Don't Lurk--Like!
Why It's Worth Wasting Time on Social Media
Voting isn’t only done at the ballot box. We vote every day, by choosing what we purchase, where we shop, what causes we donate to. One of the most powerful ways to cast a vote these days is on social media. So if you’re killing a few minutes scrolling Facebook, don’t just be a lurker, looking on in secretive silence. If you see a post that is spreading a message you support, vote for it. Like. Comment. Share.
Every LIKE is a vote for that voice, that message, that person.
MAGA folks aren’t lurking in the cybershadows, you know. They’re out there, liking, sharing, commenting obnoxiously. Making their voices heard in a roar. Amplifying their messages of hate and fear. How do you think lies and hatemongering spread like wildfire through the world of social media? It’s because so many MAGA folks eagerly engage with those horrid posts. This makes the algorithm say, oh, okay, this post is getting lots of eyes on it, let’s show it to more people. And more and more.
And then some kid in Peoria sees the hate-mongering post, spreading lies about migrants or or women or gays. And a tiny poisonous seed is planted.
Social media spreads lies and rumors, but it can also spread love, and truth, and justice. But, like voting, it only works if we all participate. Is it better to keep ourselves pure and avoid the nastiness of social media? Or should we get in the game and try to make the Internet a better place to be?
Every time you LIKE or better yet, COMMENT, or better yet, SHARE a social media post, you nudge that message higher in the algorithm. You exponentially increase the number of eyes that will see it. You become a megaphone for that voice you admire, whether it’s Barack Obama, PBS, Miss Rachel, or your local assemblyperson.
Read something you like? Take a moment to comment on it. That not only amplifies the message, it heartens and encourages the writer, and makes them want to write more. (You WOULD NOT BELIEVE what a difference one positive comment can make.)
And think about doing your own posts. You, too, can become that trendiest of all things, an “influencer.” Your influence may only spread to your nephew, two nieces, and your book club. But you’ll never know how many people might see your posts.
Don’t be put off if your posts get negative comments. Just hide the worst ones, and carry on. (Click HIDE instead of DELETE. Hiding means that no one can see those nasty remarks, but they still count as comments, so they will fuel your post’s rise. Deleting them obliterates their helpful effects.) For every silly troll that comments, ten times as many people will see your post. Thanks, trolls!
Are you taking the trouble to show up for a protest someplace, to warn your neighbors about the brutality of ICE or remind them about the Epstein files? You can exponentially multiply the value of your hour on a streetcorner by posting about it on social media. A photo might get a dozen views, but consider doing a short video. The algorithm is crazy about short videos. A ten-second video of five people holding up signs in front of Home Depot or Citizens’ Bank will potentially get thousands of views.
Is social media the magic answer to all our woes? Of course not. But it has incredible power—especially to reach young people when nothing else seems able to. Social media was the escalator Trump rode all the way to the White House. Evil can use it relentlessly, effectively. But so can good.
So LIKE your nephew’s post about saving the oceans. Support the trans kid who lives next door by a kind COMMENT to make them feel welcome. SHARE info about the upcoming Pride parade, or a weekly honk’n wave, or that nursery that sells native plants. Give a shout-out to a great little local restaurant run by migrants. Engage with your favorite assemblyperson or state senator and help to boost them up the ladder so they can reach more people.
Every click is your vote for a saner world.
Dear Friends,
Are you furious about the state of the world and wondering what to do about it? I hope you’ll continue to check out The Optimistic Activist.
Every now and then I post some ideas for doing something. How to get out the vote, spread the word, and support progressive candidates. Ideas for simple but effective activism. As easy, as practical, as do-able as I can make them.
Together, I think, we can really make a difference.
“Optimism is a strategy for making a better future.”
--Noam Chomsky
