Sign off your device and make real change in the world
Here’s the scene: While stirring his Starbucks coffee with a plastic stir stick, he scrolls through his Twitter feed. He likes a few tweets that insult climate change deniers and retweets a tweet with a link to an article outlining how climate change will significantly raise sea levels by 2050. I hate climate change deniers, he thinks to himself as he tosses his plastic stir stick into the trash and places a plastic lid on his coffee. He then walks to his SUV, parked in front idling.
Classic digital engagement of “do as I say, not as I do.”
Token display on social media has become so common it’s often seen as platitude and labelled as virtue signalling, implying an individual, company, or organization doesn’t genuinely believe in the cause they publicly support — their agenda is to look good. It’s a form of hypocrisy that’s existed since the dawn of civilization.
Social media has made it easy to voice an opinion about a particular cause without having to take to the streets or take any personal risks or substantive action.
Many people think retweeting a hashtag, posting a picture on Instagram wearing a pink shirt for #PinkShirtDay, or temporarily adding a rainbow-coloured frame to their Facebook profile picture is meaningful social-political activism, when actually it’s “digital vanity” — making a statement because you reckon it’ll garner approval.
The need for social acceptance is a powerful drug. Yes, you do care what others think of you. Social media is where we seek attention, digital applause, and reinforcement of our beliefs. Virtue signalling, facilitated by social media, achieves this ego feeding in an almost eloquent fashion.
Social media = look at me! So, is virtue signalling bad or good?
It’s complicated. On the one hand, broadcasting ideals and values is good — it creates awareness. On the other hand, virtue signalling goes wrong when such broadcasting becomes a behaviour pattern. It’s said we live in an age of outrage. In itself, outrage has never addressed any social issue. #OccupyWallStreet didn’t end bad business practices or redistribute wealth.
Tweeting your outrage of homelessness while walking past a homeless person asking for change as you head to meet friends for drinks accomplishes nothing other than making you feel good about yourself.
If a large percentage of people expressing their support for a cause, solidarity, or outrage on social media platforms took meaningful action, imagine how different our world would look. It’s easy to be outraged over food insecurity and expect something to be done on a government level rather than to go out and purchase groceries for a local food bank. Offline action is increasingly becoming a rarity.
Retweets, likes and comments define social media success. It’s all ego-stroking that does nothing meaningful to change the world. For that to happen, you need to sign off from your device and go into the real world to #BeTheChange.