performative activism: the social justice trend cycle 

All of the points you put forth are such insightful takes on social justice; honestly I am in utter and complete love with your channel

this is so true. i also feel like people get shamed for not caring if they don’t repost infographics abt the “trending issue” at the time

i think that we should superficially care about what we think is bad, but we should leave the proper activism to the proper activists that really want to solve the problems that they are advocating for. I think this will be more efficient because these activists know that problem will still exist even after when it is acknowledged by the masses. The idea that we can all be activists is so problematic and unrealistic.

As a Palestinian who lives in Palestine, I have things to point out. Palestinians have been under the Israeli occupation since 1948 with ongoing various opressive actions from the Israeli army(which is considered as one of the strongest armies in the world) upon the Palestinians who don’t even have a proper authority, that’s why it’s not a “conflict” rather than “ethnic cleansing”. It’s not okay to apply selective empathy towards certain groups and ignore others,even us Palestinians we do support people who’ve experienced oppression in any form and we share about them. However, we see a lot of people try to raise awareness about Palestine because there are very limited news channels that shows the truth as it is,in addition to that the META apps supports the Israeli part and marks anything related to Palestine as “sensitive content” or “harmful communities” and takes down A LOT of accounts as a try to lower our voices, therefore, the Palestinian case remains a “trend” to a large extent of people. So we consider activism on social media and sharing awareness as an essential way of resistence. I’m writing this comment a year after the Israeli forces murdered the journalist Sherin abu Akleh while covering jenin camp in Palestine, that’s why we share daily about Palestine, because there is daily oppression towards kids,women,men,journalists or whoever is Palestinian to them.

2 years later and the cycle continues still

It's brilliant to hear such a level headed person speak about something i've thought about for so long! Especially with the lack of social media 'activism' surrounding the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan at the moment, an issue as serious as any other.

well wow. youre information is very well put, i completely agree, you cant be completely immersed into every single social justice issue, like how blm came out, its faded, the same thing with asian hate. when we post these things to our followers, while on onehand its great, but the question is how can we really help? and also i really liked how you brought this up because nowadays, i think people feel the need to post to seem like a good person rather than actually wanting to change something about the issue. when i found out about asian hate, i got really interested, part of the reason because im south asian and it caught my attention, and i rushed to sign petitions and stuff, im 14, thats really all i can do. it all comes back to if you actually care or youre just doing it to look good. in this age of social media, it all comes back to trends and popularity. like the india farmer protest, gained more popularity after rihanna spoke about it (correct me if im wrong about this) and the covid situation in india, was a pretty popular topic when it first started, but as more issues came out it faded in the background, and as an indian i can say that when it died down, it was actually still pretty bad. so yeah its all about whats popular, and what people show. and the media doesnt help because, they at the end of the dayy report on what would get them money.

This reminds me of how whenever I hear that an alleged example of a social justice example was actually a hoax or the event was just misrepresented, the booming response is often "we're trying to start a conversation". No, you're not. You're trying to jump in and take the spotlight and lead a conversation you are just now hearing about and/or are unprepared to contribute to.

As someone who has fought for the Palestinian cause for as long as I can remember it felt refreshing seeing people other than Muslims and Arabs (and Middle easterners in general)talk about this issue, but then I noticed that people started to care less which proved to me that they probably didn't care as much in the first place and I felt disheartened it showed me that some people just post these things for the likes and engagement or just so they feel some sort of satisfaction or fulfillment, and I'm not saying raising awareness online is bad but sometimes people post things they didn't even read which spreads misinformation and it's disappointing to see such important causes be used as an engagement booster, spreading awareness online is very useful indeed but treating real serious issues (that could literally cause people's lives) as trends is just harmful in so many ways

Even today this remains true. We need to stop treating current events and human rights issues, like geopolitical conflicts, genocides, and wars as spam fodder, infographic aesthetics, or trends.

interesting to watch this two years later after the coverage of Palestine has skyrocketed

A tip on pronouncing Kabul if you're afraid of mispronouncing: put together "kaa" (the snake from jungle book) and "bull" (the animal) Hope this helps!

Hi, I really enjoyed this video. I think your video really resonated with me, as that is how I felt about activism growing up with social media. Like, I had felt pressured for a long time to care about issues on trend, however I felt like because I lacked knowledge on the history I wasn't really making my own thoughts and opinions. I felt like my care for activism was half hearted. I agree that dedication to an issue is important and an effective way of activism. Thank you for this video. I love your channel and you deserve more views!

this is a really underrated channel. you're speaking the truth here!!

