In-Depth

#ACTIVISM

Maiya Blumenthal, Tali Loeffler, and Eliana Wolf

September 9, 2025

People engage in "No Kings" protests outside of the Washington Monument against executive overreach in the second Trump administration.

Introduction

It’s 2017, and senior Leah Fagin is standing in a sea of people, most of whom hold up signs reading “Women’s rights are human rights” and “My body, my choice.” She looks around, amazed at the number of people gathered for The Women’s March on Washington. It was then that she grasped the concept that activism is not just about a group of people holding signs and yelling chants, but rather a means for like-minded people to support each other to bring about change.

Activism is the mobilization of individuals or groups to bring about change. Social and political activism can take many forms. Historically, the most popular forms have been protests, sit-ins and boycotts. A type of activism that has become increasingly popular is protesting through social media. Through posts, likes, stories and comments, activism has become more accessible, with people aiming to create change from the comfort of their home.

To Fagin, activism means taking big strides to create change. She said that taking initiative to raise awareness makes someone an activist rather than just a passionate person about a cause. In this regard, she does not consider herself an activist, but is increasingly interested in activism specifically for women’s rights. She cited the overturning of Roe v. Wade in June of 2022 as a pivotal moment, making her want to commit to more in-person activism.

This new wave of activism has changed the status quo of American society, according to History Department Chair Carl Atwood. But what does it mean to be an activist in 21st-century society?

People engage in “No Kings” protests outside of the Washington Monument against executive overreach in the second Trump administration. (Vivi Ducker)

History of activism

The overturning of Roe v. Wade spurred protests across the country. (Vivi Ducker)

The United States has a rich history of young people being involved in activism, according to PBS. The 1968 Vietnam War protests at Columbia University were spearheaded by college students, the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) started the Girl Reserves Program in 1918 to bring female empowerment and the youth-led United We Dream movement that protested anti-immigration policies in 2008 are all examples of this.

“Teenagers and young people can often have a bold and new vision of what type of world they want to have, and the incentive to try to make that world a reality,” Atwood said. “Not to paint anyone with a broad brush just solely based on their age, but it’s more likely that an older person might have less motivation to initiate social change because what’s the same benefit as someone younger?”

However, Dean of Students Roz Landy said that in her view, there has been a notable change in the way students engage in Tikkun Olam, or repairing the world. She cited that past alumni have spent 3,000 community service hours at senior living facilities helping the elderly write their ethical wills for their families, created a program to grocery shop for those at an old-aged home and spent time in an inner city shelter helping those living there to create a magazine featuring the work of the people living there.

“While students today fulfill their community service requirement, they do not show the same creativity or initiative,” Landy said. “This is not critical of today’s students. This is more a result of the greater competitive nature of college admissions and students’ focus on college acceptance.”

As the pre-digital age did not give young people the opportunity to use social media as a platform to be an activist, teens and young adults had no other choice but to spend time in-person working for their cause. Gen Z now has the ease to call themselves activists by spending a short amount of time on their cause, simply needing to press a few buttons on social media rather tha attending in-person for organizational meetings or rallies.

The United Way of the National Capital Area survey reported that 66% of Gen Z activists advocate online. Similarly, Pew Research Center found that 59% of Americans aged 18-29 get involved with social and political issues on social media compared to 43% of people aged 30-49 and 36% of people over 50 years of age.

In contrast, according to University of Maryland sociology professor Dana Fisher, 25% of protesters are 24 or younger. These protest demographics do not match up with Gen Z’s increased civic participation on social media. Gen Z is moving more online to rally for causes, leaving in-person protesting by the wayside.

Critics of the rise of social media activism have coined the term, “slacktivism,” calling it an easy but ineffective way to be an activist.

Efficacy of social media activism

While younger generations might be more active online, critics claim the phenomenon is “slacktivism,” an easy but ineffective way to be an activist. However, senior and President of the Political Discussion Club Jonathan Gordon sees online activism as a way to reach a larger audience and find a like-minded community.

“Putting something on Instagram… makes it easier to see, much easier organized,” Gordon said. “It makes activism much more accessible. Back in the day, you had to go out and protest to be an activist, or you had to make a bunch of phone calls to be an activist, or the least you could do is put a sign on your lawn. [Now,] you can sit on your couch all day and be an activist just by posting on your Instagram account.”

Like Gordon, Sophie Moyal, senior and intern with the antisemitism advocacy organization StandWithUs, sees social media as an effective tool. For Moyal, social media is a means to educate the public on nuanced issues.

Moyal plans to start an Instagram account with other high school interns at StandWithUs to raise awareness and educate the public about antisemitism.

