Gladwell in his piece Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted actively rebuttals the argument that social media can be a tool used for social activism. Gladwell undermines the authority many people believe social media to hold by pointing out the formula for social media is a large range of networking; not hierarchy which creates roles, jobs, and leaders (410, Gladwell). Gladwell continues to assert that this networking is held together by weak ties of fake friends, whereas he supports face to face interaction that sparks true connection and change (406). He further utilizes the example of the lost phone and bone marrow transplant to highlight his view that social change does not come from participation which “go fund me” and
Everyday economics and social epidemics are topics that do not come easily to many people. The job of Malcolm Gladwell, the author of The Tipping Point, was to explain and teach the science of economics. Economist Steven Levitt and journalist Stephen Dubner also had the task of doing the same, but their book Freakonomics, did so differently. That difference includes several components of the book: the structure, the main focus, and the connection to the audience. The Tipping Point shows a better use of these three components and therefore, Gladwell gave the readers a better understanding of the text and the idea behind it.
Many activists nowadays use social media to spread their message and get people to join their cause, but will it actually go anywhere? Malcolm Gladwell answers this question in his article “Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not be Tweeted,” where he discusses the impact of social media on the ability of a revolution to actually make any change in society. Gladwell’s view is that social media, while useful in many ways, will never be able to effectively start and maintain a revolution. He presents a convincing, well written argument that plays on the logic and emotions of the readers, effectively pulling them in and persuading them to agree with his points.
In the sixties activism was handled through personal sit ins and throwing yourself into the direct line of fire of controversy, now activism has become you show if you support or disagree by a push of a button. The new wave of technology has been said to benefit the world, giving us tools that will improve our methods of activism, but to Gladwell that is not the case. To him, and many others, social activism has in a sense become the easy way out or low risk meaning you show support but not enough to actual make a difference. Social networking has created weak ties that allow the population to come together and discuss effortlessly. Where as back in the sixties the NAACP needed to create strong personal contacts in order to make even a splash in the civil rights movement.
Gladwell disregards the use of social media as successful memes, suggesting they do not have strong ties, but really, does one need strong ties to bring a change? Gladwell himself mentions the case in Moldova, in which thousands of protesters were brought together to the streets by the use of social media. Supposedly by "weak-ties." the protesters able to bring a change, and hence dubbed the "Twitter Revolution." So it is seemingly alright to term memes through the use social media as to successful memes.
In The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell conveys the three rules of epidemics. Gladwell incites that small changes can make a big impact in social epidemics or outbreaks of ideas. Throughout the book he gives examples of various social epidemics, consequently he breaks them down according to the three rules of epidemics, types of people involved, and connection to other epidemics. However, the main focus of the book is the “tipping point” of social epidemics. Gladwell elaborates that small actions can create a “tipping point” based on timing, setting, and partners.
I agree with Gladwell's claim in that in order for an individual to become successful, it is necessary to have help from others, regardless of whether it is an external or internal force. There are instances where someone will be more academically inclined than others and this would put them in a better position in society, such as Christ Langan, however because he “… had only the bleakness of Bozeman, and a home dominated by an angry, drunken stepfather” (Gladwell 110), he cannot expect to go far without a privileged background. Gladwell thoroughly emphasizes this point through the study of the Termites, who lived up to their respective backgrounds. The A group was comprised of the middle and upper class and they demonstrated what it meant
Malcolm Gladwell uses famous photograph in the history of the American Civil Rights Movement that was taken on May 3, 1963, by Bill Hudson to demonstrate that even though underdogs are outnumbered along the journey they learn a few things about fighting giants. In 1963 Martin Luther King came to Birmingham, Alabama to take fight against city’s racist police commissioner Eugene ”Bull” Connor. The picture taken in 1963 was of a young teenager being attacked by a police dog. The well dressed boy seeming to be leaning into the dog, his arms limp to his side, calmly staring straight ahead as though he is saying,” Take me, here I am, expresses Gladwell.” Even to this day this photo has not lost it’s power to shock.
