Message Hijacking

As we enter Pride Month it is the time when rainbows will be spread all over as a sign of solidarity for LGBTQ+ rights. As the overwhelming amount of social media posts go up that will be shared, I don't want to take anything away from the awareness or even just the decision to be willing to add a name to the message, but what about the other eleven months of the year? It's not as black and white as taking advantage versus not caring, but for something so important is it too much to ask for some actual substance?

The first, important, question is how exactly would you define that 'actual substance' when it comes to being more than just a band wagoner? It'd be easy to get snooty and have a higher than mighty stance on this but that would ultimately be counter intuitive to the overall goal. However, it really is a simple thing to boil it down to; what do business, influencers, and people in general do the other eleven months in regards to LGBTQ+ rights?

I, by no means, hold myself as some kind of gatekeeper when it comes to legitimate support and not, but as we enter a month where it'll be posted everywhere it is one of my biggest pet peeves in the social media age. It's what I'd call message hijacking, something that has become all too common over the last several years. To be clear, this message hijacking happens from those who present themselves as all on board for some sort of financial or personal benefit while doing nothing to support that actual message of cause.

The easiest perpetrators to point out are those who take advantage of Pride Month, and events, to further themselves. While they may have a rainbow in June, is there anything else being done or are they just trying to expand the bottom line while doing nothing else? My girlfriend volunteers with the local Pride committee and they ran into the issue of politicians, in an election year, wanting to be at their event, yet in a non-election year none came back. That's the bottom and a sad state that people would not share in beliefs of equality across the board, but pervert something to that extent.

That is crystal clear manipulation of the message and marks the low bar for bad but leaves a gray area for those with less devious means to operate in. There will be plenty over this month that will share and post about it, but that is all they'll do. While it may seem like nitpicking I find it extremely frustrating to see people post but don't actually have any teeth behind the message. Buzzwords like 'ally' will be used as a way to ride a wave of attention while not actually doing anything to be an ally.

This is actually a more nuanced 'evolution' that has become of social issues; the use of labels to show a positive pro stance when really what should matter is the thing you believe in. 'Fill-in the blank' advocate is the prime example; advocate being defined as a person who publicly supports or recommends a particular cause or policy. You've probably seen on social media bios, or in content, “Mental Health Advocate” which is almost oxymoronic in its use because actually being an advocate would seemingly make it obvious that you're pro mental health. Instead, it all really just comes across as needing to shout to make sure everyone knows; to make it supremely obvious when that should be the first clue as whether its true or not. In doing so it stops being about the message at all and just about drawing attention to themselves.

Call it being a purist, but if you care then that's what'll take precedent instead of making sure everyone knows. Call me crazy but anyone who really wants to know what your beliefs are probably doesn't have to dive too hard. If you're pro something then you'll probably demonstrate it. I mean it would seem obvious but if you're going to put 'Mental Health Advocate' or 'LGBTQ+ Ally' on something social media related shouldn't you also have something content wise that proves just that? Instead the label is meant to draw the attention and affection while possibly never actually following through on the label itself.

In the end, the local politicians who only showed up for an election, the influencers, it's all degrees of fake. It is a belief of mine that fake should not only fail to benefit from their false pretenses, but also be called out for it. And as we find ourselves in a month where will be neck deep in it people using false pretenses, just dig a little deeper.