Social media users like being liked. To some, racking up a high number of likes on their daily musings is a thrill; others spend hours on endless scroll looking at other peoples’ posts. Recently, users have noticed that many of the graphics soliciting viewers to “Share” or “like” them have taken on a seemingly altruistic angle.

In the endless pursuit of becoming “#instapopular”, social media users post memes of trending causes like support for veterans, cancer research, and environmentalism. They see a compelling graphic, click “Share”, and then congratulate themselves for supporting a worthy cause, all without leaving their seat. Chances are that they’ve forgotten all about it the next day; their activism begins and ends with a bit of spam in cyberspace.

Defenders of this trend claim that they are increasing awareness. But while it can be agreed that social media is a wonderful tool for spreading the word about a cause, the benefits of these messages generally end there. All the memes to is essentially guilt-trip users into sharing them – they just don’t accomplish anything.

Part of the reason for the lack of effectiveness is the way in which the memes are worded. Rather than illustrating a problem and potential solutions, these posts employ juvenile scare tactics by implying that if someone doesn’t “like” that particular graphic, that person must be heartless.

One such meme reads “Kids with special needs are not weird or odd. They only want what everyone else wants… to be accepted. Can I make a request? Is anyone willing to post this in honor of all children who were made in a unique way. Let’s see who has a strong heart.”

Of course we should honor and respect children with special needs, but this graphic isn’t likely to have an effect. Riddled with misspellings and grammatical errors, these memes don’t prompt viewers to care about the cause; they just challenge viewers to prove their compassion.

This is not to say that people shouldn’t use the internet – or social media – to support a cause. There are a multitude of ways to help make a difference while staring at a computer screen. And while unfortunately they are not aimed at helping users attain online popularity, they will give the same users a legitimate way to promote a cause they care about.

Instead of clicking “like” on Facebook, activists-to-be should try clicking “donate” on a non-profit’s website. This method is just as simple, but is guaranteed to actually make a difference. If sharing graphics is a personal must, one can access official images on a charitable foundation’s website. Many of these foundations have profiles on social media sites, making it that much easier to support them directly.

It’s time to face the truth, #instaaddicts: spreading a meme around a social media site is not going to save the world.