The internet has proved to be a platform that has enabled people to be more politically aware than ever. Yet the question arises whether political awareness and digital engagement are strengthening democracy or serving a façade of political engagement when all they are doing is replacing action with performance.
Digital platforms have been playing a part in raising awareness on social and political issues. People all over the world can explain the conflicts and violation of basic human rights in Ukraine or the Gaza Strip elaborately due to the knowledge they have gained by being online. Hence, people gain awareness despite never participating in civic engagement initiatives and organisations.
This is rather paradoxical, as awareness and knowledge are there, yet the action that it must lead to is missing in this scenario. People are well aware, but it stops there as no real-world impact is being made. If we look at the bigger picture, the issues being talked about are merely made to be something people find themselves obliged to talk about as citizens, as if by speaking about it, their duty as citizens is being professed efficiently, even though them talking about it doesn’t magically make the issue disappear. In order to make democracy a practice, we need to enforce action, not only by speaking about it online but also by actively participating in traditional politics.
This leads to the question: has citizenship become something we watch rather than something we do? Action is being completely neglected as people are made to believe they are doing their part only by engaging with political content online. Instead of strengthening democracy, it is in turn limiting it.
From Civic Duty to Political Branding
Civic participation is increasingly becoming a form of self-expression where presentation is taking over the inherent motive of activism that is action and reform. Political opinions are curated like personal brands. People curate their feeds in a way that gives off a persona of being politically active. This turns engagement into a performance rather than civic responsibility; beliefs are expressed to signal identity rather than to engage in democratic action.
Performance as Participation
Social media platforms transform participation into performance. Political engagement becomes a measurable quantity through likes and shares. Political participation has ended up being participation in trends, such that people are preaching about things they have surface-level knowledge about while prioritising reach, and hence, sustained activism is being neglected. This has reduced activism into merely a trend to be followed and content to be consumed.
Digital Activism and Globalisation of Democracy
Digital activism does have its own benefits. It has offered to be a resource for globalised political issues, mobilising for awareness, and mobilising institutions. Digital platforms are pressurising the horizon for political engagement and awareness. Political engagement is no longer confined to elections etc. Movements like “MeToo” and “BlackLivesMatter” and the global awareness they created are living proof that digital activism does attempt to evoke justice.
If we talk about what activism online is passively doing, real-world impact does get produced out of it. Social media has offered to be a platform which educates people about their rights and the injustices that are being exercised. This is the driving force for offline initiatives, petitions and protests that lead to democratic action and reform. Hence, it does, at times, translate into offline movements and policy change.
Yet, we can’t neglect the other side of the picture, where such activism ends up being merely a trend and a hashtag to follow for a few days, after which it ends up being replaced by another hashtag, another trend.
Conclusion: Democracy Needs More Than Attention
Democracy cannot survive on attention alone. Awareness is pivotal in order for democracy to be exercised, yet it does not guarantee reform. It requires sustained political action and follow-ups where accountability lies with the institutions that have the power to produce reform, to create real change.