This Is What Gladwell Is Talking About

This is What Gladwell is Talking About

“The Iranian uprisings and the Challenge of New Media, Henry Giroux.” Fast Capitalism, 5.2, 2009.

The Internet, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook have reconstituted, especially among young people, how social relationships are constructed and how communication is produced, mediated, and received. They have also ushered in a new regime of visual imagery in which screen culture creates spectacular events just as much as they record them. Under such circumstances, state power becomes more porous and less controlled (. . .) Text messaging, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and the Internet have given rise to a reservoir of political energy that posits a new relationship between the new media technologies, politics and public life (3).

If you have time, you could use one or more of the following texts/videos to get students thinking about the issue Gladwell addresses, and foster a sense of the “conversation” going on around new media and activism.

• “Activism in the Information Age: Does Technology Help or Hinder?” This video explores the topic of what makes “millennial” students (students who are coming of age at the start of the new millennium) different from prior generations, and considers whether new media makes Millennials more likely to engage in activism.
• Evgeny Morozov: How the Internet strengthens dictatorships. 11 minute TED talk by well known contrarian mentioned by Gladwell, who criticizes “cyberutopianism.” (there is also an animated version
• “Fighting War Crimes, Without Leaving the Couch?” A New York Times Roundtable.
  Social media definitely have the power to bring attention to terrible problems — but is there a downside, if the “call to action” is wrong-headed or if these campaigns give young people a false sense of what it really takes to create change?
• “Cheap Meth! Cheap Guns! Click Here. By Nicholas Kristof. An op-ed suggesting the Chinese government fears social media greatly.
• A student talks about How Social Media Is Like Wii Bowling.
  “I rock at Wii bowling. With a skillful flick of the wrist, I can send that digital bowling ball on its way to a perfect game. However, in real life even my four-year-old cousin can beat me by a hundred points––without bumpers.” http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/blogs/campus-conversation-on-values/posts/josina-de-raadt-dordt-on-how-social-media-is-like-wii-bowling
• Millennials on Social Media and Politics
  http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/blogs/campus-conversation-on-values/posts/millennials-on-social-media-and-politics
• “How social networking can spark revolutions”

Have you ever used social media sites for political action? Do you know anyone who has?

Have you heard of any examples of social media being used for activism? How was it used?
What do you know of the use of social media in the Arab spring? In Occupy Wall Street? In the recent presidential election? Any other places?
List all the examples of “new media activism” that you can think of. Would the outcome have been different if people could not use social media?

Do you think that new media technologies like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, etc. enable people to engage in new, more powerful forms of activism than in the past? How?
Do you see social media changing politics? How?

Comparing Gladwell with a “Traditional” Social Science Academic Article
Boyd et al, “The Revolutions Were Tweeted: Information Flows During the 2011 Tunisian and Egyptian Revolutions.”

Section headings
Abstract
ABSTRACT This article details the networked production and dissemination of news on Twitter during snapshots of the 2011 Tunisian and Egyptian Revolutions as seen through information flows—sets of near-duplicate tweets—across activists, bloggers, journalists, mainstream media outlets, and other engaged participants. We differentiate between these user types and analyze patterns of sourcing and routing information among them.

We describe the symbiotic relationship between media outlets and individuals and the distinct roles particular user types appear to play. Using this analysis, we discuss how Twitter plays a key role in amplifying and spreading timely information across the globe.

Introduction

The shift from an era of broadcast mass media to one of networked digital media has altered both information flows and the nature of news work. Mainstream media (MSM) outlets have adopted Twitter as 1376 Lotan, Graeff, Ananny, Gaffney, Pearce, boyd International Journal of Communication 5 (2011) a means of engaging with and enlarging audiences, strengthening their reach and influence while also changing how they rely on and republish sources. During unplanned or critical world events such as the Tunisian and Egyptian uprisings, MSM turn to Twitter, both to learn from on-the-ground sources, and to rapidly distribute updates. In this paper, we analyze Twitter information flows during the 2011 Tunisian and Egyptian uprisings. Our information flows are drawn from two datasets…. We conclude by discussing the symbiotic relationship between news media and information sources. Context

Context

Tunisia and Egypt

Organizational and Networked Production of News

Social Media and the News

Twitter and Information Flow

Twitter Revolution?

Methodology

Data Collection

Information Flow Identification

Classifying Actor Types

Methodological Limitations

Findings

Actor Types

Sub-Flows

Example Flows

Discussion

The Distribution of Actor Types

Trends in Information Flows

Trends in Sub-Flows

Conclusion

Who is Gladwell, and what kind of writer is he?

What kind of publication is The New Yorker, with what kind of audience?

THE TITLE – what does it refer to, and what expectation does it set up? Has anyone heard the activist slogan (and song) “the revolution will not be televised”? (See and

What does the image on the first page suggest? What point is being made?

