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The role of social media in social movements
Impacts Of Social Media
Impacts Of Social Media
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Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram are essential parts of every individual in todays day and age. The article Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted declares that people do not need social media to unfurl peoples quarrels around a large group. for example when the students ordered sit ins during the war against segregation. The world now is not how it used to be in the past, were individuals did not have TV or computers to rely on for news. Malcolm Gladwell asserts that all of the new technology is unnecessary to keep people informed of a certain subjects. For example when Hitler was killing the jewish religion in Germany. Not only was that something of extreme importance, but if we did not have technology or social media could one have ever known about it. Malcolm makes comments about Facebook, MTV, and Google assuming that people could write whatever they want and consider it as news. Nevertheless if one ignores things that individuals alleges on the web and you think it’s a rip-off, could we be able to help anyone?. If little Johnny's mother decided to make a web page to help her son with all of the medical care for his cancer treatments, would you believe it or just ignore her and assume it’s just another swindle. If there was no social media could a lot of people even know that there is a young child out there who is dying because his family can not afford to pay all of the procedures the hospital performs. Another case that Malcolm relates to in the article is how dangerous people like Al Qaeda are left stuck in Web 101 because the internet is now about interactivity and conversation. Terrorist are left in the dust when it come to new social media. Think about it, would we even know that there are people like Al Qaeda and Osam... ... middle of paper ... ... to campaigns against segregation. That is why I disagree with Malcolm's assertions. The true question is WHY DOES IT MATTER?. It matters since people these day think that hitting a like button will change the globe we live in. Rather than taking action and gathering a group of people with the same interest to raid the roads with flyers and poster in addition to make a change. Our society has become too lazy with backing up the laws we are against or that seem unfair. Honestly what is a tweet going to do but just get likes and retweets for popularity. Take action Americans and fight with the pride and honor our founding fathers fought with to give us the rights we now enforce with a passion. Most important make sure we use the tools we have today, but also take action and hit someone in the face (not literally) in order to protect equality and the future generations.
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
Gladwells misguided view of social networking is a fundamental error that echoes itself throughout his essay. Social networking websites are not meant to be a form of organization; instead they are designed to be an effective means of communication. Comparing a social site like Twitter to a reform oriented organization like the NAACP is equatable to comparing a telephone to a local branch of government. They are clearly not the same thing and obviously perform two very different functions. Hence, an effective comparison of these two very different tools is practically im...
They will use tactics to keep people coming back to their websites, and there is nothing wrong with that as long as we are aware of these Megaphonic tendencies. Just like in Saunders’ essay, there is a dumbing down in social media as well. Social media can be very stimulating too, so we need to be aware of the time we spend when using it. All the things we see and hear can give us a skewed perception of what is going on in the world; it’s hard to say the things we see and hear are even true. Saunders said that the enemy here is us, so if we are going to use these social media websites, then we should use them as tools instead of a braindead playground. We should quit wasting our time with those loud obnoxious megaphones and turn ours down. Switch the intelligence of our megaphones to high and use these social media websites in a positive manner. The best type of social media wouldn’t be a specific one, but one that can be beneficial for us one way or
Perez, Sarah. "Tipping Point Author Malcolm Gladwell Says Facebook, Twitter Won't Lead to Social Change." ReadWrite.com. ReadWrite, 4 Oct. 2010. Web. 27 Feb. 2014.
In Stephens article, he tells how “Social media could serve as a source of live, raw information. It could summon people to the streets and coordinate their movements in real time. And it could swiftly push back against spurious media narratives with the force of a few thousand retweets”. He explains how technology can be used to push to change problems in our society and encourage us to get up and do something about it. Being able to use our capabilities if technology to fullest is “A huge reason for all this success is that, perhaps more than any other modern American protest movement, they’ve figured out how to marshal today’s tools”. In McKinnon’s explanation, she states how “To their credit, some companies such as Apple, Microsoft, Google and Facebook have joined forces with civil liberties groups in an attempt to persuade the Obama administration not to push anti-encryption measures that would enable government and law enforcement officials to access our secure communications”. This is goes with how technology can be used to make a difference just like what Stephen was saying in order to inform people on what’s going on. McKinnon explains how our social media servers have also taken a disagreement on invading our private lives. As it stands, any individual or
“Small Change” by Malcolm Gladwell is an essay that describes how technology has changed social movements. “Is Google Making us Stupid?” by Nicholas Carr is an essay that describes how technology has made people have declining cognitive abilities. Both of these articles are about how people are using technology to accomplish tasks and goals they set to achieve. In my essay I’m going to compare the two essays and see where they excel and where they fail to expand their essay. Gladwell discusses the difference of how people protest or raise support in today’s society compared to how people did this before Facebook or the internet.
