Previously published on PsychologyToday.com in "Positively Media" In a recent New Yorker column, author Malcolm Gladwell argues that social media is not redefining activism. Along with many others, I disagree. There are four ways that social media technologies are rewriting the rules of activism because of the breadth and quality of its reach: changing public awareness, word of mouth persuasion, the increased sense of urgency, and enhanced individual agency.In his editorial, Gladwell describes some powerful scenes from the civil rights activism in the sixties where people literally risked life and limb to stand up for their beliefs. Gladwell asserts that contrary to this level of risk and passion, the activism associated with social media is transient participation without sustainable motivation or potency because it's based on weak ties. As described by the sociologist Granovetter (1983) in his seminal work, connections are called ‘weak ties' to describe how they … [Read more...]