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From hashtags to mass protests, viral petitions to student-led movements, advocacy dominates public life.
However, visibility should not be confused with effectiveness.
The growing gap between activism and tangible action raises a question: Has modern activism become more about signaling than solving?
Activism is meant to create change. Historically, it has. With the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War protests, public pressure led to cultural and legislative shifts.
During the Civil Rights Movement, for example, activism reshaped how Americans viewed segregation. What had previously been widely tolerated became morally unacceptable.
However, the legislative shifts are the concrete outcomes. The law, policies and court decisions that resulted from sustained activism in the case of the Civil Rights Movement led to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which deconstructed segregation and protected voting rights for Black people.
Similarly, protests during the Vietnam War shifted public opinion about U.S. military involvement abroad. Being critical of war became more normalized, especially for younger generations.
These protests contributed to policy changes like the War Powers Resolution which aimed to limit the president’s engagement in military conflict without congressional approval.
These cultural shifts matter because they redefined what was normal, in turn creating long-term structural change and they redefined how to hold institutions accountable. They were strategic, sustained and tied directly to policy demands.
Today’s activism operates differently. Social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok have lowered the bar for participation.
A simple repost or story can signal alignment with a cause in minutes. This new standardized way of activism allows more voices to be heard, however it also risks reducing activism to performative allyship.
Performative allyship, according to Institute for Diversity Certification, is public displays of concern without a meaningful follow-through.
In a 2020 study titled The Psychology of Online Activism and Social Movements: Relations Between Online and Offline Collective Action, it was found that while online activism increases awareness, it does not consistently translate into offline action or policy engagement.
The article states, “Several factors moderate whether online and offline activism relate negatively. For instance, online activism does not inhibit offline protest if activists perceive their actions as effective.”
This relationship only works when online engagement is paired with a clear sense of efficacy and a pathway to act. As the study suggests, digital activism does not inherently suppress offline participation, but it becomes a substitute when individuals feel that their online actions are sufficient.
According to the study, “The online and offline are typically closely integrated. Indeed, online activism facilitates offline protest by advertising and organising it. Increasingly, this means that mass protests can occur without formal structures (e.g. trade unions).”
The relationship between awareness and action depends on whether activism is structured to move beyond visibility.
A recent example of this can be seen in the No Kings protests, tied to backlash against anti-democratic rhetoric from Donald Trump.
Online, the No Kings protests circulated widely across popular social media platforms. Images of the turnout and protest signs at these protests spread in the media and the phrase “No Kings” was used to oppose authoritarian-style leadership.
However, that visibility didn’t translate into sustained offline engagement. Some demonstrations are organized under the No Kings term, the movement often lacks specific calls to action.
For example, protests promoted under the No Kings slogan might encourage people to gather and show opposition, but many attendees may leave without clear direction of what to do next in support of their cause.
But the localized efforts do work. When organizers connect the slogan to concrete steps like driving voter participation in local elections and to coordinate protests, the act becomes measurable. In these movements online activism supports offline action rather than replacing it.
The issue isn’t the activism itself, it’s the illusion of completion that it creates.
Social media fosters a sense of moral licensing. Moral licensing refers to an act of good that gives individuals a sense of fulfillment in their ethical responsibility to where it feels that they no longer have to take further action.
Operating through a different media environment, the speed of information can cycle faster due to the oversaturation of media outlets. Media cycles rapidly go through information making it difficult to focus on creating concrete solutions.
A more productive approach would be to redefine what effective activism looks like. Awareness should be the starting point, not the endpoint. Successful movements integrate multiple layers. This includes education, community organizing, political participation and advocacy.
Educational institutions can also play a big role. Offering media literacy programs can help students know the difference between sustainable action and engagement.
Accountability is also an essential part of the solution. Activist-focused accounts could prioritize and track real-world impact.
They can conduct studies on the actual impact that posts online drive by comparing the traction that causes have online compared to how many people actually show up in person to protest or how many are actually making calls to representatives.
They can then share these studies through online platforms and in person through opportunities like handing out flyers. These organizations already know how to design infographics and gain attention through creative ways like slogans.
As a society, we need to call out those who are performative and not praise a repost, a like, or a story post from others, but also hold celebrities accountable who do the same, since they have such a large impact on others.
Making not only engagement, but impact, visible could shift to meaningful real-world participation.
Ultimately, activism does not replace action but it can obscure what true action looks like. Posting is easy. Organizing is harder. Advocacy must move beyond awareness and into action where change can actually happen.
