Relationships between people affect and complicate everything in the world, from the most trivial to the most important things. In his essay “Small Change, Why the revolution will not be tweeted.” Malcolm Gladwell discusses relationships between people and how it affects activism, and particularly how it has changed over the past 50 years. Human relationships complicate the outcomes of activist initiatives in many different kinds of ways. Strong relationships between fellow activists indicates a strong activist movement. The relationship between activists and their opponents is also important and can make, or break, an initiative. A system of organization and hierarchy among a group is crucial to a successful operation.
Every successful activist
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One of the biggest distinctions between successful activism and unsuccessful activism is how the movement is organized. If the movement is just a group of interconnected people with no system of authority, otherwise known as a network, it is more likely to fail. However an activist initiative that has a system or organization in which some people are ranked above others, also known as a hierarchy, is much more likely to succeed.“Networks are the opposite, in structure and character, of hierarchies. Unlike hierarchies, with their rules and procedures, networks aren’t controlled by a single central authority. Decisions are made through consensus, and the ties that bind people to the group are loose.” (Gladwell 139) The reason networks do not work is because it is very hard to organize anything meaningful without a central authority to oversee it Sure a network can organize a small, low risk event that people can easily participate in, but when it comes to organizing high risk, well thought out protests, networks are almost completely worthless. That’s because high risk events need plenty of planning to carry out, something that a network is unable to do. In order to organize a high risk event, there needs to be someone of authority in charge, who will make the tough calls required to plan something of that magnitude. Networks don’t have this person. There is no person of authority in a network, everyone is virtually an equal. Since there is no person above everyone else, there is also no person who has the responsibility of someone in charge. Meaning that there is no person who will make the difficult decisions needed to successfully organize anything of note. Networks aren’t good at getting important things done. And important things need to get done for any movement to be successful.
In conclusion, Carr and Gladwell’s essays have proven that the internet positive effects are outweighed by its negative effects. Carr has found he is unable to finish a full text anymore or concentrate. He thinks that the internet has taken our natural intelligence and turned it into artificial intelligence. Gladwell discusses how nowadays, social activism doesn’t have the same risk or impact as former revolutions such as the Civil Rights Movement. The internet is mostly based on weak ties based among people who do not truly know each other and would not risk their lives for their
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 presence of a hierarchical organizations. In contrast, Gladwell characterizes the social networks as an interwoven web of "weak ties" that is inherently devoid of a hierarchy. Gladwell’s prerequisites for social movement are firmly based in strong body of sociological evidence, but his views regarding the nature of online social networks are laughably lacking in foresight and obstructed by a misleadingly selective body of evidence.
Existing within the movement must be a leader or leaders, as well as a large number of committed followers or members. Additionally, social movements have “organizations or coalitions” working as a guiding backbone for collectivity and regulation (Stewart,
Malcom Gladwell, is an author of numerous New York Times Best Sellers, who uses several techniques in his writing to clarify and support his argument. Gladwell’s techniques are using stories to appeal to the reader’s emotions. Using scientific facts and research to logically strengthen his argument. Also, writing about controversial issues to establish credibility with the readers. These techniques are found in “Offensive Play”, “Small Change”, and “Harlan, Kentucky”, works by Gladwell.
... can take power away from regimes successfully, but there are very few ways a regime and even a violent campaign can take power away a nonviolent movement effectively and without failing in the long term.
People are uncomfortable with internet technology. In his essay, Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted, Malcolm Gladwell states the rise of technology and social media use in our society leads to less effort being expended on important causes. Nicholas Carr continues Gladwell’s opinion of the deterioration that the internet causes. In his essay Is Google Making Us Stupid he quotes Richard Foreman saying “we risk becoming ‘pancake people’ spread wide and thin,” and implies the internet is an unnecessary crutch that weakens us. Though not everyone is under the impression that the internet causes an intellectual deterioration, some are concerned it helps dangerous causes. In the article, “Terror on Twitter,”
Gladwell strongly believes that activism was viewed in a much different way before technology took over the world. In the 1960’s protests, and boycotts spread rapidly but usually only among friends. Today, information spreads to thousands of people in seconds due to social media. Gladwell believes traditional activism formed strong-ties whereas today 's movements and protests form weak-ties because of social media. People are motivated when they have close friends with them in a movement, not just through a text message. As Gladwell states, “where activists were once defined by their causes, they are now defined by their tools.” (Gladwell 408) Gladwell believes these tools can’t really help a social activism movement, but he does acknowledge the speed of social media networks. But, without news and social media how will the information spread? Anything placed on the internet can be broadcasted to a large audience within seconds. Gladwell writes: “Social networks are effective at increasing participation—by lessening the level of motivation that participation requires.” (Gladwell 408) Gladwell makes a good point but how will the motivation ever be there without people receiving information? Nevertheless social media has many flaws, but with other tools
When we think of the word “Protest,” we may think of the events that have happened recently. Egypt, Turkey, Libya and other countries where citizens have come out to the streets protesting their government. Not all protesting approaches are like this. Many, throughout history, have been based around peaceful actions. This approach was used during one of the great line of protests in American history. The Civil Rights movement. Many leaders used peace to promote their cause and promoted the passing of laws such as the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The many leaders of this movement, Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and others influenced others to join the strive for equality. One of these people that they influenced was John Lewis.