As Gladwell mentions that the broken window theory and the graffiti on the subway are serious problems, so Gladwell mention a way that “Because he believed that, like graffiti, fare-beating could be a signal, a small expression of disorder that invite much more serious crime” (153) and “the team would nab fare-beaters one by one, handcuff them, and leave them standing”(154) “Graffiti” and “fare-beating” are like broken window theory, if nobody cares the problems, then, the problem will still exist and become more seriously. So handcuff people without paying a token is a method to renovate the system and change their minds. As the renovation, people will change their minds and not be evading the system again. As lots of people being handcuff,
Gladwell illustrates his argument that social media is not an effective tool for change or revolution by giving examples from the present where social media has claimed to be helpful although it was not, and examples from the past where although social media did not yet exist activist were more successful. When presenting his argument, Gladwell’s diction and writing style allow his article to be so successful and convincing. He starts with a story, and then explains why the example supports his reasoning. This approach makes him seem extremely educated, reinforcing the strengths of his argument. Throughout his article, Gladwell also demonstrates numerous dependable qualities such as self-confidence, experience, and persuasiveness.
My understanding of the “American Dream” is a concept of migrating to the United States, starting from scratch, and becoming rich and successful by working hard. But after reading Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell change my perspective of the “American Dream” by providing the idea of luck and opportunity playing a major factor in one 's success. Almost all the success story of the immigrant in the book was by opportunity because of birth, chance by cultural background and circumstances. Gladwell changed my view of how the “American Dream” is accomplished, not solely by hard work, but luck and opportunity are what factor into someone accomplishing the “American Dream”. Reading Outliers, the main thesis or central premise of Gladwell on why some people
In “Small Change”, Malcolm Gladwell explains how activism is affected by social media. Gladwell looks negatively upon new “tools” of social media for activism, in particular social activism. She thinks this form of activism is weak and perhaps not even activism. She defends activism as unions of people who have a personal relationship and fight against a conflict that involves them all. An example of this in the text is the Civil Rights movement, where African
behavior, learning and memory of an individual ( 1). While Dr. Noble noted the more affluent children possessed larger hippocampuses than their disadvantaged counterparts (Brain Trust 47), Hanson notes that the lifestyle of less affluent families affect the hippocampus negatively. For instance, maternal separation can negatively impact the hippocampus, I.e. working mother's. The lower the income a household has, the more stress it faces. Outstanding stress can have long-lasting negative effects on the hippocampus (1.).
1984 by George Orwell makes several statements about control, security, and how governments should treat their citizens. However, a reader can also look at chapters 1-7 of the book as a statement on social classes and how the government keeps everyone in a certain social class. What values does the work reinforce? The book is mainly about control of the government.
Celia Buckman in the Column, “The limits of Hashtag Activism,” explains, how the use of hashtags in social media can be effective in raising awareness, but how people are not often fully informed of he causes when supporting the cause. Buckman writes a strong article through the use of statistics, a concession and the structure of her column. Throught Buckman’s article she uses logos, statistics to explain how using social media raise awareness more money than without the use of the hashtag. Buckman’s first example is the ALS Ice bucket challenge, she explains that without the use of #icebucketchallange, donations wouldn’t have reached “100 million in one month during the viral challenge, compared with 2.8 M raised last year during the same period (Par 2). Buckman’s use of statistics makes her article strong as, it gives her argument credibility.
Social media has a major effect on today’s society. People are being manipulated, influenced, and even brainwashed from apps and websites they use every day. Social media is used to hold social interactions, promote events or products, and keep people up to date on all kinds of news. Because social media can do so much for its users, it basically controls every aspect of their lives. In Aldous Huxley’s, “Brave New World”, social media wasn’t controlling their society, but other technologies like the Bokonovsky’s Process, the Feelies, and Soma were.