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Gladwell and Gopnik

Good Essays

With America’s history of people fighting for their rights, we have become accustomed to the idea that activism needs to be extreme; to cause riots, have aggression, and for people to be put in jail to make a point. We have created an image that there needs to be a fierce willingness to fight, in order for activism to be effective. As Malcolm Gladwell describes in “Why the Revolution Should not be Tweeted”, he reminds us of what ‘real’ activism is and how other generations have risked their lives to make a difference, in both their lives and the future of America. He does not think that activists can be considered true activists if they are non-violent when protesting for their rights. However, Gladwell should consider that protesting …show more content…

Ravioli, the imaginary friend, was always on a run. She could observe from afar. In order for activism to be strong, it needs more than one person and one idea. The more people or acquaintance’s that are reached, the stronger the support system is. In order to have an even stronger system we need our supporters to understand and believe in the action that is being protested. Social media is capable with not only getting in contact with other people but it allows you to grab those people’s attentions in many different ways. These followers need to be convinced and taught about the different options that they can be given. Many people follow trends, and with social media being a big part of the trend it makes it easier to have an audience. It is easy for people to invite people to a group, or event on Facebook or even having a following of tweeters on Twitter because people are able to add descriptions. In this descriptions majority of people who are protesting are able to write who they are, what the problem is, give ideas of solutions to the problem and overall a way to convince their readers to press ‘Like’, ‘re-tweet’, ‘Follow’ or ‘Attend’. With their explanation they can create a bandwagon of supporters and build a strong willed support system. Gladwell used the example of the Bhatia needing a bone-marrow transplant. Even though people helped by signing up for a donor registry and sending in a

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