Tag: Malcolm Gladwell
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Limits of social media in revolutionary processes (Malcolm Gladwell was right!)
Last October Malcolm Gladwell kicked a hornet nest of social media enthusiasts, arguing that social media helped facilitate weak social ties, which are good for some things but not others. Protracted social struggle against the privileged and powerful tends to come with heavy costs, sometimes including prison, physical pain, and even death. Strong social ties…
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Malcolm Gladwell is right about Egypt and Twitter, and here’s why that’s upsetting to some folks
If Malcolm Gladwell lacks nuance in his dismissal of the contributions of Twitter, Facebook and other new social media to deep social change, that is fully forgivable. The title of the article that kicked off the controversy, Why the Revolution will not be Tweeted, is a lot pithier than the perhaps more accurate, “Sure, the…
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The Political Identity Paradox | Evolutionary logic of collective action pt.III
Why do grassroots political organizations sometimes implode right at the peak of their success? This post examines the double-edged sword of highly cohesive political group identities and explores how to build vibrant campaigns while avoiding going (too) crazy… natural born people pleasers Imagine yourself a gazelle in a herd of gazelles. Aw snap, here comes…
Jonathan Matthew Smucker 