Activism in a Digital Age

All three authors, Gladwell, Stephen and Walton present ideas on how social media has affected social change. They share arguments on how the introduction of globalized social media has changed activism for the better, but also acknowledge that it inhibits activism in multiple ways. Gladwell alludes to a protest for civil rights from the 1960’s to show how much has changed. Now, through platforms like Twitter and Facebook, we can reach out to and learn from people we don’t even know with ease. However, Gladwell also states how “…weak ties seldom lead to high risk activism”. Stephen also believes that “social media could serve as a source of live, raw information”. But on the other hand, Stephen also notes how international media platforms have become another place for large scale global racism. He has noticed how people of color are harassed and berated on social media. Lastly, although Walton acknowledged that there are arguments as to why social media has helped activism, she is hesitant to believe that the arguments are valid. She shares her opinion that social media has caused the political divide in our country to become even more polarizing, as “the ability to essentially hide behind a screen provides the opportunity to share more radicalized opinions or derogatory language against those with opposing opinions.” Although what I think may be influenced by my experience growing up in a digital age, I believe that the advantages of social media activism outweigh the disadvantages. I definitely agree with Gladwell when he discusses how taking action via social media can lead to less physical attempts at change. So many people these days would rather “pray” for change on Facebook rather than get out and take action. However, I believe that it is a huge benefit that all of these billions of people on Facebook have instant access to global news and issues that require activism. I think that the rapid spread of ideas that social media platforms enables is too important to be overlooked in favor of alternate negative arguments.