WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
In spite of the severity of the conflict, the Israel-Hamas War has been viewed by social media as just another trend to cycle through. Many are posting inaccurate information in an effort to keep up with the fad.
For decades, Palestine and Israel have been locked in endless conflict over shared territory bordering on the Mediterranean Sea, with both sides festering a deep hatred for each other over the years.
On Oct. 7, 2023, the conflict culminated when Hamas, a Palestinian militant group that governs part of contested territory known as the Gaza Strip, launched a surprise air and land assault on Israel from the area.
The attack inflicted many Israeli casualties and led the Israeli government to declare war against Palestine.
Since then, people all over the world have been flocking to social media to post about the ongoing conflict, and share their support for either Israel or Palestine.
Across social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram, hashtags such as #prayforisrael and #freepalestine were trending, getting attached to millions of posts and social media stories.
Senior Adiba Rysa is one of the many who has been posting about the war since its start, as she believes sharing information through social media is a great way for people, especially teens, to voice their opinions on important topics.
“Our generation is very into social media and we utilize it in a lot of ways,” she said. “I feel like activism through social media and posting is a great way to participate and spread awareness about these issues since we can’t really do a lot in the situation we are in now as minors.”
Rysa sees social media as a powerful tool that allows her to share her voice and spread information about ongoing conflicts to her peers.
“For our generation, we are so unaware of how much we can do through social media,” she said. “Even though you might not think that what you post will help people, it does, and it helps educate a lot of people as well. I think it’s an amazing form of activism if you can’t do anything else.”
However, not everything being posted about the Israel-Hamas War was accurate. Many were blindly posting about the conflict without fully educating themselves on it first.
“A lot of people during these wars have pre-established biases and tend to get frustrated with what is happening really fast,” Rysa explained. “When you get frustrated, you develop hatred, and when you develop hatred, you blind yourself from seeing the full truth. This causes people to post things online that are not completely true and are hurtful to others.”
It’s important for individuals to research controversial topics, such as the war in Gaza, before posting about them.
“I feel people on both sides of the conflict should be fully educated on the topic and look at all sides of the war before they post about it,” Rysa said.
Rysa noticed that many did not heed this advice and posted simply because others were posting as well.
“I really think this situation shows the ‘trend’ of wars on social media because when people saw that everyone was suddenly posting about Gaza they were like ‘okay everyones doing it let me just do it as well,’ but they don’t take the time to educate themselves further,” Rysa explained.
Since social media’s initial influx of posting about the Israel-Hamas War in October, Rysa has realized that only a select few influencers are still sharing information regarding the topic. The rest have become radio silent.
“As someone who is very outspoken about social injustice, I feel like I am the only person who is talking out loud about it,” she shared. “I post a lot about Gaza. In the beginning, people were curious, so they would click on my post and they would take the time to read it, but now they don’t find it in themselves to take the time to educate themselves on what is happening.”
Rysa understands that there are other reasons why someone may stop caring about the war in Gaza, but she also knows that many stop simply because it’s no longer buzzworthy.
“Sometimes people get emotionally exhausted from hearing about it or their mental health starts getting affected by what’s going on so they take a break and stop posting about it,” Rysa explained. “Then there are others who post for about a week and just get bored of hearing about it.”
This has made Rysa feel that the Israel-Hamas War is just another fleeting social media trend people only talk about until a new “trend” comes along, even though the war is a serious conflict costing many livelihoods daily.
“I feel it’s a ‘trend’ in the sense that at one time a lot of people will be talking about it and then it fades away and more ‘important’ things come along,” she said. “For example, Ukraine was seen as a really big deal until the conflict in Gaza came along, and now the conflict in Gaza is slowly being pushed to the background.”
Rysa is extremely disappointed how people across social media have treated these various conflicts across the world, especially the one in Gaza.
“People need to not post these things like it’s a ‘trend’ because people losing their lives isn’t trendy,” she shared. “You sitting in the comfort of your own home posting on a conflict you are uneducated on while people on the other side of the globe are losing their lives is not trendy.”