I agree with your point as well as an activist myself I see too many people engaging in this social justice cycle. I was once someone who fell in this trap. Keeping up with the cycle is not good for you as it’s simply too much information. I had to learn its okay to focus on one issue. As that doesn’t mean you don’t care about other issues or aren’t a good person. Because I chose to focus on work on one issue I’ve been able to build a community I 144 followers on Instagram dedicated to the issue of girls education and womens rights.

Controversial? No... this is a breath of fresh air in a world full of noise, devoid of understanding and trending toward virtue signaling over genuine social activism and awareness. I love your videos and look forward to your intelligent reflections.

This is me on 2024! I have similar stance with you in this video, however i think it’s still important to have some stance about social justice, because people still tend to be ‘abstain’, ‘neutral’, ‘apathy’, and avoiding the hard topic. but i do agree it’s not always necessary to show it at social media that you care, as it tend to lead on residual trend cycle, shaming, and judgement!

You’re point proven… no one is talking about Israel Palestine when it’s still on going the same as ever. People care about sensationalized topics only.

You know what is sad? We will focus on one specific issue and virtue signal to all hell on social media. But when something new happens, we all just give the middle finger to the issue we were focusing on and move on to this new conflict. Did we just forget about Afghanistan???

2024 and I had to check the upload date... we're still talking about Palestine-Isreal...its crazy because some people like this is necessarily new...

I totally get where you're coming from. I've noticed this phenomenon too, where certain issues tend to rise to the forefront of the public's attention, but I had a different explanation for it. Simply, it seems to me like it's impossible for every ongoing issue to be reported at once. (I'm sure you've seen comments under videos like "why are you spending time talking abt X when Y is also an issue.") The way I think abt it is that when events such as the bombing in Ghaza occur, they are reported on because that's how the news/media works - it's based on current events. And because there's an oversaturation of media in our lives, our timelines are flooded with posts related to the particular current event. So it's not that we cycle through caring about different issues; rather, what we post about is related to current events, and it's impossible to post about everything at once so we prioritize the most jarring event and then return to talking about other topics after our attention span runs out. (I hope I phrased things clearly but it's also 2.30 am so like, do with this what u will.)

While I support Palestine, after going to a recent March where a whole bunch of spicy libs from nonprofits got involved, I distance myself from it because it is becoming more performative and trendy and people stop caring about local issues

This is honestly an amazing video 🙌🙌 I'm Israeli however I do not support my government and I 100% believe people should be speaking out of Palestine. However most of the social media 'activism' I've seen in action was performative harassment and micro aggressions towards random Jewish people, which not only doesn't help Palestine but is also deeply antisemitic. It definitely feels like people are joining a trend rather then trying to find ways they could actually help

I wanna like this more than just one time!! I completely agree w you, I'm getting annoyed when many (especially young people) repost those Instagram infographics. Every day they touch on a new topic and never really understand the context or even the conflict itself...

What you call performative activism, others call virtue signalling.

It really makes people more passive too, many share so many infographics, etc. and the capacity that that takes can‘t be used for actions with more impact. I realised that it doesn’t really make sense that I feel pressured to share infographics/other stuff to my 200 Instagram followers who mostly share exactly the same stuff. It’s just virtue signaling, a pat on my and their back to make myself believe that I am on the right side without having to risk anything.

I have never seen someone as empathetic and Insightful. You give such unique and through explanations that help viewers challenge their original preconceived notions. I enjoy seeing how my opinions change with contrasting views. You are also so so so well spoken and crisp making you incredibly convincing.

