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Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted

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Synthesis essay: why the revolution will not be tweeted

Technology is being used all across the globe in everyday life. With the development of technology, the development of social media became very popular. In “Small Change: Why the Revolution will not be Tweeted”, Malcolm Gladwell stresses that “real” revolutions do not depend on social media to be resolved or started; however, small revolutions can depend on social media or networking. Although Dennis Baron is sending the same message in “Reforming Egypt in 140 Characters?” there is one point that Baron makes that differs from that of Gladwell’s; Baron actually believes that a game changing revolution can occur with the use of social media. Gladwell believes that in order for a revolution to be successful, it does not have to rely on social media networks. In the beginning of his writing, he discusses the sit-ins that occurred in the 1960s. After acknowledging how fast the word spread about the sit-ins, Gladwell mentions that it happened without the help of “e-mail, texting, Facebook, or Tweeting” (314). Social media was probably not thought of in the 1960s. One of the biggest revolutions, the Civil Rights Movement, was accomplished without the need of social media. Also, it is easier to get participation on a social networking site rather that participation for something that is confronting a disgraced practice. Gladwell claims that it is easier for a person to donate blood rather than to protest for a certain reason; likewise, he decides that the reason for this rise of social media participation is by “lessening the level of motivation that participation requires” (312). It takes true motivation to be able to risk a life in order to make a point. Social media participation requires no risks or lives to be taken. Even though the previous points that Gladwell makes is enough to prove that social

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