The Impact of the Internet and Social Media on Activism

To build his argument, he ties in similar examples from history that involve either social or political activism. Not only does he connect these examples to the “weak ties” that the platforms of social media are built upon, but he also offers insight to his readers, the general public, and social-networking gurus (Gladwell 551). In his essay, “Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted”, Gladwell creates a rhetorically effective argument that illustrates why social networking is not an adequate way to conduct social or political activism.

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).

In the 21st century if the revolution is not tweeted, is it still a revolution? Many say the revolution will not be televised but it will be tweeted. In “Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted,” by Malcolm Gladwell, he provides us with an argument on how social media has an impact on activism. Gladwell discusses how social media will not spur the next revolution because it has changed the way protests form. The protests went from small, high-risk acts formed by people whose purpose was close to their heart to a low-risk act with an enormous amount of people who may hardly know each other. Although interesting, Gladwell’s article fails to prove today’s revolution will not be tweeted.

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).

Writing 150 aims to give you the skills you need to cogently and authoritatively express your ideas as a full-fledged member of the academy, a community of writers, thinkers, and scholars who expect their colleagues to think critically, read actively, communicate their ideas thoughtfully and effectively, and participate in ongoing intellectual conversations. In order to achieve this goal, WRIT150 teaches writing as a process. We will, over the course of the semester, focus on various stages of this process. You will learn strategies for invention, or generating ideas, for effectively arranging those ideas, and for conscientiously adopting a style, as well as techniques for revision. All the while the course will help you to critique arguments and develop your capacity for analysis and argumentation. Our thematic – Technology and Social Change – will serve as a point of focus and shared conversation.

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?”

Starting in mid-July a trend began to take over social media websites such as Facebook and Instagram. All of a sudden one day I wake up and while viewed my feed in Instagram, I noticed people throwing buckets full of ice water over their heads. As the days went by, the people were no longer strangers, but little by little I started noticing co-workers and close friends doing the same. Out of curiosity I began to read the video’s descriptions wondering what this was all about. The descriptions were all full of hash tags that read, #icebucketchallenge, #alsicebucketchallenge, and #strikeoutals. With more research, I discovered that the ice bucket challenge as they called it is done to raise money and awareness

In his opening paragraph of “Reforming Egypt in 140 Characters,” Dennis Baron acknowledges the role of Twitter and other huge forms of social media in the impeachment of the the Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak. However, Baron then points out that the protest continues in Cairo despite the government's shut down of the internet. He says, “that while the Iran protests may have been tweeted round the world, there were few Twitter users actually in-country; and that although Americans can't seem to survive without the constant

The advent of social networking platforms in the mid-1990s revolutionized the way we communicate. Founded in 2006, Twitter is a particularly unique platform that expands and accelerates our means of communication. In this essay, I examine Twitter's infrastructure with respect to Marshall McLuhan's "The Medium is the Message" and Roland Barthes' "Myth Today." I also cite Dhiraj Murthy's Social Communication in the Twitter Age and Bala A. Musa and Jim Willis' From Twitter to Tahrir Square: Ethics in Social and New Media Communication in my investigation of Twitter's impact on social participation and activism. Through my analyses, I argue that Twitter's infrastructure expands and accelerates our means of communication. I also argue that Twitter

Technology and social media have led to advancements in medicine, transportation, and communication. Stem cell research, for example, is a major medical advancement allowing developments in stem cell therapies. With that there is no question about whether or not technology has changed life as people know it. But as far as major social changes, social media has not assisted in advancing very much. Social activism is unable to be accomplished through technology and social media because it can be easily edited and manipulated to satisfy one's sense of reality, and it allows us to passively participate in society. Based on “Small Change” by Malcolm Gladwell it is argued that social media is self serving and is not responsible for social activism in the world because of its weak ties rather than strong ties. And in relation “The Influencing Machine” by Brooke Gladstone and Josh Neufeld also insinuates that social media is self serving and is something that

Kassim, S. (2012). Twitter revolution: How the Arab Spring was helped by social media. Retrieved from http://www.policymic.com/articles/10642/twitter-revolution-how-the-arab-spring-washelped-bysocial-media

Many Americans believe social media is making people waste their time by making us less productive while molding our daily activities as a stumbling block from all the distractions that it gives us. What about our collective life? How are we even going to find out about anyone that requires our help, along with our ways to assist others within that matter? Social media is an essential tool to promote true and lasting social change; because it is easily accessible to everyone worldwide. This is for the reason that is making us all come together, by giving us the ability to stay in contact. Three main points that demonstrate that social media encourages social change are: instigating political change, sharing information not address by the mass media, and communicating online to promote social causes.

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.

Furthermore, Smidi and Shahin (2017) argue that massive and well organised demonstrations, such as those seen in the 2011 uprisings in the Arab World, were not possible previously in those countries without the use of social media. Admittedly, the role of these media was extremely important from the

When referring to using social media within political protest and rally, the first event that came up to most people’s mind is the Arab spring from 2010. With Twitter, real-life live information can be spread easily. Moreover, with the hashtag feature, protestants can easily form temporary group and access to information with regard to specific topics