A great video! This is something I wish more people would talk and be aware of. I personally got a bit traumatized from all the blm stuff and I get overwhelmed easily so this kind of activism isn't for me. What you said about graphic footage is very true and people should learn to put trigger warnings where they're meant to be. For me atleast it's very confusing when first were advocating for mental health and the next week were expected to care and be educated on a million different issues on the other side of the world. What I most hate about this is how these posts try to make you feel guilty and like you're the problem (and some teenagers actually genuinely think that) and a bad person for not posting. I personally don't want to post because it's draining for me and feels completely pointless since all of my followers already follow each other and have seen and reshared the post so what is me just following along going to help the actual cause in the end. For me it always feels wrong and performative. As a child I also don't think middle schoolers need to be all knowing. I've noticed that there's a specific type of people who will do their research and actually care and then there's the problematic ones who don't. After I had gotten a mental breakdow I tried to take a break from social media but my friends kept going on about it at school. I was usually just sitting there uncomfortable trying to guess which words they were going to use this time. It was literally the same conversation over and over again which kind of sums what bothers me about this up. There were four of us and we had agreed that we all agree the first time we talkedamongourselves. If someone they saw as a "normie" said something something phobic they would call them out. Now I don't have a problem with that itself but it often escalated very cuikly into a heated debate where the point wasn't to get an understanding but rather to just win an argument. I personally think that having a deeper heart to heart with these "normies" would do much more than just labeling them toxic in the end. As for me I sometimes wished to rather be with these so called "toxic" people because many "woke" ones tend to have the exact same bad mindset as them. I have also noticed that the adults I follow post much less about these things. Which I choose to interpret as them being mature and knowing how to take care of themselves. It also makes me chek the stuff that they do post because it's more likely to be informative and something that they actually care about. Anyways this is my opinion about this stuff right now. I am a teenager myself trying to find the golden middleground. I just tjink that the negative should be talked about more which is why we need more great videos like these! I just don't think that a savior complex is going to save anyone.

your vids are always so good omg you deserve 1 million followers, i’m recommending you to my friends!!

Remember during March 2022 when everyone was posting about Ukraine? Do you wonder where all of those posts went? The 'trend' was over, but the war still persists, but the likes are the target, not the awareness.

2:05 the palestine-israel conflict didn't start with the bombing of gaza, palestinians were suffering in silence for decades!!

I'm one of those ppl who tries to repost a lot of educational posts in social media and I always felt like unfairnes when ppl suddenly stop talking or posting about one issue when the excitement on media is gone, but now I really feel the importance of this matter, as ukrainian I feel that ppl supported my country and talked about war while it was trandy and it makes me feel sick))) But as a person who lives in the middle east for more less 4 years I feel even worse when ppl talk about our conflicts without realy getting to know the reasons and history behind them. Especially when its going trendy and confuses more and more ppl like palestinian and israely issue, its so fu**king complex Karen, you can't just decide one day to support one side bc Gigi Hadid or Joe Biden told you what's right

I’ve really been waiting to see a video like this, so well put and addresses a lot of things some people are afraid to voice. Great video

Social Justice is an aesthetic

My biggest kinda-critique of your analysis is with how you characterize the element of political/Western involvement as being "news loves to bash politicians". I think that a big part of the focus on US politicians involvement in these tragedies is the idea that it is our responsibility as part of these societies to call out our own. If my Canadian tax dollars are going to funding the Israeli military, and the Israeli military is using those funds to bomb Palestinian land, I have a higher moral obligation to speak out against things happening in Kabul, especially with years of experience regarding what western military intervention has done to Afghanistan and the Middle East. I may not have the same moral authority to demand that other governments act in the interest of their own people. This idea of proximal moral consideration is why I think that issues that issues that are closely tied to Western political policy tends to garner greater social outrage.

i’ve been thinking abt this for so long !! this message is important i hope this reaches more ppl

you put everything i was thinking perfectly in this video. to add/expand on what you said, most things people consume in the name of activism is through the lenses of America, and therefore there is a lack of accountability when it comes to issues like the taliban takeover of the Afghan government. it is alarming to see, as someone who doesn’t live in America, when Americans “advocate” or “raise awareness” for the situation in Afghanistan, but fail to look into their own governments horrific impact on the country. i could only imagine the feeling of betrayal when the US army pulled out of Afghanistan. the country that involved themselves in wars that should never have been fought, the country that starved Afghanistan of resources, the country that provided arms and training to the wrong people in the name of power and international influence, are now removing themselves from the situation they planted and leaving innocents to suffer the consequences of their actions. and now people in that same country, that caused immeasurable amounts of suffering, posting it on social media to save face, then going back to live their privileged (and I don’t use that word lightly) lives. it’s truly alarming and it seems many are lacking in self awareness when addressing such issues.

I think posting stories that follow the current "activist trend cycle" is only detrimental because it encourages complacency in thinking that you have done enough to mitigate the issue. However, posting still raises awareness and can make a difference by informing the people who may actually pursue change.

