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Malcolm Gladwell Small Change Summary

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In Malcolm Gladwell’s article, “Small Change,” found in The New Yorker talks of activism and its development into modern day society is targeted. Through the details of examples that happened in the real world, a sense of reality and importance is placed on the activism. By saying that “High-risk activism...is a ‘strong-tie’ phenomenon” (Gladwell, 2018, p. 2), the article places importance on the activism that deals with physical human interaction. The essay opposes that social media enforces activism and its power by saying that, “the platforms of social media are built around weak ties” (Gladwell, 2018, p. 4). While informed social media users contribute to heightened awareness and activism, some respondents may “like” the page without understanding …show more content…

Before social media, social activism was read from newspapers and heard on the radio. Modern day, if people want to take part in social movements they can view the movements page on Facebook or visit their website. With the help of the internet, news can spread to more people and gather more support with the number of followers. The issue with social media activism is that the people will like the movement’s page, but do nothing further. This leads to a false front on the data collected through the online pages versus the action that was actually seen in the past. If people would not have joined those events, there would not be an article to read today. By having worthy causes and fairly easy ways to help, the protests and campaigns all conquered what they were made for and did their duty. By the repetition of these events, one understands that the importance is placed on the activism. With the development of social media, activism has skyrocketed and the knowledge of social movements is widely known. The contrasting events, such as the four young men’s boycott versus the Bhatia campaign, all help give the reader more ways to understand the activism. The oddity of the last story leaves readers with a thought of their own, everyday lives and how they can see activism in their world. Social media has many perks in the world of social activism that can lead to advances in the modern

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