Strong Ties Versus Weak Ties Writing Assignment

Debate Essay
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Introduction
"Small Changes: Why the revolution may not be tweeted" is an article by Malcolm Gladwell. It differs with the general perspectives of various people, especially regarding the role that social media plays in bringing significant social changes. Malcolm notes that social media is not a strong tool be used for serious activism. Four decades ago when the internet was still in its early stages of development, people would come together and fight for their rights. He gives an example of North Carolina in the 1960's where black college students fought for equality. The strong ties that bonded the students were what made their struggle a success. Being able to communicate face to face attracted students from many other colleges and finally caught the attention of people across the nation. This paper looks at the perceptions of the author in relation to the general discourse about social media.
According to Gladwell, most of the people who use the social media to air their views are dishonest. What they write is totally different from their actions. In most cases, they write or air their views in order to support the family and friends they have on social media. It is in contrast to what happened during the yesteryears when people would honestly support each other as they fought for a common course. The use of face to face communication skills is an integral part of bringing change in the society because it unites people with similar goals of fighting for a common course.
Strong ties versus Weak Ties
From Gladwell's point of view, the social media is built on weak ties. By weak ties, he meant that many people are likely to speak but do very little when it comes to acting. For real change to take place, the interested parties should be willing to do more than just tweet or write to a friend on facebook (Obar, 19). A significant number of people are using the social media for the wrong reasons. It was meant to be a platform that would ease communication between people from all parts of the world. The perception that it could be used to form aggressive organizations likely to bring changes in the society is wrong.
For many who use the social media, trust is an issue. One could be having thousands of fri...