Social Media Activism In The Civil Rights Movement

Social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, have allowed their users to stay connected with others more than ever before. Although, when it comes to social and political activism, these sites are the least effective method for change. The creation of these social media sites has made many people believe that, by spreading their “knowledge” and information to their followers and fellow networkers, they can easily solve an issue that has risen in society; however, Malcolm Gladwell, staff member of The New Yorker magazine, disagrees. In his essay, Gladwell opens with a description of the Greensboro sit-ins. He emphasizes how effectively members participating

In his article “Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted”, published in the New York Times on October 2010, Malcolm Gladwell looks closely into the notion of social change and the different means to achieve it. He makes a clear distinction between traditional activism, which implies sacrifices and physical devotion, and current activism, based on social networks. The writer considers that “social media can’t provide what social change has always required” (Gladwell, paragraph 1).

Malcolm Gladwell’s article "Small Change: Why the Revolution Will not be Tweeted" raises a significant question about the prospective contribution of web-based social networking to the advent of progressive social movement and change. Gladwell bold declaration that "the revolution will not be tweeted" is reflective of his view that social media has no useful application in serious activism. Contrasting various elements of the “high-stakes” lunch-counter protests in Greensboro, North Carolina in the 1960’s with the “low-stakes” activism achieved through social media, Gladwell concludes that effective social movements powerful enough to impose change on longstanding societal forces require both “strong ties” among participants and the

Based upon the high-risk actions of the Civil Rights Movement, Gladwell asserts that true social change occurs through physical reform and activism, which does not require social media, because tweeting involves low risk activism with little personal connection unless people use social media as a tool to connect and collaborate towards high-risk causes.

The New Yorker had a piece called, “Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted,” by Malcolm Gladwell in the magazine on October 4, 2010. Overall the piece discussed social activism that occurred in the 1960’s to the era when social media took a more prominent role in everyday life. He explains the role of social media and social activism through examples of past protests and how it was said that social media was a tool that has reinvented social activism. He also explains the differences between both social media and hierarchies. Others can argue over both topics but the evidence used to back up Gladwell’s claims, made it clear for myself to agree that social media hasn’t made as big of an impact as other might think.

Walter Payton famously said “We are stronger together than we are alone”. In Malcolm Gladwell’s article “Small Change- Why the Revolution Will Not be Tweeted”, Gladwell discusses the pros and cons of a situation in which social activism is amplified when combined with social media. Throughout his article he states various reasons why social media would not be an effective way to get people to be involved in a large-scale revolution. He also provides a lot of examples that show why social media is not a good platform to start a revolution. By using historical examples, the “strong tie” phenomenon, and through his constant skeptic tone desiring to uncover the truth, Gladwell effectively persuades his readers that social media has had more of a bad influence on social activism than beneficial one.

The civil-rights movement was a crucial, strategic, high-risk activism. A big challenge to establish with precision and discipline; for example, the N.A.A.C.P. (The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) with Martin Luther King Jr., the unquestionably authority. All in which was in full control and well organized. Which is a difference between social media not having a kind of hierarchical organization. Social media has no really control, making not safe and less effective.

In “Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted,” Malcolm Gladwell argues that social change like the change that was brought about by the Civil Rights Movement from the 1960’s cannot be achieved through social media. Gladwell reasoning about social change not being achieved through social media is because the way on how there is not a centralized leadership structure, the fact that everyone has an equal say and how activist was once defined by their causes, now they are defined by their tools, has a meaning on why social change cannot be achieved because of social media. Neither strong nor weak ties, would bring a social change, the more ties there, increased the number of high risk activism, the only component of an established centralized leadership can fluctuate to create a social change.

