Today I started reviewing each of the readings in preparation
for the upcoming test. When I first read
the article “Small Change” a week or two ago I strongly agreed with Malcolm
Gladwell’s argument. I am not the
biggest user of social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter and Pinterest. While I have each of these sites I am not an
active user nor would I consider myself to be addicted to any of them. For this reason I originally agreed with Gladwells
assessment of these social media sites as only having weak ties. I saw social
media as not being able to lead to effective activism such as the example
within the article of the four college students in North Carolina. However, after attending lecture and also
reading Biz Stone’s article on Twitter and Activism I would say that my opinion
has changed quite a bit.
I still believe that for the most part when it comes to Facebook people will like pretty much any cause even if it’s as silly as “If you're against Mondays like this picture!” However, I now see that there are more legitimate causes such as breast cancer awareness and other sites that raise money and spread the word in a way that without social networking sites would be impossible. I do see now that these social networking sites can be used as a tool for real change too. It was important for me to realize that the world has changed a lot since the times of the civil rights movement, so while that is what I saw as “real” activism it is not something that will be seen again in today’s world.
While there will still be sit ins, rally’s and riots, there will likely never again be a movement without some form of social media being used. Strong or weak ties, the use of social media is a tool to get the word out about injustices and a way for people to share thoughts and opinions that they never would have been able to before. To quote Biz Stones article, “Rudimentary communication among individuals in real time allows many to move together as one—suddenly uniting everyone in a common goal. Lowering the barrier to activism doesn’t weaken humanity, it brings us together and it makes us stronger.”
I still believe that for the most part when it comes to Facebook people will like pretty much any cause even if it’s as silly as “If you're against Mondays like this picture!” However, I now see that there are more legitimate causes such as breast cancer awareness and other sites that raise money and spread the word in a way that without social networking sites would be impossible. I do see now that these social networking sites can be used as a tool for real change too. It was important for me to realize that the world has changed a lot since the times of the civil rights movement, so while that is what I saw as “real” activism it is not something that will be seen again in today’s world.
While there will still be sit ins, rally’s and riots, there will likely never again be a movement without some form of social media being used. Strong or weak ties, the use of social media is a tool to get the word out about injustices and a way for people to share thoughts and opinions that they never would have been able to before. To quote Biz Stones article, “Rudimentary communication among individuals in real time allows many to move together as one—suddenly uniting everyone in a common goal. Lowering the barrier to activism doesn’t weaken humanity, it brings us together and it makes us stronger.”
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