deal with their own issues,” N says.

Drawbacks

As with all activities, social media activism is also not without its drawbacks. N explains that social media has given anyone the space to create a following, this can be used for good or bad. “The same mechanism that allows activists to create awareness and change can be used by bigots to form a cohesive movement that actively targets marginalised people, and spread hate,” she explains.

The admin of iawaken adds that creating accessible content in terms of language and discourse is another challenge.