Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted

Our generation has been filled with outstanding technological advancements. Indeed, even only 15 years back, the absence of moment correspondence and the innovation accessible for scope had a significant effect in challenging. Even just 15 years ago, the lack of instant communication and the technology available for coverage made all the difference in protesting. Michel Corey in a peer reviewed article, noted how protesting is more simple with the new usage of technology. Corey goes into detail about an application, created by students, on their phones that sends updates on the current protest.This is just one example of the advance type of protesting. In contrast, we see a negative consequence of the social media in protesting by losing some of the

The relationship between people has been changed because of the widely using of new technology. People can easily communicate with other people by using different kinds of methods. Because of the use of those methods, people have more space with others and frequently hide part of themselves on the Internet in order to show the best of them. In the essay “Small Change: Why he Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted”, Malcolm Gladwell states that the relationship between people can be categorized by strong ties and weak ties. For example, in the past, people communicated by the method of interpersonal hierarchies, which are considered as strong ties. However, with the development of technology, social network, such as Twitter, Facebook, and Skype, which have become very popular in the world, are regarded as weak ties. Moreover, in the essay “Alone Together”, Sherry Turkle claims that people are distant with others and get lost in the virtual world through the new technology. She points out that now people communicate with others through technology instead of directing talking to real people. Furthermore, some people suppose that sociable robots as substitutes for people. Both Gladwell and Turkle agree with the idea that technology plays an important role on people’s connection. Technology only creates inauthentic relationship because it hides identity of many disorganized people.

Debunking the myth of hierarchical necessity brings us back to the question regarding the role of social media. Gladwell elegantly states that social media is "not a natural enemy of the status quo." Thus, the question becomes whether social media can in fact contribute to the process of forming a significant social movement and effective social action, as opposed to whether it can serve as a satisfactory substitute for that process. Referring to the previous example, a phone is not a branch of government, but a phone if properly utilized can mobilize a large

Debunking the myth of hierarchical necessity brings us back to the original question regarding the role of social media in propagating societal change. Gladwell elegantly states that social media is "not a natural enemy of the status quo." Thus, the question becomes whether social media can in fact contribute to the process of forming a significant social movement and effective social action, as opposed to whether it can serve as a satisfactory substitute for that process. Referring to the previous stated example, a phone is certainly not a branch of

During the 2011 Egypt uprising protesters gained support through social media sites like Facebook and Twitter to help end poverty and unemployment in which they were experiencing at the time. This major flow of support from across the world helped strengthen the protesters cause and led to an eventual victory in Egypt (Brym 2014).

Popular opinion believes that the internet, email and social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat has reinvented social activism for the good, but is this belief really true? In his article, SMALL CHANGE: Why the Revolution Will Not be Tweeted, Malcolm Gladwell makes a compelling argument that this is not really true and in fact, the spread of social media has caused us to lower the bar as to what activism really means. He starts by showing us how activism worked in the 1960s during the Civil Rights movement and how in a relatively short period of time thousands of people joined sit-ins and or protests throughout the South - without the use of social media! He describes the movement as a well-orchestrated movement by the NAACP and

At first of the essay, Gladwell provided an example of a successful revolution in the past with no reinforcement of internet and social media. "Some seventy thousand students eventually took part. Thousands were arrested and untold thousands more radicalized. These events in the early sixties became a civil-rights war that engulfed the South for the rest of the decade -- and it happened without e-mail, texting, Facebook, or Twitter." This quote just states the thesis statement, which I agree with the author’s. The revolution always happens by the needs of the times. People will follow the right thing, which be accepted by most of the people. And the dross of the society which should be corrected would make people spontaneously participate into

This transformation of power is easier to get, harder to use and easier to lose” pg 2. The connectivity of people communicating and collaborating with one another has caused a shift in power. Our digital age has made it possible for people to connect, share and exchange information, through Facebook, LinkedIn, tweeter and Instagram. These social networks are design to build relationships and to provide a means to stay socially connected. In Naims’ book, he describes three revolutions that support his reasoning for the decay in power: More, Mobility and Mentality revolutions. These revolutions connect with the mindset, expectations and aspirations of individuals. Naims’s believes that “people’s actions are driven by the possibility of a better quality of life”. The social communications allows individual to have the confidence to use social media to make changes in their communities. “A change in mindset is a change in mentality that inevitability changes life styles. pg

The two articles I read for ThinkCERCA were about activism using social media. They highlighted one particular example, Wael Gonhim’s Facebook page, Kullena Khaled Said. Using social media, he was able to hear about a current event, and make a difference. The question was “Based on the evidence provided in these two articles and the visual sources, how did social media affect the Arab Spring in Tunisia and Egypt?”

In this age of technology advancement and with the inventions of smart devices such as mobile phones,tablets home computers that give people access to the whole world through social media platforms.One often wonders what are the people,who have an easy access to issues and matters across the globe doing ? Where are they spending most of their time and what are they up to?The simple answer to that question is that a relatively larger number of existing human beings nowadays are spending their time,on their smart devices addressing their views on socio-political issues.Also,can this selected population of human beings, advocate for social change just by scrolling through critical issues,liking and sharing their opinions on them while also typing their comments,in a virtual platform. Malcolm Gladwell effectively critiques 21st-century social activism because history suggests that traditional activism has shown to bring about change in the real world by tackling issues at hand in reality,rather than debating on them in a Facebook Group.

This use of social media in this movement is perhaps one of the most impactful methods of online political protests known to date due it to its far-reaching scope and heavy reliance on online communication and organization between activists. These internet-based protests soon spread to the offline world and helped shape the entirety of the Arab Spring both in the eyes of its participants and those watching from around the world. However, the internet and its help reach much farther than just this one example. Previous North Korean citizens have also used the platform to express the mistreatment of its citizens, allowing their once hushed voices to be heard on a global scale. Sites like YouTube host a vast array of videos with North Koreans detailing the trauma experienced during their time in the autocratic

Gladwell also believes “social media can’t provide what social change has always required" (402) because it can’t provide strong bones and strong leaders. Gladwell is saying that the sense of leadership and complete trust is necessary for things that demand big risk to happened. It’s all about sacrifice and what people are willing to give up for

As technology develops rapidly in the modern society, the broad social influence it brings is also widely discussed, especially about its effects on social change. In the past, social movements were raised without the help of technology, specifically without social media, whereas social media has recently played a non-ignorable role. The connection between social media and social activisms concerned, here come some different voices. Few people maintain that social media now has no practical influence on social change, while others hold the opposite view, thinking social media is already a crucial factor in it. Personally speaking, I agree with the second kind of view: it is true that social media is not able to create social movements by itself in today’s world, but it plays an important and essential part in making real social change.

This essay discusses the impact of Twitter on the public contribution into political social movements. Firstly, I explain the globalization along with global media. Followed by media convergence and how it affects the networked individualism. Basically, I search for Twitter and the relations between online communication and political movements also known as protests. Since there are limited studies on the effects of Twitter on political social movements in Egypt, United States and Turkey, this research aims to fill the gap by exploring the globalization that develops the technology and the increase in public contribution by using social media, especially Twitter during the protests in these countries.

Society has changed over the years. One social change in society would be social media. Being able to share opinions so freely has become a hot topic in today’s news. For example, social media not only allows gateways to others confidential information but it also serves as a way for terrorist to send threats that can be seen by the public. With social media, comes technology which creates new possibilities. Computer technology; shrinks the world by decreasing time and distance between sources of information. It improves medical care with quick diagnostic and treatment information through video consultation, and increases educational learning options and workplace options.