Twitter, Facebook, and social activism : The New Yorker
In other words, Facebook activism succeeds not by motivating people to make a real sacrifice but by motivating them to do the things that people do when they are not motivated enough to make a real sacrifice.
This is a terrific piece. First, apart from the gut reaction you may have from reading Gladwell’s headline, he’s not all together bearish on social media. Instead, as his pieces are prone to do, he provides effective research and anecdotal evidence that offers a bit of perspective to a discussion that is too easily washed in hype. Of particular note, the connection between strong and weak social ties, their impact on activism (not communication), and the parallels that do and do not exist online.
UPDATE: Today at 3:00 P.M. E.T Gladwell will be answering reader questions live on the blog. I’m not crazy about interactive blogging, but it should be an interesting opportunity to pick the author’s brain.