I think another major reason though that people focus a lot on Israel as opposed to somewhere like Afghanistan is that Afghanistan has no contentions that it's anything more than a theocracy of tribes and warlords so atrocities happen there and people don't care anymore(also the war there has been going on for over a decade n just ended a couple weeks ago). Israel is a westernized, first world, democracy with a lot of industrial capabilities (especially in cyber technology) so people tend to hold it to a higher standard especially when backed so heavily by the US. Anyways nice video :)

Wow, this is first leftist leaning RU-vidr who share almost the same views as me! Your channel is so underrated!

The loudest people are heard most. And these influencers who post and do nothing are quite loud. As much as I want to support spreading awareness, it feels like everyone's trying so hard to be an empath for internet points.

🙌🙌🙌 1. It's unrealistic for everyone to be deeply invested in every single issue 2. It impacts the quality of activitism 🙌🙌🙌 Again, such great points. When you gonna be on Joe Rogan? 😂💞

So much more pertinent now. I think the best we can do is be deeply informed on these issues and learn about the ways we can help in our offline lives (boycotts, divestment protests, less water use, whatever) and then commit to them.

Good point on the cost of diluting your care. When we flow instantly to the next issue, we don't dig deep enough to impact the prior issue. This is Adam Smith's point on specialization and division of labor. One thing I wonder though: does the jumping around of social media's attention really have to be a problem? What if some environmental cause is hip this week and then gets millions in funding then some discrimination issue is hip the next week and then they get millions of funding. If we see the social media apparatus not as a collection of DOERS who will actually go solve the problem, but instead as compassionate bystanders who can together make a real financial change, then it seems to me that we don't have a problem. So long as there ARE doers who specialize like Gretta, we don't need everyone to.

Real change often happens when a person dedicates their life to an issue. The media "issue of the week" carousel should be a way for people to find their one issue, not used entirely for its own sake.

Would like to hear your thoughts on the over politicisation of freedom and security (lockdown & vaccines)?

thank you so much for this video! you've said all i was thinking about but couldn't put words into. i was actually really confused about all of the 'performative activism' thing because after blm there were protests in Belarus and it was so much harder for me to handle since i exist in "russian speaking post soviet info field". eventually i ended up in a circle where i felt guilty for caring more about thing that is closer to me and being angry because i could hardly see any of english speakers care about it. now i kind of get why

i've been watching your videos and i like your arguments. you mentioned doing philosophy and as a beginner its a bit daunting reading nietzche (probably spelled that wrong). any consumable philosophy recs?

look imo since im a palestanian myself u shouldn’t say its a conflict because it obviously isnt, the “conflict” yall call isnt even fair. palestines deserve to own their native lands

this is such an important topic!! i feel like some people (that i'm friends with or that i know) only reposts and do not take time to learn more about the issue, as if only reposting is helping. when i started to learn more about social justice and the problems of this world i did many things wrong and i believe many people only cares about things on the surfice level bc we are led to believe that if we share we are doing something - we are helping. i'm doing an essay that i feel like can open up a new conversation to this perfomative activism and its about how we use things that capitalism produces as a form of activism (such as buying clothes that says "girl boss" or "im a feminist), when its not actively helping in anything, but people believes that by buying such things they are doing their part on the fight. maybe some of the things i said didn't make sense lol anyways the video is a really good one and i think everyone should watched to see from a different point of view.

3:45 never though of it that way interesting take

I think 🤔 I'm the opposite, for me seeing George Floyd die on camera was no different than the usual chaos that regularly sweeps our world. Not to say I don't see the wrong it. But to me it all feels the same.

Ow India's farmers protest is mentioned now? Jesus

you get down to the meanings of the topics really well "who gets to decide what is relevant"

There is very little you can do to help someone that's thousands of miles away. Tweets, hastags, challenges. They solve nothing in the problems that you're in. Awareness doesn't equal activism when people are just spectators Businesses also love to profit of someone else's suffering by starting "charities"

these kinds of videos educate me so much. tysm for showing your insights; it really helps me learn to be more open-minded and aware of these things.

