R8: Activism and Social Media

In Malcom Gladwell's Small Change he argues that social media is not an effective tool for activism. His reasoning is based on activism in the 60s and the differences between Facebook petition signing. Gladwell's stance is that activism in the 60s called for strong ties and high risks while Facebook and Twitter only encourage weak ties and low risks. 

I disagree with Gladwell because based on my own experiences with activist movements encourage through social media, I believe the opposite. I think social media activism encourages strong ties because it's used as a tool to make people show up and band together, just like the activism Gladwell describes in Greensboro in the 60s. I think Gladwell misses the point of social media movements. It isn;t always signing petitions. And even if it was, the spread of knowledge about these issues is still very profound. When more people are exposed to an issue, even if they don't necessarily "take action" they are still better informed. 

In regards to my own experiences, after participating in the Women's March and various Black Lives Matter events, I can definitely attest to the strong ties social media creates. 

The purpose of movements being posted in social media is to spread the word, fast, and to a lot of people you wouldn't be able to reach in person. When informed people, who identify with and support these issues see these posts, they're encouraged to show up and participate because they see how many people are joining in as well. It motivates people to come together, not just in social media but physically as well. Even though it may seem like a passive, small act to retweet something or add to a hashtag, it still matters in the bigger scheme of things too. As Deray Mckesson states in his interview, Building Tools for Digital Activism "I know that telling the truth is often a tough act, no matter where you tell that truth. I think that's important. I think that we'll continue to see the platforms push and redefine the way we organize."

I do believe that social media helps movements reach their goals because one basic mission of every movement is to bring awareness and expose more people to their cause. Social media is the perfect addition to activism because of this. With the use of platforms like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and so on, movements are able to reach vast amounts of people in the fraction of the time. The ability to post and create free videos and images on every platform is also a huge advantage. 

Gladwell, Malcom. “Small Change.” The New Yorker, October 4, 2010. http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/10/04/small-change-malcolm-gladwell.

Mckesson, Deray, and Opam, Kwame. Building Tools for Digital Activism, November 29, 2016. https://www.theverge.com/a/verge-2021/deray-mckesson-interview-black-lives-matter-digital-activism.