The rise of slacktivism

Remember those days when Facebook used to be a fun place where you could see what your friends abroad were up to, photos of last Friday's party, or a Youtube link of the latest hit music? Now, I am sick and tired of logging in because everyone has a status update regarding the current political mess, or is sharing a link of a newspaper article, or a photo of some form of gruesomeness or the other. While I have to agree that this sharing process is great because it keeps everyone informed and alert, especially fellow Bangladeshis abroad, I have to ask: is it doing more harm than good?

Firstly, please bear in mind that I am not condemning the sharing of information, but the sharing of self-righteous opinions. A controversial post, followed by an argument, followed by a rebuttal … this is the typical chain of comments one can see on the news feed. Before, these arguments would be about a Manchester United game and whether a player faked his way into getting a free kick. Now it's about political parties, their propaganda, the involvement of the West, and so on. Sometimes, I wonder if the people taking part in such heated debates in social media actually have any idea what's going on in the real world. Surely if you spent your time reading more than one newspaper and analysing the different news channels you would not have so much free time to argue with your Facebook friend who you haven't seen for years? While I am aware that there are some status updates that just scream to be commented upon, and while I admit I have done my share of trolling, I have pledged to stop it for my own intellectual self-preservation.

Why, you ask? Because I realised the only thing a status update can do is make me “seem” very intellectual and politically aware. What am I actually doing? Nothing. Now you might ask if there is actually anything I, or anyone else, can really do. To which I will reply, yes, you can log off your computer for a day and help one of the countless average citizens who has been a victim of the recent political ugliness. I know you might scoff and say something along the lines of, “How is helping out a needy person going to solve the fundamental problems of this country? There are so many things wrong, so much dirty politics blah blah blah…” and therein lies the biggest problem of all. If you think you are the biggest victim of what's going on in the country now because you aren't able to go to class, work properly or your business isn't running well, remember that you still somehow are finding enough time to comment on everything that's wrong with society, on the Internet. Since the Youtube ban, the lack of good TV shows and a stagnant lifestyle thanks to hartals, there seems not much to do but indulge in social media. We all need to get out of this vicious cycle and become more active citizens in the real sense of the word, not just an alias in a website. If you really want to make a difference, help out a guy whose shop was burnt in the latest political incident by giving him an interest-free loan.

As my friend Morshed Mannan puts it aptly, “How many people died/were affected in/by Bangladesh following the release of "Innocence of Muslims" on YouTube? How many people died/were affected in/by the Ramu Tragedy? How many people died/were affected by the "blasphemous" blog posts and its repercussions? How many people were (negatively) affected by Sayeedi's face "appearing" on the moon? How many people will be incensed and horrified by (unverified) photos of mutilated corpses, doing the rounds? Are we fit or mature enough to use social media?” Who knows what's fact and what's fiction, and who knows what the intention of releasing certain information really is. Enough with the slacktivism, let's either do something productive or keep our opinions to group gatherings or the dinner table.