Heya, I love your channel so much! One thing I wanted to say was that I think you forgot to emphasize the misinformation social justice trends can cause, as well as how there is only one “popular” side of the equation and people don’t bother to even research the other side of hot topics. The issue with not researching the other side is that there is an automatic hateful response to anyone who disagrees with the current trend or people ignore victims of the other sides who are directly affected by issues such as war I know you lightly touched on the misinformation these reposted instagram infographics can disperse across the social media platform, but I think it’s a huge issue that should be covered as well

palestine bombings is also a part of a long complex history ,

FINALLY SOMEONE TALKS ABOUT THIS!! Personallyy for me all the issues I either talk or like in most cases repost come from me geniuienly caring but I find it so hard to find more posts about for example yemen since everyone´s always talking about the new "trendy" social issue.

I also think that people have a tendency to see things as if they are black and white, people just separate into teams like team Israel team Palestinian as if its a love triangle or something like that, and like a love triangle that sort of thing gets hype people approach this like it's a book or something instead of a real life issue that is so so complicated people think they see one post and know the whole story while there are people who research about this and still don't know the entire story

True two years ago, and just as true today. But I will say that intersectionality demands that we learn about more than one issue to avoid the errors of previous era’s social movements. Furthermore, I think it could be good to ask folks to dig deeper and work outside their comfort zone. After all, climate change and trans-antagonism and demonizing immigrants of color and rolling back reproductive freedom etc etc are actually completely interconnected. I agree that we’re ending up with a lot of performative activism, but if it’s because it’s a side effect of building movements that are respecting intersectionality-and teaching more folks to see our struggles for what they truly are-then I’ll take it!

I’ve been subscribed for a little while but I just started binging your vids and I love your channel!! You are so intelligent and well spoken, but most importantly I love that you look at thing from all aspects and really focus on getting people thinking and starting a conversation rather than proving a point. Keep being amazing!!

the word you are looking for is the overton window

OMG 😳 You are like reading my thoughts. I totally agree with you. Thanks for rising up this topic. Everything is very well structured. Cool video 👍

This video could've been made today fr, very insightful video fr - would recommends peoples to do as an alternative to start small in yo communities with a prominent issue n shit and go from there. Talk to shit to the local gov, conduct a book club, mutual aid, smthn fr, these are the best of times but the worst of times. Also read book! They are lovely and can lead to lovely actions.

I've had to unfollow some folks on IG because their Stories is like clockwork every day -- matcha, the sunset & something new (& popular) to be mad at that day.

Life is not only activism and comunities, sometimes people are too busy with their own problems and crowd of angry people shouting moral slogans is just making their lives worse. Its good to help people and change the world for the better, but shouting about problems is not a solution, also being angry at other people is even less the solution. Stop, think about what you want to achieve, focus on specific topic and do it with care.

I also realize a lot of people have the mindset of black and white. For those who have a middle ground or can bounce back and forth from black white and grey, they're automatically "this or that". Not gonna lie logic left in 2020 maybe even longer than that... but definitely ever since the pandemic critical thing and logic has not been used for a while and it shows through media and talks you have outside of social media

or here's a decent solution that might be able to help: stop caring about what's going on on the other side of the world, or something that doesn't immedietly affect you or your loved ones. stop posting about it, stop talking about it. If anything, do something like donate and do it quietly. and dont try the nonsense excuse "bringing attention to the situation so more people so others can do something about it". that's overused to justify lazy couch activism. It only encourages others to post it about it to signal their moral exhibitionism. humans are not meant to consume so much negative news. jeez no wonder why y'all depressed.

your approach to this topic is amazing. I couldn't put my thoughts into words but you did very well.

I don't think there's anything I hate more than this stuff when I see it online. Oh? You think the word retard (yes I have a learning disability and call myself this all the time) is demeaning and the worst thing ever? Cool, are you also gonna save my fellow orphans in Siberia who are starving in the streets and being beaten and isolated in orphanages? No? Awesome I gotcha. I understand we should be empathetic to all peoples plights and I'm sure to do so. But the sense of entitlement that seems to be involved with this shit nowadays makes it so hard to put up with. YOUR the bad person because YOUR not doing this thing. It's not activism it's ego stroking.

