Twitter Hashtags are Useless Against World Dilemmas

Here we go again, another world epidemic, another trending Twitter hashtag. Great, more "slacktavists" across the world thinking they make a difference by posting on the internet.

Wait, forgive me. Hashtags fix everything. How's Kony 2012 going? Oh, yeah. The world (100,000,000 user interactions) stopped caring after Invisible Children creator Jason Russell was arrested during a mental breakdown in San Diego, screaming and walking around the city naked.

Ah, how quickly the fickle have moved on. Kony 2012 has stopped trending, but Joseph Kony still kills and murders the innocents. Sources say a Kony capture could be near, but hashtags didn't do a damn thing. Since said hashtags didn't do a damn thing, millions of social media users have moved them along where they can be "heard." Yes, because Boko Haram has a Twitter account, and they're scared by your words.

Isn't social activism so convenient now? It's so nice that all one has to do is hashtag something cute and catchy in response to world issues, and poof, like magic, world issue solved. Nobody has to get off their ass and do a damn thing, but boy, can they feel like they're changing the world. Laughable.

Gerald Caplan, scholar of African history and politics, had this to say, "I’m glad so many people care at the moment about the kidnapped girls. But if the harsh truth be told, their heartfelt entreaties are quite irrelevant to solving the Boko Haram crisis, and long before it’s over, you can be sure their interest will have vanished."

#BringBackOurGirls should really be #NigerianWarLordsArentCheckingTwitter. Hell, I'd even settle for #LookAtMePayAttentionToMe.

If you really care, get off your phone and do something truly helpful.

There are plenty of worthy causes to donate your time and money. Africare improves the quality of life for people in Africa. Health Right International builds lasting access to health for excluded communities. You can even volunteer to help the National Alliance to End Homelessness. You can find hundreds more top-rated charities to help right here.

[PRI, Globe and Mail, Washington Post]