Due to becoming an increasingly technologically advanced society, many of our daily activities now occur through computer screens, rather than by direct means. This concept applies to a plethora of activities and actions - from texting a friend rather than speaking in person, taking classes online instead of in the classroom, and especially participating in online activism.

Online activism is the use of electronic communication technologies to enable faster communication within social and political movements, as well as to raise awareness for these movements. In recent years, this has largely taken the form of “hashtag activism” - using hashtags on social media to foster conversations and increase interest in certain topics.

Now, it is important to recognize that political hashtagging is a powerful tool for diffusing information, as they work as slogans for specific causes and movements, and generate trending topics. In this way, social media activism allows the general public to narrate social issues, transferring the scope of news reporting to the eyes of the people from the professional media.

For example, the Black Lives Matter movement would never have gained prominence if it did not originate in the form of a hashtag, and La La Land presumably would have won the Oscar if #OscarsSoWhite hadn’t encouraged the Academy to diversify - likely leading to Moonlight receiving a nomination.

Additionally, more people can become involved in activism and discussion through social media than they can in person. After all, the world is far more connected by the internet, and thereby social media, than it is by personal relationships or geography.

However, while social media activism raises awareness, it does extremely little to resolve the problem or issue itself. Furthermore, this form of activism is limited to topics considered to be “popular” and “trendy,”and once the limelight passes, the issue is often left forgotten and unresolved.

This is especially evident in President Donald Trump’s reinstatement of the “Muslim ban” in early March. It is similar to the ban he created in January - though with two major differences.

The first difference is that the ban initially included Iraq, which has since been removed. The second relates to how when the original ban was passed in January, there was an overwhelming sense of chaos present across social media and media as a whole. Hashtags including #MuslimBan and #NoBanNoWall swept across Twitter, and the fervor prompted from this led to demonstrations being held at airports nationwide, protesters demanding for the release of detained Muslim travelers.

Though I am not a practicing Muslim, as an Iranian-American, the implications of the move remained blatantly clear to me: We were no longer welcome in America.

Soon after the announcement of the original ban, though before it was struck down by federal courts, my grandmother (who lives in Iran) passed away. It was a difficult time on my family to say the least, but what hurt most was that my father - who has been a United States citizen for over twenty years - chose to not attend his own mother’s funeral in fear of detainment.

Still, I found comfort in all the people who voiced their opposition to the order, as it meant that I was not alone in my dissent against and anger towards the policy. I spent my free time alternating between browsing photos of protests and rallies that had erupted across the country and scrolling through posts of solidarity across various social media platforms.

But earlier this month, when an eerily similar ban was reintroduced, I was met with the deafening sound of silence and the blatant absence of acknowledgment on social media.

What we, as students and as the young people driving social media, often forget is that solidarity is not passive. Rather than post about important topics and issues only when they are trending, we should do so regularly, as in order for progress to occur, we must constantly stand in the face of adversity - not only when it is popular or acceptable to do so.

After all, the groups who are so often the focus of trending topics - Muslims, women, African Americans, and countless others - continue to bear the burden of oppression once trends have passed and the spotlight has faded.

Expanding activism on social media should not and cannot substitute efforts taken in the offline world, because while social media is a powerful means for raising awareness, it is a means, not an end, for direct political action.

And we cannot allow this action and activism to be dependent on a hashtag.