The Impact of Social Media
“If you scroll past this picture you’re heartless.” “One like equals one prayer.” On Facebook people see post with these words attached on them daily. But if someone liked a picture is it really gonna help a child in need or if someone scrolled past a picture of an abused animal does it really make that person heartless? Whether or not social media does or does not have an impact on revolutions, rallies, and protests is being discussed more often and in more depth today than years previous. This increasingly discussed idea is the topic of Malcolm Gladwell’s article “Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted.” Gladwell believes that even despite how prominent social media and technology is in our lives today …show more content…
A major well known event for the civil rights movement was like a fever and “engulfed the South for the rest of the decade”(401). This major movement started and spread through many cities in a week and to different states in a month without the use of social media that we have today. This event that Gladwell uses helps to prove his point that people are capable of causing widespread action despite the inability to communicate instantly over text or tweet. This strong beginning to his article really made me as the reader feel more curios and inclined to read on to see if he could create a strong argument outside from events in the past with more recent ones, which he …show more content…
In the book, Andy Smith and Jennifer Aaker explain the story of Sameer Bhatia. Bhatia had acute myelogenous leukemia and needed a bone-marrow transplant. None of his family or friends were a match and few people of his ethnicity were in the national database, so a business partner sent out an email and got thousands of people registered and Bhatia found a match. Even though it seems to disprove him it only makes his argument stronger, while he believes Twitter, Facebook, and email do not cause “strong-tie” phenomenon. He acknowledges that there are sometimes exception, but these said exceptions also have a stipulation. Yes, sometimes there are actions from people on social media outlets for reform but people only act upon them if it is easy. Gladwell calls out this problem by saying “Facebook activism succeeds not by motivating people to make a real sacrifice but by motivating them to do the things that people do when they are not motivated enough to make a real sacrifice” (408). This addresses the emotions of the reader essentially calling out people who believe they are causing a change, when in reality all they are doing is liking a picture or doing the easiest, least reform changing action.
While people are constantly tweeting, liking, and putting hashtag on posts to bring light to issues rarely ever do they ever actually cause a
“If you scroll past this picture you’re heartless.” “One like equals one prayer.” On Facebook people see post with these words attached on them daily. But if someone liked a picture is it really gonna help a child in need or if someone scrolled past a picture of an abused animal does it really make that person heartless? Whether or not social media does or does not have an impact on revolutions, rallies, and protests is being discussed more often and in more depth today than years previous. This increasingly discussed idea is the topic of Malcolm Gladwell’s article “Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted.” Gladwell believes that even despite how prominent social media and technology is in our lives today …show more content…
A major well known event for the civil rights movement was like a fever and “engulfed the South for the rest of the decade”(401). This major movement started and spread through many cities in a week and to different states in a month without the use of social media that we have today. This event that Gladwell uses helps to prove his point that people are capable of causing widespread action despite the inability to communicate instantly over text or tweet. This strong beginning to his article really made me as the reader feel more curios and inclined to read on to see if he could create a strong argument outside from events in the past with more recent ones, which he …show more content…
In the book, Andy Smith and Jennifer Aaker explain the story of Sameer Bhatia. Bhatia had acute myelogenous leukemia and needed a bone-marrow transplant. None of his family or friends were a match and few people of his ethnicity were in the national database, so a business partner sent out an email and got thousands of people registered and Bhatia found a match. Even though it seems to disprove him it only makes his argument stronger, while he believes Twitter, Facebook, and email do not cause “strong-tie” phenomenon. He acknowledges that there are sometimes exception, but these said exceptions also have a stipulation. Yes, sometimes there are actions from people on social media outlets for reform but people only act upon them if it is easy. Gladwell calls out this problem by saying “Facebook activism succeeds not by motivating people to make a real sacrifice but by motivating them to do the things that people do when they are not motivated enough to make a real sacrifice” (408). This addresses the emotions of the reader essentially calling out people who believe they are causing a change, when in reality all they are doing is liking a picture or doing the easiest, least reform changing action.
While people are constantly tweeting, liking, and putting hashtag on posts to bring light to issues rarely ever do they ever actually cause a