Malcolm Gladwell, a published author and staffed writer for The New Yorker since 1996, argues in his article “Small Change” that social media will not have a great impact on social change, and might even be demolishing the necessary tools that high-action activism has always been reliant on. Gladwell attempts to speak out to warn our current technological society, specifically to the young adults who frequent social media more than other ages. Gladwell highlights an event from 1960 when four college women from North Carolina A. & T. were denied service because of their race, and turned to protest as they sat at the lunch counter, refusing to move. The movement of sit-ins spread and grew until eventually seventy thousand students across the South were united in protest, without the use of technological communication. He focuses on the idea that this protest, like many others before the use of social media, was formed on the idea of strong bonds between real friendships, and not just loose relationships between acquaintances. But if we were to combine the key concepts Gladwell highlights that are needed within protests
In my opinion, social media is a way to bring the world closer and an assertion of consumer choice can be used for promoting issues that matter. A human rights activist can make an unknown story reach hundreds of thousands of people by the ‘simple click of a button’.
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
Social media has a variety of platforms, allowing individuals to freely articulate their opinions to a large audience. This tool has it’s benefits as people can join together to raise awareness to certain matters but there is also a cruel downside to the public use of social media. In Jon Ronson’s article, “How One Stupid Tweet Blew Up Justine Sacco’s Life”, he distinctly reveals that the use of social media for debate/dissent/social and political change brings together a large audience to improve our society in difference to trolling, bullying and public shaming where there is an outstanding victim looked down upon through a widespread of individuals. These two differences stem from the belief of one that they are informing an individual of their wrong doing they are in fact leading on a greater attack than intended. The concept behind“social media is so perfectly designed to manipulate
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.
As our world evolves, more and more people every day jump onto the social media train. Many people are advocates of social media because it helps them communicate. However, other people oppose the use of social media because they question its credibility. Social media’s credibility played a big role in the Boston bombing events that took place on April 15th, 2013. Two bombs went off at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three people and injuring over 200 others (Ziv). Thus, as herds of people were rushed to the hospital or evacuated, the manhunt for the criminal responsible went on for the rest of the week. As time went on, law enforcement identified the suspects as brothers—Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. As the search narrowed
In mere minutes, any active user can access information and associations regarding various causes, such as the riots happening in Egypt and the Middle East. Teenagers, in the Middle East, used their Facebook accounts to campaign the “Day of Rage” in Saudi Arabia. Helping to set the Arab riots in motion, the event demanded elections, freedom for women, and the liberation of political prisoners. The activists’ goals to bring democracy to Egypt and removing Hosni Mubarak, Egypt’s fourth president from 1981 to 2011, still continue and perhaps with the assistance of Facebook they will accomplish these ambitions. The causes campaigned through Facebook have served as a fundraise...
Social media can be used in our days as a very helpful tool for many things in changing any person’s life ant attitude. It has a positive impact on the society level. These media will keep the person socially active and open to all what happened in the world. Sharing the latest news, photos, finding new friends and knowing the culture. Also, it allows for millions to keep in touch with each other and update for all the new technology. And, it helps people who have difficulties in communication with others to be more socialized and stronger and develop more confidence to feel more comfortable, protected and relaxed just sitting behind a screen. “It saved me time and money without ever requiring me to leave the house; it salvaged my social life, allowed me to conduct interviews as a reporter and kept a lifeline open to my far-flung extended family” says Leonard(231).
Bhardwaj 1 Think of a time when people didn’t have technology and how they had to interact, whether it had been from writing letters to using telegraphs, communicating with people was hard to come by back then. Of course, times have changed and now technology has made it easier over the years, social media has become an essential part of our lives whether it be on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and many other websites. Nowadays, everybody is using it whether its companies using media to promote their products or even teachers tweeting out what last night’s homework was. Social media is a great tool that helps us connect with the world and communicate our ideas. Yet there are some people who believe that social media has a negative impact towards our society as they believe that people can get addicted to it, it causes them to get easily distracted, and many other dangers.