Malcolm Gladwell’s “Small Change: Why the Revolution will not be Tweeted”

While reading this passage, I began to think differently of Facebook, and Twitter. I never thought the day would come when people would begin to use these websites for anything more than keeping in touch with their friends, or the need to put up the latest party picture from the night before. Now, we are starting to see what could be the beginning of a massive, activism revolution. People in this passage argued that networks could simply not rally people to a cause greater than their own, because it would not connect one to another well enough. Furthermore, they argued that networks work only from everyone working together. There is no centralized ruler, or authority. It is a place where the power is solely in command of the people. So, naturally one would think that if an uprising was considered on the web, it would be very difficult to have everyone agree, and come to terms with one another. This was certainly not the case with the rioters in Egypt in late January of this year. The people of Egypt were tired of the way they were being forced to live. From there began their Facebook, twitter, and Youtube revolution. They used these resources to rally to their cause, and to plan their strategy for attack. They did this all together; there was no one leading them all, and no one calling the shots They used the network to gain what they wanted. This goes to show how much the internet, and computers have changed over the years. They went from colleges communicating with each other, to wealthier individuals, to the public, and now serve as a platform for new rule.

Where will it end, or will it end? The internet is beginning to show that it is capable of more than just doing homework, taxes, and communicating. It is a universal tool that has endless capabilities, and it is only getting easier to get a hold of. It is going to be very interesting to see what else comes from this new era of the internet. We can only wait, and hope that more positive comes out of it, because, in reality, there is a light and a dark side to everything. The dark side of the internet, and what could possibly come from it, is a very scary thought.