Absolute respect for pointing out such an important issue, as someone who generally focuses on social issues and behavioral issues, this is a really important point that needs to reach more ears. As a right leaning centrist living in Cali, I have a lot of very outspoken leftist friends, every other week there's some "big issue" that flood my insta stories and are almost immediately dropped. I feel that this is a much bigger and far reaching issue than even your video makes it to be. It often feels like all you need to move the public opinion is to have a corporation like google or twitter put a manipulative headline on the front page and just let the young "social activists" spread it like wild fire. This only makes problems worse for not only those who are involved in the event itself, but also made people very biased. People are starting to get used to following what ever is trendy and believe anyone else who disagrees to be wrong, even if they offer a civil discussion. I personally believe this is the reason why the nation is so divided right now, the left are willing to disagree with the right just to "not agree with the 'wrong' side" and it genuinely makes me sad at how easily manipulated everyone who over-consume media are. it feels like people are being brainwashed into thinking that agreeing with the trending hashtag is being correct and majority opinion is more important than deeper analysis. People want to talk about oppression, but wont mention the active destruction of free speech for the sake of ridding "hate speech". People wanna talk about corruption, but not the explicit photos found on Biden Jr.'s laptop. Or even the suspicious ending of J. epstein's life. People say that propaganda is rampant, but will hate Trump and love Biden. Some of these feel like people are agreeing for the sake of blending in. My opinions may not align with yours, but I genuinely do admire you for having common sense and wont fall for media sensationalism. I pity those who are so convinced that they are helping by just regurgitating what they saw for 10 seconds in someone's story. In fact, I myself am aware that my political stance is the combined result of sensationalism and disagreeing for the sake of disagreeing, but I just happened to land on the other side of the shore. sometimes i would even find myself getting annoyed at your stance that I might not agree with. And a friendly reminder to all sides of politics in the comments: YOU ARE NOT IMMUNE TO PROPAGANDA. people need to stop solidifying their positions based on 1 article or some infographic. Stop being afraid to disagree, stop being rude to people who disagree with you. Compromises need to be made. Things are not black and white.

Some points were a bit silly tbh and the examples given were not the right to compare if one has basic geopolitical knowledge and it was ironic to say that one should know about what they're speaking about before they speak when you do not. However, what you presented on the pressure to be woke was really inisghtful

I think some of this is a matter of mistaken categorization for the purposes of propaganda. When we use the term "activist" before the age of the internet it conjures up the image of someone who cares enough about the issue to take time out of their lives to do something about it. This is a fundamentally different group of people than those accused of "performative activism", most people accused of "performative activism" are not motivated enough to actually make personal sacrifices for a cause, but want to show support for said cause. The categorization of these people as "activist" lumps them in the same group as the people are willing to sacrifice for the cause, and lets the opposition use them as a straw man to paint all supporters of whatever cause as armchair warriors who only care because society tells them to, which allows them to dismiss real criticism. The way I perceive the logic of a "performative activist" is not that they think they are doing real change with the performance, but that they are making the economic decision of effort in vs impact out. If the effort in is basically nothing (aka a tweet) and the impact out is an amplification of a message they agree with, then what is the harm in doing the performative action? (not commenting on if this is a logically sound viewpoint (dont feel like thinking that much right now), merely trying to place myself in their shoes)

it's not performative activism if you talk about issues that are barely talked about/ seems like nobody is bringing up

this video proves how the presence of evidence plays a huge role in influencing people’s beliefs and stances.

that no one person can fight for every issue at once, is why the people working on these different issues need to organize together, because all of these problems are interlinked. none us us will be free until we all are. the trend cycle is part of how we get divided and conquered.

I agree with your criticisms of the trend cycle, but I do think that it has huge benefits that activists are just starting to wrap their heads around. I think they yield a power of mobilization like never before which is huge in a time where issues are so complex with so many actors, so many issues, so many social mechanisms etc... For example, a French Member of the European Parliament (Glucksmann) met Uyghur activists and decided to champion their cause. Through social media and blue squares, his team and himself managed to spread the information around the genocide happening in China. From there, they could weigh from the political stage on companies and on other members of the European Parliament, all the way up to the French President and Merkel. It didn't solve the issue, but without such a huge outburst of attention, ever so volatile, Glucksmann would've never been able to put an end to many contracts between huge companies and the camps where Uyghurs are being held hostage. I don't think that our attention span is something to morally criticize, just to be aware of, which I think is what you did !

the worse about all of this are conflicts that were never ever posted on social media. very few people know where ethopia is, very few people know whats going on at tigray, and nothing is posted on social media about the atrocities being committed to the civilians caught in the cross fire. a huge portion of what determines the activist trend style is geography: first we have Africa at the bottom of the pit, never ever appearing on the news; then we have Australia, Asia and the middle east at the middle of the pit; then Europe and America on the surface when it comes to receiving attention

