By Valentina Cloitre
Last fall, a friend grew tired of doomscrolling; every day felt like watching the world fall apart through a screen. So, she logged off, signed up for a weekend food drive, and spent mornings handing out groceries to families in her neighborhood.
“It felt like I was finally doing something,” she said.
She’s not alone. Many people are looking for connection in a world that feels more divided and digital than ever. Social media connects us online but leaves us more isolated in person.
One way people, including myself, have tried to find belonging is by getting involved in our communities.
Civic engagement is often framed as voting, following political news, or attending town halls, but the framing leaves out how people shape their communities every day. True engagement goes beyond the ballot box; it thrives in volunteering, collective action, and shared responsibility.
Yet in school, we’re often taught that our civic duties begin and end with voting and staying informed, which can make politics feel distant and individual, like a solo sport. Political engagement is human engagement, built on relationships, empathy, and shared effort.
Voting is essential. The more people who vote, the more represented people’s interests are. This leads to more faith in the democratic system. However, elections are only one part of how democracy works.
Some of the most accessible forms of civic engagement happen in places that never make the news. Community groups delivering groceries to elderly neighbors. Students organizing free tutoring programs. Neighborhood associations running coat drives in the winter.
These acts may not look “political,” but they create the civic bonds that keep communities strong and informed about their neighbors’ needs.
When there is an urgent need, or when people see injustice and feel unheard, civic engagement takes another form. Sometimes it is a handful of people on a street corner with a sign that says, “Honk if you love freedom.”
Other times, it is 7 million people marching across all 50 states.
No matter the size or the cause, protest shows that civic engagement is active, daily participation, protected and encouraged by the U.S. Constitution through the rights to speak, assemble, and petition.
At a time when doomscrolling feels easier than showing up, real civic engagement asks us to choose connection over passivity. To vote, yes, but also to volunteer, to protest, and to care for the people around us.
These everyday choices keep democracy alive. Anyone ready to take that step can find ways to get involved through local groups, mutual aid networks, or organizations like the ACLU of Georgia.
Democracy isn’t built online. It’s built by us.