The article How the Bundys’ social media machine fed their political movement by Lindsey Bever on The Washington Post discusses how social media was a driving force in the Bundys’ Occupation of the Oregon Wildlife Sanctuary (2016). The Bundys’ used social media to communicate with their followers and as a call to arms in times of need. In addition, they used social media to promote their cause, to support local ranching and lessen the government’s possession of land. In the article, communications professor Phil Howard states, “It’s very difficult to have a modern political movement without a social media strategy” to emphasize the influence of social media in social movements. After a lull in social media activity, the Bundys came back to protest the prosecution of Dwight and Steven Hammond, who were ranchers who committed acts of arson on public land in 2012 (Bever, 2016). This lead them to react and occupy a building on a wildlife sanctuary in Oregon. After a period of time, the F.B.I. stepped in to shut down the occupation of the wildlife sanctuary, this lead to the arrests of many members and the death of one, LaVoy Finicum. After Finicum was shot, his daughter used Facebook to confirm his death. Fearing a raid, later a man used Finicum’s YouTube channel to also announce his death and make another call to arms. Finally, they used social media to issue a stand down. The usage of social media was near imperative to the Bundys’ cause and

Group diversity provides new information and reduces the possibility of group failure. Gladwell indicates that group diversity affects the performance of decision making. He declares, “With Facebook and Twitter and the like, the traditional relationship between political authority and popular will has been upended, making it easier for the powerless to collaborate, coordinate, and give voice to their concerns”(Gladwell 232). Phrases “the powerless” and “political authority” refer to the minority and the majority respectively. Facebook and Twitter make it available for the minority to challenge the majority. Social media provides a platform where ordinary people—no matter who are in power or not—are able to express their opinions freely by sharing their ideas with friends, and even with strangers whom they have little or no acquaintance with. They do not just support the candidates but disagree with candidates’ political ideas by pointing out the drawbacks. This makes the political authority reflect on their decisions and come up with deliberate schemes. Thus, social media inverts the position between the political authority and the powerless. Similarly, Surowiecki mentions the essential role that

Don’t you see the #BLM movement trending and wonder how it started? And how social media had a positive impact on the black lives matter movement.How the simple hashtag turned into a national conversation. How social media actually had a huge impact on the movement. Last but not least the three women who co-founded the hashtag.

Can social media promote civic engagement and collective actions? All groups admitted that they use social media technologies to communicate with citizens almost every day. Respondents also believe that social media enable them to accomplish their advocacy and organizational goals across a range of specified activities. Civic engagement works on making a difference in the civic life of our communities and developing the combination of knowledge, skills, values and motivation to make a difference and quality of life in the community (Dreyer and Ziebarth, 2014)

The nature of human rights campaigns in modern day American contains within it a use of social media. The way that humans interact today is predominantly through use of social media including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and a plethora of other options. It cannot be denied that the findings of the Walaski study that social media is an immediate source of communication (1) is true, as qualitative research methods have shown. Incorporating By providing insights and advice on the best ways that human rights advocates can make effective use of the social media at their disposal, improvements can be made in the outcomes of human rights campaigns in modern day America. The Kalai study in 2014 found that most people believe that human rights is an important part of modern society (234), and the study found that through social media, more people became educated about what human rights involved. This is supplemented by a study led by Ford in 2014 which found that more people use social media for their news than any other source (44). From the survey methods used by both Kalai and Ford’s studies, we know that human rights ' activist group leaders ' need to incorporate this surge of social media into their outreach methods to spread their cause. Due to its popularity, social media has the innate ability to reach a large number of people very quickly and, as Dutt and Rasul discovered in a 2014 study, proper use of social media can result in

In the past decade, a tool has emerged that is used to connect millions of people throughout the globe, spreading ideas, opinions, and information instantaneously. This tool, which has revolutionized communication between human beings, is social media. Social media has become a forum for discussion about a broad spectrum of topics, including a very prominent one: social justice. This subject and all of its facets are discussed heavily on platforms like Facebook and Twitter, but whether these social networks have the power to effectively achieve social change is extremely controversial. Journalists and academics Malcolm Gladwell, Melissa Wall, Sahar El Zahad, and Clay Shirky, all

With the influx of social media use, the way activism is conducted also has to adapt to the changing times. It is so easy for students, leaders, and other individuals to tweet or post about their political view or support for a movement. President Trump has used twitter as one of his biggest social media platforms. The biggest question now is if social media activism works?