You provide some of the most refreshing and thoughtful commentary on really under-discussed points in the world. You are doing inspiring and phenomenal work with this, keep it up!! ☺👏

What this video makes me think about is when all of the Palestinian-Israeli events were in the peak of the media, how stan twitter took it. the only things they'd do (which for some is all they can do) is make threads. While it's helpful to spread awareness, there were many people who took it as a task to retweet and disappear otherwise. Saying things such as "If you take time to post about trivial things on your account besides spreading awareness, you were a bad person and deserved to be cancelled." It came to the point where people who were truly affected by the situations couldn't even tweet about their own things because people who knew nothing about the heat of everything were trying to be influential. I also remember when someone who we'll call milk wanted to tweet about topics other than the Palestinian-Israeli topic. They got cancelled and something along the lines of, "I'm not home right now, but once I get home, I'll retweet more threads." Like how stupid is that? The topic was never supposed to be "just a trend", and sadly, that's what it turned into.

Freeing Palestine from the occupiers is always relevant

theres too much wrong with the world. the mass attention would be good if it was sustained. but its not. at the same time, ive read and seen alot about how a professional activist class is unhelpful. maybe the answer lies in each of us being mindful of how much we take on like you said. so that activism is something everyone does. but we are are specialized into little corners we can sustainable fight for

The Social Justice trend cycle, also known as the military industrial complex

yeah. i had friends/acquaintances go to Palestine to defend peoples houses in 2015 and it absolutely altered the course of their lives, including ending two. The Palestine/isntreal conflict has been happening since before most of us were even born, maybe all of us truly. It honestly disgusts me to see the cycle happen, specifically with Palestine, because no one takes the time to educate themselves on whatever social issue they are using as an aesthetic now. and it makes entire groups of people, both correctly and incorrectly labeled activists, to be scoffed at and created stereotypes that activist means someone who doesnt know what the f they are talking about. but that isnt an activist. thats a loud mouth attention seeker if they drop it as soon as its cold. tbh that makes me almost as angry as my friends getting bl*wn up bc this is obviously SERIOUS. people do NOT understand that other people ARE REAL. otherwise they would not pick up and drop causes like they are trends. truly, when we say two sides of the same coin -- we mean it.

i loved your content

Ok but us Palestinian ppl wated SO long for social media to recognize us and spread awareness- and now that we have some attention y all mad?????

I just found you and I adore your channel. I don't watch most popular commentary videos because I find too many people caught up in semantics and the feeling of doing something rather than actually providing nuance and objective insight into a matter. Yours certainly tick the boxes I'm looking for. You're calm, coherent and reason things out well. I really enjoy your work! Please keep making videos

A huge issue on social media is when you advocate for something, people are like, "do you don't care about ___?" or "why aren't you talking about ___?"

If more people thought like this then the social fabric of America might actually change for the better. I see people of all political backgrounds make themselves look stupid by being loud, misinformed, and regurgitating the rhetoric of whatever the latest "in" issue is.

So pick something and dedicate your abilities to that issue, and build the community around your knowledge, research and experience in that field will do I genuinely appreciate this video and will figure out where and how I can/ want to help

This was food for thought. I might need to re-examine my approach to a few issues.

im very late to this video but one point id like to contend was that you can't be a vehement activist of multiple things at once (or at least thats how I took it), id recommend looking into the theory of intersectionality to see how all sociopolitical issues are and/or can be holistically challenged because they are connected 😁, quantity to a social movement is a part of its flow and sometimes, its not necessarily harmful 👍

“Who gets to decide?” *me thinking of The Activist show* well ur fav washed up celebrity of course

You're pretty asf with dark hair wtf

May I suggest posting clips of this video on TikTok - it's so needed over there right now.

"Tend to the part of the garden that you can touch"

based and people dont really care pilled. unlike those so called activists, i openly admit to not caring about global problems.

There's a ethnic conflict in northeast India and recently a ethnic cleansing

I suppose, who decides what matters is society. By thi i mean there are people who's focus is directed at something, some solely focus on Palestine and some on blm. And then there's influencers who's trying to win everyone and thus only points out what's "hot" right now