About activism anxiety

With this comic, I wanted to show a side of sustainability that people might forget, which impacts those who wish to be involved with activism.

 

Nowadays, being present on the internet and social media is very common. It is the primary channel through which news from worldwide gets transmitted for many. Unfortunately, online platforms are well known for being volatile and fast-paced. Because of that, many activism and news outlets decide to use an aggressive approach, with dramatic headlines and calls to action directly targeting the viewer so that it will grab their attention. This approach, paired with social media algorithms that analyse users' post interactions, leads to something that can be referred to as "doom scrolling". The more a user interacts with news and activism, the more the app will show them those topics, making them go down a rabbit hole of calls to action

and upsetting news.

 

Another problem arises because of the global nature of social media: people worldwide can see news from any country, creating a hyper-awareness around topics that many can't do anything about, producing a feeling of helplessness and anxiety. News outlets and activism profiles often use language that specifically targets emotions, putting the users on the spot by essentially accusing them of being the reason problems aren't resolved yet: "We are destroying the planet", "You need to make a change". Many also decide to cut a little deeper, playing with guilt: "If you don't share this, it just shows you don't care", "No one is talking about this terrible thing that is happening", "You are responsible for educating your peers".

 

Along with this kind of language seems to be the solutions: reposting, engaging, donating, signing petitions, and actively protesting. Unfortunately, most of these actions get drowned out by the sheer number of other issues trying to grab everyone's attention and don't seem to amount to anything. Constantly seeing this kind of activism often leads to burnout: users feel bad about not engaging, but seeing their actions not changing anything makes them feel frustrated and adds to their anxiety. Even if a small goal is reached, they get immediately presented with a new issue that needs to be fixed or news contradicting the good that they were told they had done, making their efforts feel useless. Even after following all the instructions, some calls to action seem to disappear in a whirlwind of bad news.

 

What is the real solution, then? Is there no way to play a part in making the world a better place? I find that a way to avoid burnout is to narrow down how we engage with social media. Instead of trying to answer every single call to action, we should look around us and try to engage with our community more. Concentrating on issues tied to our well-being and those close to us helps us make a tangible change, which leads to healthier boundaries and reachable goals. With a healthy mind, we can accomplish

so much more.