Social media and activism Looking into activism today in the perspective of the

American Civil Rights movement.

With the advent of digital age and the exponential expansion of the internet, humanity has found
a variety of ways to use the medium of internet. Internet is no longer a medium reserved for the
purpose of communication. The expansion of the internet has lead to the development of an online
platform that is referred to as the Social Media. Technically, this social media exists on the
internet as a means of socializing with other people. But of late, this social media has been used to
bring about social change or it at least rise to. A few social media revolutions and their eventual
outcomes are discussed and contrasted with that of the American civil-rights war that took place
in the 60s in Small Change: Why the Revolution Will not Be Tweeted by Malcolm Gladwell.
The American civil-rights war was a struggle by African Americans to obtain equal rights as their
white compatriots which was fraught with danger as such attempts were curbed with violence. The
essay highlights the significant differences between the struggle that took place in the absence of
social media and that which is currently being observed. I believe that the use of social media in
bringing about revolution is a double edged sword. It does have its advantages but it can also be
misused to spread false propaganda.

The political upheaval stirred in Moldova and Iran are examples of how revolutions and their motives may not be what they actually seem. In the essay, the twitter revolution in Moldova during
2009 and that which occurred in Iran are scrutinized and the flaws associated with them are highlighted. In the case of Irans twitter revolution, the author cites credible sources which testify that
most of the participants of this revolution were not physically present in Iran, thereby they were

away from the reality and ignorant about many ground facts. Similarly some in Moldova suspect
that the twitter revolution was a ploy by the government to strengthen their roots and garner support for a different case altogether. The true purpose of starting these revolutions is thereby subject
to a certain degree of unreliability.

The American civil-rights movement gained momentum in the late 60s and so did the opposition.
Participants of these movements would fear for their lives as the response to their struggle was
violent. As in the case of the Mississippi Freedom Summer Project of 1964, three people were
kidnapped and killed and thirty-seven churches were set afire. This highlights the fact that high
risk activism cannot be associated with the faint hearted people. According to Stanford sociologist
Doug McAdam, The degree of personal attachment that they held with the protests was key in
enabling them to participate in a protest that could cost them their lives.

The kind of activism is more of a passive nature thereby referred to as weak-tie in the essay
Small Change Why the revolution will not be tweeted. People on twitter or Facebook seldom
meet each other in real life. The social media is originally a means to be in touch with acquaintances staying connected would have been difficult otherwise. So a persons connections with people on social media can be called as weak tie connection. Weak tie connections can lead to
surprising results. For instance, the case of Sameer Bhatia as mentioned in the Essay highlights
that starting a social campaign for seeking help can be productive. His friends and familys attempts to find a bone marrow donor proved helpful as he found a donor with the help of a campaign
on the social media. But donating bone marrow to save someones cannot be put into the same
category as putting your own life on the line for the cause of your own people. Such efforts will

bring appraisal and acknowledgment but it also does not require you to challenge deep rooted
practices.

Another difference between the traditional activism and its online variant is that the social media
is not organized hierarchic fashion. This means that the decisions are made through consensus
between the participants as opposed to the traditional activism where one person or a few persons
hold the key when it comes to devising strategies and planning the agendas. Because coming to a
consensus with many people is a difficult task, it is difficult to come up with a policy or a strategy
that is acceptable to all. The social media can be used to build networks and networks are good
when it comes to spreading the message, but when arriving at a consensus is needed they don't
work very well.

While social media can engage the masses for a task that can be classified as low risk it captures
the imaginations of many who are on the prowl for social recognition. However, when the level of
risk involved is high, the participation is on a much smaller scale albeit with stronger motivation.
Malcolm Gladwell shows how this happens through Clay Shirkys work Here Comes Everybody. In this work, Shirky narrates how a Wall Street employee starts a campaign to recover a
phone that his friend lost in New York City cab from a teenage girl in whos possession the phone
was. A campaign like this is sure to attract people as it does not involve them to put at risk their
lives. So, people with barely knowing the organizers of the campaign are willing to participate.
But what if someone asks you to literally stand up for an issue that would involve you to risk your

life for it? What will be the level of participation in such causes? This goes on to show that traditional activism is more dangerous than online activism which is why the participation is usually
lower in traditional activism.

I personally feel that social media can be more useful as a way to promote revolutions rather than
create a revolution. Tweeting and retweeting maybe helpful in bringing about awareness for a
social cause but as a means of starting a revolution, actual participation of people is needed.
Theres no doubt that social media can be used for noble causes which are set up to help out people
but when it comes to participating in a high risk revolution, the percentage of actual participant
from the virtual participants is significantly lower. This shows that the use of social media can be
restricted to help people in need or to remind people of the ongoings of a struggle and urge them
to participate, but every now and then it social media is also used to produce a revolution whos
sole purpose is to manipulate and divide public opinion.