Malcolm Gladwell Small Change Social Media Analysis

Everyone uses it one way or another, social media runs the world. Anyone can voice their opinions and thoughts, but can social media really create a global change? Malcolm Gladwell, the author of the New Yorker article Small Change: Why the revolution will not be tweeted, argues that groups using social media to achieve change will never gain strong enough ties or commitment to make a difference. Gladwell’s article, written in 2010, compares some of today's activism to the Greensboro sit-in in 1960. The article covers how social media has been used to gather an audience and create small changes. In the article, challenges faced while using social media are brought into the light. Speaking to those who want to fight for a change they are passionate about, Gladwell Gives insight into what it really means to be an activist. Gladwell’s article highlights the role of social media in modern-day life today and how people use it to voice themselves. The article gives an effective argument that activism is not the same today as it was 50 years ago.
As an example of activism the article begins with the retelling of the sit-in in Greensboro, North Carolina, February 1, 1960. The story of when four college …show more content…
Although there is a bias in the article, Small Change gives insight to both sides of social media and traditional activism with the use of varied quotes and facts from numerous historical events. Malcolm outlines what activism was and what it has turned into, finishing off with a thought that social media is not necessarily the way to go, even if that's the direction that the world is currently taking, 50 years ago was when real activism occurred and now “we seem to have forgotten what activism