The Political Power Of Social Media

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.

The Internet has been changing the world since it is created. As a part of new media, social media is a fundamental shift in the way we communicate. It has been helped to create a digital global village that 26% of the world’s population is using social media and the number is keep increasing. (Qualman, 2013) This essay will attempt to discuss how has the social media changed the public sphere, mainly focus on the improvement of public participation, social relations and information dissemination. Also Mainland China is taken as an example to show that social media enabling democracy in a developing country. Social media is also being used in good ways to spread information. There are some disadvantages to be analyzed, too. The issues like lack of privacy, social media violence and social media out of control will be discussed in this essay.

Technology is being used all across the globe in everyday life. With the development of technology, the development of social media became very popular. In “Small Change: Why the Revolution will not be Tweeted”, Malcolm Gladwell stresses that “real” revolutions do not depend on social media to be resolved or started; however, small revolutions can depend on social media or networking. Although Dennis Baron is sending the same message in “Reforming Egypt in 140 Characters?” there is one point that Baron makes that differs from that of Gladwell’s; Baron actually believes that a game changing revolution can occur with the use of social media.

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 Malcolm Gladwell’s article “Small Change: The Revolution will not be Tweeted” There is an example of large-scale change which caused by the social media there was Twitter revolution at Moldova, Iran in 2009. People started to use Twitter as a tool for protest the government and it became a huge change. This could be possible because people could argue with more confident when they stand up against government through the Social Media. The Malcolm Gladwell’s response about this kind of social event was “Social media, the traditional relationship between political authority and popular will has been upended, making I easier for the powerless to collaborate, coordinate, and give voice to their concerns” (Paragraph 7, Gladwell) Also he called

Does social media “shrink the world” by bringing us closer together? In his article Small Change, Malcom Gladwell asserts that social media might be connecting more people, but the bonds it forms allow us to stay comfortably separate and avoid impacting meaningful social reform. Gladwell makes it apparent that he believes social media and revolutions are unsuited for each other. His article, written just two months before the beginning of the Arab Spring, was written in response to what some contemporaries have dubbed, “The Twitter Revolution” in Moldova. This revolution, as well as another in Iran, was heralded as examples of the merits of social media, with some even nominating Twitter for the Nobel Peace Prize due to their belief that Twitter had played a major role in these uprisings. Gladwell writes against a sentiment of righteousness and accomplishment that advocates of social media maintain in an attempt to convince people that the true motivation behind social change is conviction. He raises the point that while it is exceedingly easy for someone to join a cause, such as hitting a ‘like’ button, it is far more effortless for them to quit. This sentiment seems to be fueled mostly by opinion, looking only at how social media did not cause revolutions and avoiding analysis regarding how

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

The main argument of the Gladwell in this article is that social media is not effective in “high-risk” activism because it lacks strong bonds and hierarchical command structure. Although he agrees that social media can bring a “limited” change which has far less consequences than the “high risk” activism and do not require a higher level of commitment. He thinks that social media is not an effective enemy of status quo.

Name: Instructor: Course: Date: Rhetorical Analysis essay “Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted.” In his article “Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted.”, the author, Malcolm Gladwell presents the readers his rhetorically effective arguments regarding the socio-political question why social networks cannot be an efficacious instrument in arranging such fundamental changes in the life of society as revolutions.

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’s 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

Gladwell provided an example of successful revolution in the past when there was no existence of social media and some current examples when social media like Facebook and Twitter were popular in most of people's daily life while they were not as useful as they were claimed to be so in the revolution. By listing these examples, the author would like to to support his statement that social media is ineffective in revolution. The first example is the revolution against the racial discrimination in Greensboro, North Carolina in 1960. The revolution started with the sit-in protest of four college students in a lunch counter. It is a typical and successful example of revolution without the help of social media. The revolution grew quickly that it

Social media has caused an uproar in recent times. Political figures such as President Trump, have used social media to embarrass himself and the country, countless people lose jobs everyday due to posts on social media, and Kids are influenced into making bad decisions because of trends. One of the major key events in all of this is the development of “Facebook”. Facebook was one of the very first platforms that allowed everyone to access it, ever since then, our modern lifestyle has been in a decline. Social media is a common tool in modern life, however, it has caused many problems, including a corruption in our political system, damaging careers, and having a negative impact on children. With social media having such a value to society today, it is crucial to correct these errors in social media.

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.

From King Street to Wall Street and from classrooms to boardrooms, there is a revolution happening and it is being driven by how we communicate with each other and by the unprecedented rise of what is commonly called “social media”. (Dictionary.com, 2014) Social Media is the use of dedicated websites and applications to interact with other users, or to find people with similar interests to one 's own. (Dictionary.com, 2014) A business, also known as an enterprise or a firm, is an organization involved in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. The historic invisible walls of the Internet are being broken down daily, locally and globally. Social media touches nearly every facet of our personal and business lives so it’s imperative for social media to be an integral part of a company’s overall strategy, a business’s overall success will be partly owed to the success of their social media use. Social media will be a business’s customer today, tomorrow, their employees and others.

Groundswell is a book that focuses on the power of social media and how businesses have to learn to harness this power to remain competitive. The book is full of practical ideas of how the groundswell works, why it is so important in today’s business world and how to use it to maximize your marketing potential. The book gives examples of how some well known companies use social networks, blogs and other online platforms to learn how customers feel about their products and also provides explicit tactics to guide companies in using the groundswell in their own businesses. I think this is a great book if you are just beginning to think about how to use digital media for your business or if you are trying to learn how to connect people with social technology. It is not a difficult read as it explains concepts and ideas in a simple and direct way. The groundswell gave me a good perspective and firm knowledge base on the untapped potential of social networks.