For instance, in the case study of Emelle, Alabama, the Alabamians for a Clean Environment group formed, only through the disagreement of the approaches of how Sumter Countainians Organized for Protection of the Environment was addressing the issue. One important aspect of advocacy is unification. Thus, when environmental justice groups are combating these issue within their community, they need to unite as a collective unit to enact the change they envision. A great example of a group that unified together to achieve success is the Love Canal tragedy, where the community members unified to pressure the government to act on the waste left underneath the elementary school. If there were not unified, the constituents residing around the Love Canal may not have forced the government to listen. Hence, my recommendation is for advocacy groups to learn from one another, embody off the success of one group, and collectively set a mission and outcome plan to combat these injustices. After all, Martin Luther King, a proclaimed civil rights leader once said, “there is power in unity, and there is power in
This is a movement like no other Occupy Wall Street has no known leader, they have no official set of demands of what they want. They are not sure what outcomes they want to have there is no one person who is the leader and talks for the group. Occupy Wall Street movement has been quoted saying “We are all the leader” (Gautney) Unlike the FSM movement where there were key leaders in the movement, the Occupy Wall Street movement is one that is run by the people that show up there and show their support to the movement. Another thing that separates the Occupy Wall Street movement is that each local organization that is officiated with them establishes their own goals, and practices that will work for them and the thing that they are trying to set forth in there movement. (Gautney)
Technology has had a negative impact on this generation- we have lost and forgotten many things because of it. In Malcolm Gladwell’s “Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted”, he discusses the difference between social media activism and “real” activism and the loss of human connection that he has identified. He believes that with social media activism, we lack the connections a community should have because we don’t get together in person- we are satisfied with being connected through technology. He also thinks that as time goes on, we will only get worse when referring to the ideas that we are delusional because the issues we fight about (such as getting phones taken away) aren’t as important as we think.
(Turner and Killian 1987) cited in (Diani 1992, p. 4) define social movements as a “collectivity acting with some continuity to promote or resist a change in the society or organisation of which it is part. As a collectivity a movement is a group with indefinite and shifting membership and with leadership whose position is determined more by informal response of adherents than by formal procedures for legitimizing authority”. Turner and Killian regard a social movement as a peculiar kind of collective behavior that is contrasted to regularity and institutional behavior. Additionally, Turner believes that social movements do not necessarily coincide with movement organisations, although these organisations can carry out a large part of the movement tasks and it is often help to control and speak for movements (Diani 1992).
This summer if you were on social media you heard about the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. The concept was simple, just film yourself dumping a bucket of ice water over your head, challenge your friends to do the same, and donate ten dollars to the ALS Association. Opt out and donate one hundred dollars (Madison). Many Americans did not know what ALS was and by putting this challenge on social media has brought tons awareness to this devastating disease. Activism used to be taking action to bring social change, people in the 1960s used to gather in front of community centers and protest and or speak about their issue or cause. Now even though people still gather together it is much easier to use the internet. Hundreds of social media applications
Researchers classify social movements according to the type of change they seek (Aberle, 1966, Cameron, 1966, Blumer, 1969, as cited in Macionis, 2007). According to John Macionis, a social movement is when people commonly band together to create an organized activity that encourages or discourages social change (Macionis, 2008). In the case of this radical society, Hippies were typically ...
In particular there are many groups of people who need to fight for their rights from the past like slaves and women who had no rights to gaining them to present like immigrants who fight for their right to be in America to the future, which could be so many options like abortions illegal or legal. It doesn’t matter whether they are alive at the moment or not even on the earth yet like pregnancies they should deserve the right to live too because they are part of life now. People fight for many reasons like right to be them, right to vote, right for genders to be equal, and the right to speak their mind. Activists protest to show people that it is important to fight for what they believe in and makes the caus...