Gladwell Response Essay
“There are more devices connected to the internet than there are people on the entire planet”(Stadd 2013). Social media allows people to connect with everyone around the world. Malcolm Gladwell’s essay, “Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted” tests how social media can not be a successful way to form a revolution. Gladwell began his essay with an issue of segregation from a time when social media did not exist. He continued by explaining that the revolution was successful because people had strong connections, unlike social media, where it gives you weak connections, also known as “weak ties” vs. “strong ties”. Weak ties indicate your “friends” on Facebook, Twitter, etc… While strong ties convey those you confide in daily or have face to face interaction on a daily basis. In today’s society social media acts as a gateway to spread ideas and awareness on social issues. It helps educate people on problems they otherwise would not have heard of. Gladwell said it himself, “Our acquaintances- not our friends- are our greatest source of new ideas and information” (para. 16). Starting a revolution or protest on social media is not possible. What is achievable is spreading awareness on your social issue. Forming a protest requires more than networking, it requires initiation by an individual.
Social media is an approach of getting connected to those who are distant from us. When one researches a protest and how it came about you could argue that they were formed through internet interaction, however someone had to initiate that tweet in order for everyone to become aware or interested. A great example of this would be the Women’s March. A woman by the name, Theresa Shook, was upset by the presidential election outcome and decided to set up a Facebook event in which she invited women to participate in a peaceful protest (Dolasia 2017). The use of Facebook ignited unitization between all women and granted their pathway to make a stand for what they believe in, yet Shook became the origin of this flourishing movement.
Gladwell discusses both positions by mentioning Mark Granovetter and his sentiment, “there is strength in weak ties”(para.16). This assertion challenges Gladwell’s current opposition to social media’s role in launching a prosperous revolt by stating that weak ties can transpire into a strong tie. Granovetter is trying to explain that we can thank social media for informing us citizens on everything that occurs throughout the