performative activism
Activism for show
Performative activism is public support for a cause that prioritizes appearing virtuous over creating meaningful change.
The term is critical—it suggests someone posts a black square or changes a profile picture to signal solidarity without doing substantive work: Sharing that infographic isn't activism, it's performative activism.
The accusation implies the person seeks social approval rather than genuine engagement with the issue.
- slacktivismEffortless digital cause support
- virtue signalingShowy ethical posturing
- hashtagLabeled link for posts
- wokePast tense of rising from sleep
- opticsScience of illumination
tokenism · white savior · ally · solidarity · thoughts and prayers · cancel culture · awareness · posting · symbolic · hollow · gesture · bandwagon · trending · profile picture · shallow · clout · social media · outrage
perform, performance, performative, performer, performers, performances, performing, performed, formal