Injustices and tragedies are occurring every day. Another school shooting, another hate crime; the genocide in Palestine, the invasion in Ukraine; the battle for abortion rights and the fight for LGBTQ+ representation in American education are only at the tip of the iceberg. Rather than see these issues for what they are– adversity and prejudice for marginalized groups– many use them as opportunities for personal gain.

Reader: Do you recall the photos of bodies in Gaza? Do you remember the videos of the war in Ukraine? In our own state; last month’s senseless police shooting of Sonya Massey, a 36-year-old woman who called the police for help and was murdered because she was black – caught fully on video by the officer’s body camera and broadcast for the world to see on the internet – do you remember that? In the social media era, news travels universally, instantly, and entirely uncensored; as do reactions to the news.

So what do all of those things have in common? At some point they trended. Some for a day or two, others for months, but all eventually went away in the vast and ever-changing ocean of internet news. They were trending because people posted and reposted the graphic videos, shouted their “thoughts and prayers” across every platform possible, and then when everyone else moved on to the next horrific act of violence, the same people moved with them.

These are performative activists. Participating in a trend of care until it simply goes away like anything on the internet, displaying to everyone that they are progressive, they care; “Don’t forget about me, guys! I’m super sad about this too!” That is performative activism.

In its greatest severity, performative activism can lead to its own violence. Many use protests turning into riots as chances to loot and steal, most infamously with the L.A. riots in 1992 after the police officers who violently assaulted Rodney King on video were acquitted of all charges. The riots resulted in 63 deaths, over 12,000 arrests and over a billion dollars of stolen goods and damage to homes and businesses.

More recently: If you recall the 2020 murder of George Floyd that led to protests across the country under the Black Lives Matter movement, then surely you recall the riots that resulted from them too. Close to home in Kenosha, Wisconsin Kyle Rittenhouse, a 17-year-old from Antioch, Illinois killed two rioters claiming he was trying to protect businesses.

Many ventured to say Rittenhouse used the chaos as an excuse to kill, but regardless of his intentions, the act of rioting in the first place and his decision to go out of his way to kill rioters are examples of performative activism resulting in violence.

Occasionally, acts of violence entirely unrelated to any protest or activism are framed as some kind of statement in an attempt to excuse or justify the actions.

In 2017 a Facebook live that saw four assailants torturing an anonymous disabled teen in Chicago went viral. Throughout the hours of torture the abusers were quoted as saying “F*** white people!” and “F*** Donald Trump!” as well as forcing the anonymous victim to repeat them. Using politics to justify the senseless torture is another (albeit extreme) example of performative activism, and the nature in which it was spread across the internet and then quickly forgotten is an example just the same.

This is all to say that performative activism is becoming far too easy, common and accepted. It is much more dangerous than insincere “thoughts and prayers.” When people use the headlines and the shock as proof they are in the loop and they “care too,” it allows for the deaths and prejudice of real people to become a hashtag. At its worst, it becomes an excuse to hurt innocent people with the veil of supporting a greater cause.

Is the average person showing their support for Palestine by spreading the word of the genocide a performative activist? Or the person sending their “thoughts and prayers” to shooting victims? No, but it is to say that to make a difference – to really fight against the hate and the killing and the injustice and the adversity – we cannot allow for it to become as small as a video or a slideshow or a tweet.

Nicole Bacigalupo, counselor and advisor of the Black Student Union, shared her thoughts on performative activism – and activism in general – in the social media age.

“This generation of young people is displaying social activism that is magnified by social media,” she said. “Displays of activism spread like wildfire, which can have positive and negative effects depending on what is considered ‘activism.’ I feel there are many positive displays of activism, like community service dedicated towards a specific cause or marches to raise awareness.”

“There can be negative displays as well.” Bacigalupo continued, “With social media spreading messages and false information with little fact checking, people can be drawn towards a cause without doing their own due diligence and finding accurate information. Jumping on a bandwagon to gain social media following without researching a cause, or coming up with further solutions on how to support that cause, can come off as tone deaf. There have also been instances where activism turned violent. What began as peaceful protests turned into dangerous riots in 2020. Some communities, such as Portland Oregon, are still scarred by the damage from those riots.”

Spreading awareness and pretending to care are two very different things and if all you can do is repost something then by all means, do what you can, but do not allow yourself to depersonalize. It takes just a few seconds to post the latest headline and it is easy to do so just out of the obligation one feels to support and then forget about it completely.

If you don’t want to be a pretender – an “activist” who fakes their passion because they’re petrified of being the odd one out, or at worst, a violent perpetrator using the pain of others as an excuse to inflict more – research, talk to your friends, your family, protest, donate, fundraise; Do something that can make a difference, even if it is small.

Additionally, it is important to remember that activism is just as much about listening as it is speaking.

“I have learned the best way to be an activist is to listen to the people who are directly affected by a cause.” said Bacigalupo, “Empowering those groups, gathering research from credible sources, and promoting messages or causes in a way that is helpful is what I have found to be a good start when supporting mitigated populations.”

Don’t let these people be forgotten, or potentially more demeaning; don’t let them be remembered as nothing more than a horrific “repost” button pressed.