Small Change Gladwell Summary

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

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