Click, Post, Forget: The Cycle of Performative Activism

With a single click, you share a “Stop Gun Violence” post to your Instagram story, feeling a hearty sense of righteousness. Then you never post about it again. 

In today’s digitally dominated society, it’s no surprise that politics has made its way onto explore pages and TikTok videos. Activists have used social media to speak up about issues ranging from racism, xenophobia, LGBTQ+ support, climate, immigration, to human rights—yet there is a certain selectivity while posting information or reading news on these platforms when it comes to everyday users. 

For many, showing yourself to the world lies at the heart of social media. Or at least, a superficial version of yourself that you hope others will perceive you as. Social media is overflowing with young users, including high schoolers, many of whom are still developing their sense of belief and reasoning. However, this period of learning may make teenagers more vulnerable to worrying about what people think of the content they are posting about, rather than the content itself. 

This inauthentic behavior is embedded within users’ minds and lives, and it may permeate into the political sphere at times as “performative activism.” Performative activism is described as activism intended to boost one’s image rather than support the issue at hand (Student National Medical Association). Another more informal term that is used is slacktivism, or “the practice of conspicuously showing support for a cause, as by posting on social media or hanging a flag or sign, without taking any real steps to effect change” (Merriam Webster). 

It is often used to display proof of morality, to instill a feeling of fulfillment within oneself. That isn’t saying that users do not care about the issue at hand; however, performative activism often exposes the fleeting nature of these beliefs and concerns. That’s why there are only certain pieces of startling news that users will often choose to post passionately about for a short period of time, often based on impulse. The European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) noted that accounts that create these easily shareable posts often “package radical beliefs into shareable formats that exploit, rather than challenge, cognitive limitations.” These posts also tend to lack a deeper context, especially for social and political issues that require a historical background to understand

When Charlie Kirk was shot and killed at Utah Valley University in early September, countless reposts flooded users’ stories and screens on Instagram. Which leads us to the question: what exactly were these reposts about? A majority of the posts called out political violence as “unacceptable” and heavily criticized the use of guns. People expressed grief and outrage regarding the Evergreen High School shooting in Colorado, which occurred on the same day. Several mourned Charlie Kirk’s death, with some mentioning him as a hero. Others argued that this was a case of the obstruction of the First Amendment’s freedom of expression, referring to Kirk’s controversial statements that often marginalized groups based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and religion. 

This sudden burst of political activism seemed fiery and passionate… until it died down within a week. An article from National Public Radio (NPR) mentioned the Minnesota Catholic church mass shooting on August 27, along with other mass shootings that have gone under the radar, especially considering the scope and impact of the Charlie Kirk incident, as shown on social media. The article noted that the Gun Violence Archive “reported over 300 mass shootings this year,” including “all instances in which four or more people were shot.” Yet the level of attention that these shootings have received is minuscule. Many social media users called out the inauthentic behavior of those who condemned gun violence only after a prominent political media personality became a victim of it. In June 2025, Minnesota House of Representatives Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband were murdered in their homes, and Minnesota State Senator John Hoffman and his wife were shot—yet the level of media attention these events received was much lower. 

This has not been the only instance of performative activism in recent times. The Israel-Palestine conflict has drawn critical activists to social media in order to unveil committed atrocities, as well as bring support for donations. However, just last year in May, 47 million users on Instagram shared a rather questionable, in terms of authenticity and credibility, post regarding the conflict. According to BBC, prominent celebrities “like Dua Lipa, Lewis Hamilton and Gigi and Bella Hadid” participated in the resharing of the post, which included the slogan “All Eyes on Rafah” to bring attention to a camp that had been struck in Rafah. Yet the phrase was not the center of controversy—it was the AI-generated background of a camp in Rafah. The image had spread across the Internet at a breakneck speed, but the action behind it was criticized as lazy and insincere. There were real videos and photos of the attack from Palestinian journals, yet many users had chosen to share the false picture that lacked context and misrepresented the extent of devastation. 

That being said, not all political posts on social media are examples of “slacktivism.” There are many forms of activism that are able to enact real change for these issues, so here are a few suggestions for high school students to take action:

1. Donations: These are a primary way for people to send direct aid and support to groups. GoFundMe is an accessible and effective platform for all social media users, often helping individuals or families who are struggling with issues from medical bills to humanitarian crises. 
2. Protests: Many protests are organized via social media in the modern day, and it is helpful to spread awareness about such events through posts or stories. People across the nation can come together to support a dominant issue, and these protests has proven to be impactful in recent times such as through movements, such as Black Lives Matter and the #MeToo movement.
3. Petitions: Although petitions were used more regularly in the past, they are still important methods through which social media users can directly congregate in support of a cause. They bring awareness to specific issues and may gain momentum to turn into larger movements as a result.
4. Voting: Students are the future of maintaining democracy in the future, of electing officials who are truly able to make change. Encouraging people to vote through social media enforces the idea that every person’s vote matters, and that the accumulation of individual votes is able to make a vast change. It also urges others to research these political issues in order to make an informed decision while voting.

Social media can be an effective and powerful tool for activism, especially given its accessibility and swiftness to bring awareness to underrepresented issues. However, it is important that students and all social media users avoid falling into the black-and-white trap of “good versus bad” or “us versus them,” which only exacerbates political tensions without contributing to a real conversation.