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Small Change Gladwell Summary

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In the article Small Change by Malcolm Gladwell he expresses his opinion upon how activism is dead, and “weak tied” social media activism is trying to take its place but is not strong enough nor efficient to takes it place. Gladwell’s actual thesis buried behind historical examples and personal thoughts appears on page… stating. “ f”. Weak ties, like the ones present in social media networks, “seldom lead to low-risk activism.” The author’s definition of a “weak tie” are associations that, while allowing people to “give voice to their concerns,” do not elicit individuals to take action; whereas a "strong tie" is one that allows people to bring about significant social change because of a deeply vested personal relationship. Also arguing …show more content…

In the sixties activism was handled through personal sit ins and throwing yourself into the direct line of fire of controversy, now activism has become you show if you support or disagree by a push of a button. The new wave of technology has been said to benefit the world, giving us tools that will improve our methods of activism, but to Gladwell that is not the case. To him, and many others, social activism has in a sense become the easy way out or low risk meaning you show support but not enough to actual make a difference. Social networking has created weak ties that allow the population to come together and discuss effortlessly. Where as back in the sixties the NAACP needed to create strong personal contacts in order to make even a splash in the civil rights movement. In this article Gladwell makes sure to clearly define his thesis by also acknowledging that not all technology is bad. In fact recognizing that social media is a great way to motivate and inspire while also educating with new ideals, he just thinks that activism through social media is not the same. Gladwell also disagrees with social media activism because there is no structure, and is held together by “weak ties”. Mentioned in his article, social media has no form or organization that is controlled or regulated there is no real sense of authority, and nothing truly gets done like it did with the

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He asserts that the weak ties made through virtual connections are not enough, and it takes genuine, real-world connections to make an activist group committed enough to jeopardize their lives and well-being. Gladwell urges that because of the media, people who are marching for a cause are not forced to bond together as they undergo risks. The individual can donate a dollar or post a hash-tag on Twitter to show their contribution, and remain detached from the actual

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A journalist, and a magazine writer, Malcolm Gladwell is the author of The Tipping Point. Appealing to the common people is the main purpose of Gladwell’s book as it leads to the rapid increase in its popularity. He believes that little things create change, something that can be seen as common sense. Although Gladwell is able to gather a large number of readers and followers, he is unable to reach to people other than the common people. Gladwell is successful in manipulating the readers by playing with their emotions and by providing an immense amount of examples; he lacks credibility and attempts to use numbers to prove his point.

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