“Instagram is a great place to get awareness,” Moyal said. “If I promote a program I’m doing on my Instagram page, or maybe I promote [the StandWithUs] Instagram page on my story, that is a really useful tool for raising awareness. People can go there to learn and learn the facts.”

Despite Moyal endorsing raising awareness through social media, she said that there are still negative qualities of social media activism. For example, Moyal has seen people getting into arguments in comment sections or spreading misinformation.

Along with this, Lazarus believes that posting for like-minded people on social media can have a negative impact. When individuals only interact with peers with common beliefs, they become less in tune with diverse opinions.

“On your social media, you’re really, as people say, just in an echo chamber,” Lazarus said. “You’re only talking with people who you largely agree with … and if you’re talking with people you just agree with, it has the effect of just putting up a flag or some symbol that they don’t like, is not going to change anyone’s mind about anything.”

Kaylah Goldrich (‘24), an international Politics major and sophomore at Georgetown University, also has concerns about social activism on social media. Goldrich emphasized the harms of misinformation as it delegitimizes the movement and discredits what they are working towards.

“So much misinformation is spread on social media that it’s hard to know what is and what isn’t true and that can really harm social movements in that people could be spreading lies about what you’re trying to do, or the social movement in general could be based on lies. It just gets so convoluted when you don’t know what’s true and what’s not, and it’s a big problem.”

In addition to misinformation, Goldrich said that political polarization is a pitfall of social media activism. She has seen the way it is easy to get lost in an online echo chamber, with extremist and moderate views now having an equal platform on social media.

On her campus, she has seen how movements have clashed with each other, especially between pro-Israel and pro-Palestine activists. During the allotted time for clubs to have tables around campus, she saw pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel tables next to each other, both aiming to counter the other table’s cause. She said that these tables represented the “extremist culture and just the polarized nature of our society.” She also said that the polarization present in society is largely due to social media creating echo chambers for social and political groups.

Michelle Waksman, Mid-Atlantic High School Regional Manager at StandWithUs, noted that another adverse effect of social media activism is that people can become disconnected from the core goal of creating change. Now that anyone can post or repost a story in seconds, there is a higher expectation that everyone should share their social and political beliefs on social media.

“I really think there’s a lot of peer pressure to post something just to post it, or just to show that you’re talking about something, which I think is kind of inauthentic or moving away from the real goal [of] activism,” Waksman said.

Not only do people feel pressure to post on social media as Waksman noted, but Lazarus believes that actions done through social media aren’t as effective as consistent in-person advocacy.

For Lazarus, the efficacy of an activist movement is determined through long-term impact. While social media can be a tool to raise awareness, Lazarus does not see social media activism as a means to create long-term change.

“Reposting something or changing their status, that’s not going to change a policy; that is amplifying a message,” Lazarus said. “To really change something, you need to be part of a movement that lasts for a long time and builds a big network and organizes, and so you’re not going to get that just by looking a few times online.”

Critics of the rise of social media activism have coined the term, “slacktivism,” calling it an easy but ineffective way to be an activist. (Sadaf Zadeh)

After the Oct. 7 terrorist attack, Jews from all over the country gathered at National Mall to spread awareness and commemorate the attack.

What students are doing now

As high school students navigate developing their own values and gaining independence, many join causes to show their support.

For example, as part of her internship at StandWithUs, Moyal attended an international conference in Los Angeles from Aug. 3-7. At the conference, she interacted with Zionist teens from all over the country, participated in seminars relating to Israel and antisemitism and learned other skills for advocacy like public speaking and crime documentation.

Moyal will utilize the skills and strategies she learned from the conference in her work in the internship this year. She aims to work with StandWithUs to create programs for her community on antisemitism and Israel awareness.

“I hope for the day I can change even one person’s attitude about Israel, and then make the future better, so that they encourage someone else to love instead of hate, and they [can] encourage someone else to love instead of hate,” Moyal said. “It’s like a domino effect. And I think that activism, really at the core, is about changing things for the better.”

Gordon similarly gets involved in activism in order to see change. Gordon mainly advocates for his beliefs on political and global issues through posting online. He posts and reposts news stories, and responds to friends who post misinformation, but he recognizes the importance of being objective on his social media.

“I’ve had a few friends who post stories and I fact check them, and then they take them down, because they don’t even know what they’re reposting,” Gordon said. “They don’t know what’s actually going on. So what I do mostly nowadays is, like, if there’s just something that really, really, really speaks to me that it’s not really going to be too controversial, because I’m not trying to get into internet arguments, I’ll repost that.”

