text: D.A. Lovell Courtesy of D.A. Lovell 
   
   I am not against online activism. In fact, I believe in it and have been moved by its power. From typhoon relief fundraisers to voter-recruitment efforts, I have participated in these Internet-based campaigns and have seen the power that lies in we Americans when we are aligned to create change from behind our computers. It felt good to lend a hand and to know that my contributions made a difference in various campaigns. 
   
   But I think hashtag activism should be used judiciously, especially when it comes to issues affecting the black community, at home and abroad. In some situations, it risks offering users of social media a false sense of accomplishment while obscuring underlying policy and structural issues as well as the full picture of what is taking place on the ground. 
   
   That's why, after a few tweets, I ceased participating in the ongoing #BringBackOurGirls campaign, which is designed to highlight the plight of more than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram last month. I worried that this was becoming one of those situations in which people feel an unjustified sense of accomplishment. 
   
   The campaign has been going on for weeks, and it's become painfully clear that while the hashtag has elicited attention, the news coverage isn't enough to make a difference to the people at the center of this horrifying story—the Nigerian girls who have not been brought back and who, despite all of the tweets, remain in grave danger. 
   
   The abductions still are an international topic of discussion, but the focus of U.S. reporting on the plight of the girls has declined. In fact, by the time the celebrity attention and major media outlets got on board, more than two weeks had passed since the girls were abducted. 
   
   A popular sentiment in the black community is that, in many cases, we have to work twice as hard for equal results. I think a version of that idea applies here. Certainly, when it comes to pushing for accountability and justice, we have to be especially strategic. Social media activism might not be as powerful as many think it is when it comes to tangible results, when we're dealing with situations that call for more than just raising awareness. My concern isn't that it's wholly ineffective but that it makes us feel as if the job is done, thereby keeping us from taking a course of action that may be more effective in the long term. 
   
   I especially worry about how the #BringBackOurGirls campaign will turn out when I think of some examples from the past: U.S. courts are still systematically breaking down affirmative action, Joseph Kony is still free and George Zimmerman got off. 
   
   Considering these outcomes, I had to make sure I was honest with myself about the fact that a retweet or hashtag might not do much to contribute to the return of the girls. 
   
   But what would help? What are the other options? That's a question I challenged myself to answer. Doing "something else" doesn't have to mean picking up and moving to Nigeria or sleeping outside the embassy in a demand for action. One quick way to make a lasting difference in the conditions that led to this disaster would be to dedicate some time to learning more about the issue of abduction in Nigeria and in other areas of the world, so that comments and tweets are based on personal research, not just recycled demands. ||||| Boko Haram must be quaking in their boots. These ‘Islamic’ militants have razed entire villages to the ground, hacked men to death and killed children as they slept, but now the West has a hashtag campaign. 
   
   #BringBackOurGirls has exploded across social media, powered by a desire to reunite 200 kidnapped Nigerian girls with their parents as well as a strong sense of outrage. Facebook and Twitter are well adapted mediums for protest, yet often the complaints made were not against Boko Haram, but against what was seen as the mainstream media’s wilful ignorance of the girls’ kidnap. A volley of tweets argued that “if these children were white European girls, countries would do something.” They are right. If 200 girls had gone missing in Spain, whether white or black, there would have been far more coverage. Not because of media racism but because such events in Europe are unheard of and therefore in industry terms, more newsworthy. Many of us have been on holiday to Spain and it is a sad fact of humanity that we care more about things we can imagine happening to us. 
   
   The media weren’t ignoring those girls. Reports from the Associated Press and Reuters captured the attention of those who first began campaigning to bring them home. News bulletins didn’t give the issue prominence, but that’s because the media gives their audience what they think they want. All organisations have to shift papers, get clicks and bring in viewers . In February alone, 60 boys were burnt to death as the they slept at a boarding school in Yobe. That same month 150 Christian men were hacked to death and gunned down in a village in central Nigeria. There was no hashtag in February. If readers don’t suggest they are interested in Boko Haram (which given the lack of Western outrage in February, it would be easy to assume), then there will be no primetime coverage. 
   
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   Hashtag activism is a new phenomenon and campaigning in this way has its faults. It can be a brilliant way to bring a campaign to people's attention, but presumably those using the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls want to do more than just spread awareness-they want those girls brought home. Getting people like Michelle Obama and David Cameron to hold up a slogan and pull a concerned face is not mission accomplished. We, the people, use a hashtag because we don't have the power that these leaders have. I want influential people to act, not update their status. 
   
   The other problem with hashtag activism is that information spreads very fast on social media and an inaccurate image or tweet goes twice around the world before the truth has time to put on his tie. One of the most powerful posters attached to the #BringBackOurGirls was tweeted by renowned feminist and rapper Chris Brown. It was also used by the US embassy in Madrid, Kim Kardashian and global girls rights activist Becky Makoni. It was a picture of a girl from Guinea Bissou, a country more than 1000 miles away from Nigeria. It was taken by photographer Ami Vitale in 2000, the girl in question, Jenabu Balde, was not kidnapped, and the tear drop running down her face had been photoshopped on. The original picture is here. 
   
   Yet despite being simplistic and at times hypocritical, hashtag activism can work. The media watches Facebook and Twitter to see what issues people care about. Politicians read newspapers: they also want to get votes. If they see a course of action is popular they’ll try and own that issue. France's president offered to host a summit on Boko Haram. Goodluck Jonathan is now willing to accept Western help, and hashtag activism has gone a long way into pressurising him into that decision. 
   
   It’s not just politicians and the media watching social media. Boko Haram might be militants, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t on Twitter. Terrorists want to spread terror and are increasingly using social media due to the accessible, affordable platform it provides. Giving their acts of atrocity airtime may fuel their aims, but the widespread condemnation such campaigns bring may also serve as a foil. Either way, they are listening to what we say. Groups like Al Qaeda and Al Shabab use social media extensively: it’s not beyond the realms of possibility to imagine them employing a social media editor in the future. If hashtag activism really spits in their custard, such an employee may tell his boss ‘this #bringbackourgirls meme, well, it’s going to make our lives hell and it’s just not worth it.’ For all that is wrong with hashtag activism, it is only going to get more powerful in the future. It’s not to be sniffed at. 
   
   
   
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target: – You've no doubt come across the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls, designed to draw attention to the plight of Nigeria's kidnapped girls. DA Lovell has, too, but after a few initial retweets, she's giving it a rest, she writes at the Root. The problem is that hashtag activism like this might raise awareness on a superficial level, but it also gives people "a false sense of accomplishment," writes Lovell. "It makes us feel as if the job is done, thereby keeping us from taking a course of action that may be more effective in the long term." So what's a concerned citizen to do instead? Lovell suggests taking the time to truly educate yourself about what's happening in Nigeria and neighboring countries, or at least start following people and groups that "are doing work on the ground so you know what’s happening even after Twitter moves on to the next trending topic." Problems like this need substantive changes, and a mindless retweet doesn't cut it. At Campare Afrique, Jumoke Balogun sees a bigger problem: All those tweets give the US and other Western governments that much more excuse to expand their military presence in Africa, and "this is not good." But at the Independent, Felicity Morse rounds up the good and the bad and comes down on the side of hashtag activism because of its ability to get the mass media to focus on a neglected subject. It's a force that "is only going to get more powerful in the future," she writes. "It's not to be sniffed at."