The Revolution of Social Media
In today’s 20th century society nearly every human being is familiar with the internet and other forms of media via communication. There are so many different social networking sites for example Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, e-mail, texting etc... that make communicating information such as activism, revolutions and social change easy and efficient. These forms of communication may help spread awareness by informing people about certain topics but, not drive the issue. Malcolm Gladwell’s article “Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted” explains the point that why we don’t need to tweet the revolution on social media. The events in history will happen regardless of a “tweet” or “retweet”. From …show more content…
Social media is a simple form of organizing which favors “weak-tie” connections that give us access to information over the “strong-tie” connections. High-risk activism is where participants communicate to each other person to person in a group that trust in each other to stand up for a cause. High-risk activism is a "strong-tie" phenomenon. A “strong-tie” phenomenon involves close communication, cooperation, and collaboration of groups of people in order to sufficiently plan, create, and execute an activist movement. Gladwell notes that the revolution will not be tweeted seeing that “weak ties seldom lead to high risk activism”()seeing that social networks are “weak-ties”. Strong-ties allow you to spread your knowledge, opinions, facts, statements, effective and efficiently. Events that have happened throughout the history of the world have happened without the help of social …show more content…
Strong ties are imperative for revolutions in the way that revolts need discipline and strategy to execute successfully. Gladwell states “The civil-rights movement was high-risk activism: a challenge to the establishment mounted with precision and discipline” (322). Gladwell also notes when he says, “events in the early sixties became a civil-right war the engulfed the south for the rest of the decade and it happened without the e-mail, texting, facebook, or twitter. (314). Just like the coffee shop sit-in with the four black college students in North Carolina who decided to take a stance to stand up for their rights by asking for a cup of coffee. Malcolm gives the example of Black revolution from 1960’s when social media was not around. This instance was started by four students and became a huge social revolution without the help of any social media. The hierarchy of order that assembled the civil rights movement may have been helped by social media, but happened without the fact that social media was not around. The way social media works is that they are intended to be used as communications channels, not power structures. The only good thing that social networks are good at is helping Wall Streeters get there phone back from teenage girls, not helping and aiding social
In today’s 20th century society nearly every human being is familiar with the internet and other forms of media via communication. There are so many different social networking sites for example Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, e-mail, texting etc... that make communicating information such as activism, revolutions and social change easy and efficient. These forms of communication may help spread awareness by informing people about certain topics but, not drive the issue. Malcolm Gladwell’s article “Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted” explains the point that why we don’t need to tweet the revolution on social media. The events in history will happen regardless of a “tweet” or “retweet”. From …show more content…
Social media is a simple form of organizing which favors “weak-tie” connections that give us access to information over the “strong-tie” connections. High-risk activism is where participants communicate to each other person to person in a group that trust in each other to stand up for a cause. High-risk activism is a "strong-tie" phenomenon. A “strong-tie” phenomenon involves close communication, cooperation, and collaboration of groups of people in order to sufficiently plan, create, and execute an activist movement. Gladwell notes that the revolution will not be tweeted seeing that “weak ties seldom lead to high risk activism”()seeing that social networks are “weak-ties”. Strong-ties allow you to spread your knowledge, opinions, facts, statements, effective and efficiently. Events that have happened throughout the history of the world have happened without the help of social …show more content…
Strong ties are imperative for revolutions in the way that revolts need discipline and strategy to execute successfully. Gladwell states “The civil-rights movement was high-risk activism: a challenge to the establishment mounted with precision and discipline” (322). Gladwell also notes when he says, “events in the early sixties became a civil-right war the engulfed the south for the rest of the decade and it happened without the e-mail, texting, facebook, or twitter. (314). Just like the coffee shop sit-in with the four black college students in North Carolina who decided to take a stance to stand up for their rights by asking for a cup of coffee. Malcolm gives the example of Black revolution from 1960’s when social media was not around. This instance was started by four students and became a huge social revolution without the help of any social media. The hierarchy of order that assembled the civil rights movement may have been helped by social media, but happened without the fact that social media was not around. The way social media works is that they are intended to be used as communications channels, not power structures. The only good thing that social networks are good at is helping Wall Streeters get there phone back from teenage girls, not helping and aiding social