After the Oct. 7 terrorist attack, Jews from all over the country gathered at National Mall to spread awareness and commemorate the attack. (Vivi Ducker)

How can students get involved

In an age of misinformation and slacktivism, it can be hard to find real, meaningful ways to get involved in activism. However, there are many accessible and impactful ways to participate in valued causes. Choosing a cause is a logical first step.

After choosing a meaningful cause, the next step is education. Waksman believes that educating oneself is crucial to being a credible activist. While Goldrich spoke about misinformation delegitimizing social causes, Waksman believes that education allows aspiring activists to understand their cause and teach others while combating misinformation.

“Education is really long-term,” Waksman said. “It impacts people. It gives them skills, gives them knowledge. Then they can be learning the skills to teach themselves or teach others. It’s really a longer term impact. There are other forms that people take [that] are a little more flashy, a little more quick, which has its moments for sure. [But] I’m thinking about the change I want to see in our country long term, I think education is the way to make it happen.”

After taking time to educate oneself and beginning to petition and protest, the next step is to organize around the cause. Recently, organizing over social media has been easier than ever to get people united around a cause. However, organizing is also important for in-person events that galvanize support and allow for networking and building connections. A big component of a successful activist group is strength in numbers. Therefore, an effective activist is one that is good at rallying large numbers of people together for a cause.

“[An effective activist is] an organizer of people,” Atwood said. “It’s about organizing groups of people together for a common purpose and pushing for change … the hallmarks of a good social activist [are] the organizing ability, the energy, the vision and the willingness to break established norms.”

There are many other ways that individuals can be activists. One such way is getting in contact with politicians and policy makers. When organizing for policy, Fagin recommends moving from the bottom to the top, starting on the local level and moving up in order to rally smaller communities first. Fagin thinks that this strategy is more impactful for individual communities.

Regardless of how students choose to involve or not involve themselves in activism, Atwood believes it is crucial to remember that Americans are fortunate to have the freedoms of petition, assembly and speech. Despite the changing nature of activism, civic participation is always a sign of a healthy democracy.

“We have the privilege of living in a society that encourages civic participation,” Atwood said. “We are not mindless, oppressed people that have to accept the world as it is given to us. And in our society, we have the opportunity as citizens to be engaged and be impactful members of our community, rather than just going along with what’s there. And I think all of us should find our own ways of being active, engaged citizens, in ways that feel right to ourselves and in ways that we can be proud of.”

About the Contributors

Maiya Blumenthal, Managing Editor, Copy

Eliana Wolf, Editor-In-Chief

Eliana is beyond ecstatic to continue her work on The Lion’s Tale as Editor-In-Chief. She loves working with all of the fabulous staff members and particularly loves coming together on production nights. Aside from editing, writing and designing articles and spreads, one may find Eliana playing tennis, catching some balls on first base, cooking up some weird concoction in her kitchen or blasting Omer Adam in the car with her sisters. She can not wait for all the exciting moments on The Lion’s Tale this year. Fun Fact: She has really cool pants.

Lindsey Shapiro, In-Depth Editor

Lindsey is a member of the class of 2027 and is serving as the In-Depth Editor for 2026. She joined The Lion’s Tale as a freshman and previously served as an opinion editor. Her favorite article that she has written is “Opinion: The cancellation of ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ is a threat to First Amendment rights.” Outside of The Lion’s Tale, Lindsey is Editor-In-Chief of the Melting Pot world languages literary magazine, a member of Model UN and is in Shir Madness. In her free time, Lindsey enjoys attending BBYO programs and baking.

Vivi Ducker, Editor-In-Chief

Vivi is thrilled to be Editor-In-Chief of The Lion’s Tale! She loves design and editing and looks forward to spending time with the amazing staff at meetings, productions, and other Lion’s Tale events. Outside of Lion’s Tale, Vivi is on the dance team, she runs a non-profit organization called SchoolPens that donates school supplies to schools in developing countries and is in the National High School Microfinance Coalition. Vivi cannot wait for the next year of The Lion’s Tale. Fun Fact: She has been to 50 countries.

Sadaf Zadeh, In-Depth Editor

Sadaf is thrilled to continue working on The Lion’s Tale as In-Depth Editor after previously serving as an Arts and entertainment Editor. She is eager to cover critical topics and write captivating articles. In addition to her work on the Lion’s Tale, Sadaf is the president of the STEMinism club, a member of the Bohr Franklin Science Journal, and a volunteer at the Sunflower Bakery. She looks forward to working alongside her peers to produce engaging content and having another amazing year on staff. Fun Fact: She is an aunt.

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