Small Change Gladwell Analysis

Social Media is a Weak Tie

In the article “Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted” by Malcolm Gladwell, Gladwell tackles the issue of social media and social activism. Social Media, according to Gladwell, is not an efficient method of causing change in the world. Social media websites, like twitter and Facebook, are not tools that should be used for creating demonstrations or any other form of social activism, because they are not effective. This idea is proven through the examples of the A. & T. sit-ins, and the Moldova “twitter” revolution of 2009, where Gladwell uses pathos, ethos and logos to make this argument. Gladwell begins his argument by talking about the A&T college students who started a sit-in. This sit in took …show more content…
The first example is when one of the students says “I’d like one cup of coffee, please” and get the response “ We don’t serve Negroes here” (Gladwell 399). This plays on emotional appeal because the reader now feels empathy for the students for not being able to get a cup of coffee simply because of their skin color. This first statement put the reader on the side of the African Americans who are protesting. Later on, Gladwell talks more about the environment the students are in to appeal to the reader's emotional side, stating that “ White teenagers wove confederate flags, someone even threw a firecracker” (Gladwell 400). This is done because the confederate flag, for most Americans today, has a negative connotation to it, and it makes the reader empathize for the students, again, in the sit in. Gladwell goes on the use logos, appeal to logic, to continue his argument. Gladwell mainly uses logos in this first example to show that the sit ins were a success. The four students sparked a civil moment and this eventually lead to 16 sit-ins throughout the south ( Gladwell 409). This is logical because naturally if more and more sit-ins are being organized it shows that they are making a difference, because logically it would not make sense to continue to organize them is they were not making a …show more content…
This shows that social media sites, such as Twitter, are not strong ties. He is showing that “social media may raise participation by lessening the level of motivation that participation requires” (Gladwell 408). He is saying that activism is more than just joining a Facebook group, but because social media only creates weak ties, people are less likely to really go out and create change. Gladwell also uses logos, or logic, to prove his point. Everyone was calling Moldova a twitter revolution, but he refuted this by proving few, or very little, people in Moldova even have created a twitter account (Gladwell 403). Using this logic, the reader now knows this was not in fact a twitter revolution, proving that social media only creates weak ties. Although this information is presented fairly throughout the article, Gladwell does use some fallacies while talking about the Moldova revolution. Gladwell uses the fallacy Ad Hominem when he says “Are Facebook users our best hope for change. This argument is directed at the users of Facebook and not their position, making it a

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