The caption states, “Social media can’t provide what social change has always required.” How does this frame the issue?

What is the author’s overall argument, or central claim?

What are the most important (sub) claims?

How does the author establish her authority/credibility? (ethos)

How does the author connect with your emotions? (pathos)

What evidence or reasons does the author provide, and do they convince you? (logos)

What are you being asked to believe, think, or do? (persuasion)

How is the text organized? Why do you think the author organized the text this way? What effect does it have?

Does the author respond to other arguments, and if so, are they treated fairly?

Consider Gladwell’s use of definitions and division – particularly binary oppositions. (How is real activism/false activism constructed)

Where does Gladwell bring up the views he disagrees with? What do you think of the way Gladwell represents these views?

List the evidence Gladwell presents on pages 42-43 to support his claim that “digital evangelists” wildly exaggerate the power of social media.
What do you think of this evidence? Is it persuasive? What questions could be asked about this evidence to decide how strong it is? Can you imagine other forms of evidence that might contradict Gladwell?
Examine Gladwell’s description of the Woolworth’s lunch counter sit-in of 1960s. What do you notice about it? Why do you think he chose to represent it as he did, and include the details that he does?

How does his discussion of the Woolworth’s lunch counter sit-in of 1960 advance his argument?

How does Gladwell contrast “the “old school” activism of the civil rights era with that of new media activists? How does this contrast work?
Construct a list of all the contrasting terms Gladwell uses to talk about old vs. new activism.
How is the contrast between the “old school” activism of the civil rights era and new media activism established? Pay attention not just to major differences, but also to the descriptive details Gladwell uses to represent each set of activists.
How does Gladwell define activism? All definitions are “rhetorical.” That is, they create a perspective, they invite us to see the world a certain way, and they often work to persuade. How is Gladwell’s definition of activism rhetorical?

What differences does Gladwell establish between “weak tie activism” and “strong tie” activism? Explain this distinction and its relevance to Gladwell’s argument.

Is it a fair comparison? Can you imagine different ways of constructing this comparison?
If you were making a case for the importance of new media activism, what alternative relationship might you draw between “old” style activism, and the new forms?

What evidence or examples would you use?
Gladwell (46) writes that social networks are “effective at increasing participation - by lessening the level of motivation that participation requires.” What does he mean by this? Do you agree? Is this an overgeneralization?
How does Gladwell draw a distinction between “real sacrifice” and trivial forms of sacrifice? Do you agree with the way he does this?
Write a response to Gladwell that draws on your own experience/knowledge of social media. Frame your argument as a response to something specific Gladwell says.

Gladwell argues that there are two “crucial distinctions” between “traditional activism and its online variant.” (47) What are these two crucial distinctions?
What do you think of Gladwell’s conclusion? What do you notice about the patterns of language he uses, and his tone? Do you agree with his concluding point?

Strategies

Consider, for example, word choice. Gladwell refers to “digital evangelism” (44) “evangelists of social media” (46) “Facebook activism” (46), “the bible of the social media movement” (49), etc. What does he achieve by talking about social media in this way?

Consider Gladwell’s use of definitions (both explicit and implicit) and division. For example, Gladwell creates a set of binaries - real activism/false activism; real participation, fake participation; real social change that threatens the status quo, and fake change that sounds radical but merely reinforces existing power structures. Find others and discuss how these divisions are used to persuade.

Consider the strategic choice of the 1960s civil rights examples Gladwell uses. These are represented as the standard against which all subsequent activism is to be measured. They are paradigmatic. Why select these examples? How are they used?

Rebuttals: how does Gladwell construct the claims of those he opposes? How does he make the “They Say” move (to use Graff’s term).
How does he go about refuting those claims? Collect every reference Gladwell makes to claims/authors he disagrees with. What patterns do you see? What overall characterization does G work to create? How effective is this, and why?

NEW MEDIA DO NOT ADVANCE DEMOCRACY IN ANY SPECIAL NEW WAY

“All this boosterism and herd-like affirmation is bizarre because the internet is a new mode of convenience, nothing more, nothing less. It has not made society more egalitarian, it has not made modern democratic politics more ‘transparent’, it has not made us happier. Rather, it has made our appetites more impatient to be satisfied, devised new, speedier ways of satisfying them, and created more sophisticated methods of monitoring and controlling our private lives.” (Siegel 2009)

NEW MEDIA ARE RADICALLY DEMOCRATIC…

Power is potentially shared across society in ways that have not previously been possible. “When people can express themselves, they will. When they can do so with powerful yet inexpensive tools, they take to the new-media realm quickly. When they can reach a potentially global audience, they literally can change the world.” (Gillmor 2006: xv)