In the essay “Small Change, Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted” Malcolm Gladwell states that the way social media activism works is by expecting less of all its’ participants, and not actually requiring anyone to actually make a sacrifice of any kind. According to Gladwell, this results in weak tie activism. He illustrates this through the story of the Greensboro sit-ins, where four college students actually risked their lives to stand up for a cause they believed in, with help from the strong ties they had with one another. I agree with Gladwell, because although in the bigger picture it appears as if those who are “socially active” are doing a lot to help their cause, the fact of the matter is, despite all the exposure to important issues and the amount of access we have to one another, the majority of Americans can’t be bothered to go out of their way to fight for causes that don’t directly affect them.
Gladwell states that “the platforms of social media are built on weak ties.” (319) He believes that the weak ties forged on social media websites such as Twitter or Facebook don’t necessarily lead to the high-risk activism needed to spark a revolution or to make any real changes. I remember last year when all those innocent children lost their lives at Sandy Hook Elementary, social media sites were flooded with news links and forums with petitions calling for gun control policy reforms. Groups were popping up left and right inviting people to donate to the families of the victims, resulting in over 7.7 million dollars. This didn’t require anyone to risk anything significant though. The most any of these groups asked you to do was click a button on a screen. You didn’t have to stand outside of a gun store with a sign, speak in front of an angry crowd, you didn’t even have to leave your bed. Just click.
Gladwell also argues that social media websites are “not the natural enemy of the status quo” (327), saying that these websites are nice if you...