After the recent attacks in Paris, Facebook allowed users to temporarily change their profile pictures to have a French flag in the background. It turned out to be hugely popular, and millions of users used it to show their solidarity to the people of Paris. I was not one of these users for many reasons. Having lived and studied in France, it’s a place that’s close to me. However, showing solidarity in this way was not what I intended to do. Here are 8 reasons why.
1. Why Only The French Flag?
It wasn’t right that Facebook had the option to change your profile picture to only the French flag. The same week the Paris attacks occurred, there were multiple atrocities committed across the globe. This includes Beirut in which 43 people were killed in suicide bombings. In Nigeria, thousands were killed by Boko Haram too. Why didn’t I have the option to change my profile picture to a Lebanese or Nigerian flag? Why could I only show solidarity towards a country in the West?
2. Social Media Activism Is Weak
Showing solidarity on social media is not the same as showing solidarity in real life. “Hash-tag Activism” is this generation’s way of showing support for movements, and I am not with it at all. It’s easy to tweet support, or make a status, or change your profile picture. Actual protesting is difficult and is true activism. Going to protests, going on strike, organising walkouts. These are the real forms of protest. Not a profile picture. You think Martin Luther King would have effected as much change as he did if he’d sat at home on his iPhone tweeting “#IHaveADream?”
3. I Don’t Follow Fashion
Following the crowd and jumping on the bandwagon has never been something I’ve been about. I felt as if the profile picture thing was a form of fashion. It was a wave that swept through cyberspace gathering pace with every changed picture. I’ve never been one to follow people and do things just because others are doing it. This profile picture business was no different.
4. People Turned It Into A Competition
I was also not happy with what changing your profile picture became. It became a vanity contest to see who could put the most profound caption on their photos. Who could sound the most politically knowledgeable, whilst also sounding compassionate.
5. I Can’t Keep Changing My Profile Picture Every Time Something Bad Happens
As mentioned earlier, atrocities are committed across the globe on a daily basis. Am I going to change my profile picture every single time something happens? The Paris attacks were devastating and shocking, no doubt, but so are all of such forms of terrorism that occur on almost a daily basis in places like Syria.
6. The French Flag And Its Bloody History
I also did not change my profile picture to the French flag because I know what it has stood for in the past. Colonialism, war and violence. Things that I do not wish to be a part of.
7. I Knew How France Would Respond
I expected France’s response to these attacks would be bloody and murderous, and I was not wrong. Within days of the attacks, France had already sent out drones to bomb Syria. Innocent civilians lost their lives due to France’s lust for revenge. I simply cannot support such a thing.
8. Do The People Who Really Matter Care About It?
Be honest with yourself. What physical and tangible benefit was there from changing your profile picture to the French flag? The Parisians most affected by the attack probably did not care at all about someone a million miles away changing their profile picture to their national flag as a flimsy show of support. Want to know what they would have liked? Blood donations for the wounded and funds donated to charities set up to support them.
The Paris attacks were a truly horrifying event, and my heart and prayers go out to the French people. However, jumping on the bandwagon and following the crowd is no way to show solidarity and support to a hurting city in my eyes. Changing your profile picture does nothing for the people of Paris and that’s why I didn’t change my profile picture to the French flag.
Featured Image Via Social Media
