Small Change By Malcolm Gladwell

In Malcolm Gladwell’s article “Small Change”, activism and its development into modern day society is targeted. Through the repetition of examples that happened in the real world, a sense of reality and importance is placed on the activism. As the article opens, it tells of four college students sitting in at the Woolworth’s and their protest that sparked the interest of many others. Iran’s Twitter war is brought up to repeat the activism in the article and introduce the actions in a more modern-day view. The people who go onto Facebook are called, “Facebook warriors,” in the article. This metaphor brings up the fact that years ago, people were warriors when they stood up to the disrespect. Today they are not physically running into battle in full armor, but are logging into their accounts from a cellular device or computer to face this issue in this world. …show more content…
This causes the article to really open up the field and bring in all types of examples to the intrigue the readers. By saying that, “High-risk activism...is a ‘strong-tie’ phenomenon,” the article places importance on the activism that deals with physical human interaction. Opposing that, “the platforms of social media are built around weak ties,” shows the difference in the two types of activism. The article places danger and bravery next to the activism associated with protests and boycotts done by large amounts of people in physical environments. Social media lets people talk a big talk, without having to back it up with proof or man power. “Weak ties seldom lead to high-risk activism,” is stated and this fact portrays the difference in the activism