preview

Summary Of Small Change By Malcolm Gladwell

Decent Essays
Open Document

In his article, “Small Change", Malcolm Gladwell claims through his use of acknowledging the counterclaim, sequencing, and juxtapositioning that although social media seems to have reinvented true activism and produces small change, its weak ties and hierarchy shows how it is not true activism and does not bring huge change. In the middle of his article, Gladwell builds his credibility by acknowledging the counterclaim. After saying that social media platforms promote weak ties between people that do not normally associate with each other face to face, he takes note that there are advantages to weak ties and agrees saying, “Our acquaintances - not our friends - are our greatest source of new ideas and information . . . it is terrific at the …show more content…

For instance, in the beginning of his article, Gladwell tells the details of an event that happened in Greensboro, North Carolina in which in response to being refused to be served at a Woolworth's lunch counter, four African American college students protested against the business and started a trend of sit-ins throughout cities and states. These sit-ins caused thousands to be arrested and “became a civil-rights war that engulfed the South for the rest of the decade" (Gladwell). Continuing later in his article, Gladwell elaborates about the Facebook page of the Save Darfur Coalition in which despite having 1,282,339 members, the average donation is nine cents per person. In response, Gladwell states that, “Facebook activism succeeds . . . by motivating them to do the things people do when they are not motivated enough to make a real sacrifice. We are a long way from the lunch counters of Greensboro" (Gladwell). In making this comment, Gladwell argues that people who participate in social activism via social media are not making an enormous contribution to a problem, as shown by the minuscule donations made by the members of the Save Darfur Coalition Facebook page, compared to the momentous, impactful actions of the protesters who fought for their civil rights in Greensboro, North Carolina. In this case, Gladwell strategically sequenced his argument by presenting the Greensboro story at the beginning so readers would think logically and understand his perspective of why the social activists on Facebook are doing much less, concealed behind their computer screens and giving little, than the activists who took part in high-risk activism and attacked serious social norms and was met with violence. For this reason, readers can see how social media has a weak sense of motivation to create a deep impact on a serious problem due to how there is no organization,

Get Access