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I wasn’t going to say anything because nobody should really care what a mcyt fanfiction account has to say, but I want to say something about “digital activism” because I think there may be some younger people who follow me who might need to hear it. (thread)
Please understand I’m coming from a place of solidarity when I say that retweeting and signing digital petitions has next to no influence on how the federal government works. Petitions will not stop the fucked up carceral state from working the way it was designed to work.
“Spreading awareness” about individual cases is fine, but it is next to useless if there are no meaningful action steps available to combat what’s happening.
Petitions do not count as they are very rarely impactful. A petition cannot save someone’s life. I’m sorry about this.
Petitions do not count as they are very rarely impactful. A petition cannot save someone’s life. I’m sorry about this.
This type of performative, guilt-based digital “activism” does more harm than good because it’s unsustainable. By telling people they can’t do normal things while something unjust is happening (which is always), or by BLAMING people for “not stopping” things they can’t control,
you’re reinforcing the idea that caring about social issues is an all-encompassing life path, rather than something every person can do, all the time, alongside their normal lives.
You may think you won’t burn out. YOU WILL. And you will start to disengage completely.
You may think you won’t burn out. YOU WILL. And you will start to disengage completely.
If you want to make a difference, get involved in local activism, go to an in person protest, or donate real money to real organizations doing the work or directly to on-the-ground activists. Any one of these actions is 1,000,000x more effective than RTing or signing a petition.
If you’re young, learn as much as you can, think about what you want to do in your life to combat injustice, and get involved directly if you can. If you can’t for whatever reason, don’t let people make you feel guilty for not signing enough petitions. THIS IS NOT YOUR FAULT.
Finally, y’all, stop asking CCs to be activist leaders. THEY ARE NOT QUALIFIED. Find and follow activists, especially in your local community, who are doing the work; follow their lead. I don’t give a shit what the Minecraft boys think about politics and neither should you.
Follow-up. This threat should not be taken as a statement that "spreading awareness is pointless or bad." That's clearly not what I'm saying - spreading awareness is a good first step but it's not the end-all be-all of activism, and that's important to remember.
Second follow-up bc it's on my mind. I wish I had worded my tweets differently about online activism & spreading awareness.
Legitimate online organizing is ABSOLUTELY a thing and spreading awareness can be a very important tool. Just needs to be done in a productive way.
Legitimate online organizing is ABSOLUTELY a thing and spreading awareness can be a very important tool. Just needs to be done in a productive way.
