400 Words

Over the past century, we as a society have seen incredible feats made through activism in the United States, such as the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, the fight for women’s right to vote, and even the fight for the right to gay marriage, to name a few. All of these movements have one thing in common; people physically showed up to protest these subjects. These days, we rarely see major crowds show up to any form of activism—usually only if it is a matter being discussed by Congress. Nowadays, people simply post about something on their social media, hoping to get some type of recognition, pretending to actually care about the matter at hand. Author Malcolm Gladwell discusses this comparison in his piece, “Small Change,” which covers how the Internet and technology have ruined what activism is as a whole. He mentions an event that took place in 1960 at a Woolworth’s diner in Greensboro, North Carolina, where four black college students were denied service because of segregation laws. This was an extremely significant event that helped promote the many deals of “real” activism against segregation laws during the Civil Rights movement. He highlights how this digital generation has ruined what the true meaning of activism is. Psychologist and author of the essay, “The Empathy Diaries,” Sherry Turkle discusses in her piece how because of technology, we see a huge lack of face-to-face interaction with others which causes us to question the difference between the definition of a friend and an acquaintance. She also talks about whether we now have the ability to form meaningful relationships with others because of this digital era we now live in, something Gladwell similarly touches upon in his work. In my opinion, I do agree with the concerns that Gladwell and Turkle address to some extent because where I do feel that digital activism is much different from the activism we have seen in the past, I do not necessarily think that digital activism and technology are bad as a whole. I would personally define activism as taking part in standing up for a cause or something that people believe can make a difference by participating in events that have the ability to cause change as well as informing others about the cause in any way possible. I think it is something that has to be fought both on and off a screen in today’s day and age, as we have so many more opportunities to spread awareness today than we ever have before, something we have yet to take advantage of.

800 Words

Over the past century, we as a society have seen incredible feats made through activism in the United States, such as the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, the fight for women’s right to vote, and even the fight for the right to gay marriage, to name a few. All of these movements have one thing in common; people physically showed up to protest these subjects. These days, we rarely see major crowds show up to any form of activism—usually only if it is a matter being discussed by Congress. Nowadays, people simply post about something on their social media, hoping to get some type of recognition, pretending to actually care about the matter at hand. Author Malcolm Gladwell discusses this comparison in his piece, “Small Change,” which covers how the Internet and technology have ruined what activism is as a whole. He mentions an event that took place in 1960 at a Woolworth’s diner in Greensboro, North Carolina, where four black college students were denied service because of segregation laws. This was an extremely significant event that helped promote the many deals of “real” activism against segregation laws during the Civil Rights movement. He highlights how this digital generation has ruined what the true meaning of activism is. Psychologist and author of the essay, “The Empathy Diaries,” Sherry Turkle discusses in her piece how because of technology, we see a huge lack of face-to-face interaction with others which causes us to question the difference between the definition of a friend and an acquaintance. She also talks about whether we now have the ability to form meaningful relationships with others because of this digital era we now live in, something Gladwell similarly touches upon in his work. In my opinion, I do agree with the concerns that Gladwell and Turkle address to some extent because where I do feel that digital activism is much different from the activism we have seen in the past, I do not necessarily think that digital activism and technology are bad as a whole. I would personally define activism as taking part in standing up for a cause or something that people believe can make a difference by participating in events that have the ability to cause change as well as informing others about the cause in any way possible. I think it is something that has to be fought both on and off a screen in today’s day and age, as we have so many more opportunities to spread awareness today than we ever have before, something we have yet to take advantage of.

            Social media, the Internet, and technology as a whole have taken over our lives for the past few generations now. All have caused us to act and communicate in entirely different ways than we have in the past, not all of which is positive. We question whether our relationships with others are ones of friendship or ones of acquaintanceship. This is something seen primarily in the younger demographic—Gen Z and Gen Alpha—because of how younger people today were practically born right into the new digital era. Turkle discusses in her essay how the dean of a middle school in upstate New York expressed her concerns about how the students seemed to have a change in their demeanor when it came to their relationships, telling Turkle, “Students don’t seem to be making friendships as before. The make acquaintances, but their connections seem superficial.” (Turkle 344-345). Where this is something more commonly found in today’s youth, Gladwell discusses similarly how social media has affected almost everyone as a whole, quoting, “The platforms of social media are built around weak ties. Twitter is a way of following (or being followed by) people you may have never met. Facebook is a tool for efficiently managing your acquaintances, for keeping up with the people you would not otherwise be able to stay in touch with. That’s why you can have a thousand ‘friends’ on Facebook, as you never could in real life.” (Gladwell 7). Because of these concepts on how we view relationships, it can be somewhat difficult for others to share similar concerns one might have on a certain topic. Where making others aware of a situation is a good thing, it is not nearly as effective as actually going out and taking some form of action. People always seem to ask a question when it comes to activism, which is, “Why should I get involved?” There are a number of reasons why we should participate in activism, especially if it is for a good cause that could create massive change and affect several others. Although, it is perfectly reasonable why one would not care about a certain situation, most likely for the reason that it does not directly affect them or is not something that they relate to or care about.

1200 Words

Over the past century, we as a society have seen incredible feats made through activism in the United States, such as the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, the fight for women’s right to vote, and even the fight for the right to gay marriage, to name a few. All of these movements have one thing in common; people physically showed up to protest these subjects. These days, we rarely see major crowds show up to any form of activism—usually only if it is a matter being discussed by Congress. Nowadays, people simply post about something on their social media, hoping to get some type of recognition, pretending to actually care about the matter at hand. Author Malcolm Gladwell discusses this comparison in his piece, “Small Change,” which covers how the Internet and technology have ruined what activism is as a whole. He mentions an event that took place in 1960 at a Woolworth’s diner in Greensboro, North Carolina, where four black college students were denied service because of segregation laws. This was an extremely significant event that helped promote the many deals of “real” activism against segregation laws during the Civil Rights movement. He highlights how this digital generation has ruined what the true meaning of activism is. Psychologist and author of the essay, “The Empathy Diaries,” Sherry Turkle discusses in her piece how because of technology, we see a huge lack of face-to-face interaction with others which causes us to question the difference between the definition of a friend and an acquaintance. She also talks about whether we now have the ability to form meaningful relationships with others because of this digital era we now live in, something Gladwell similarly touches upon in his work. In my opinion, I do agree with the concerns that Gladwell and Turkle address to some extent because where I do feel that digital activism is much different from the activism we have seen in the past, I do not necessarily think that digital activism and technology are bad as a whole. I would personally define activism as taking part in standing up for a cause or something that people believe can make a difference by participating in events that have the ability to cause change as well as informing others about the cause in any way possible. I think it is something that has to be fought both on and off a screen in today’s day and age, as we have so many more opportunities to spread awareness today than we ever have before, something we have yet to take advantage of.

            Social media, the Internet, and technology as a whole have taken over our lives for the past few generations now. All have caused us to act and communicate in entirely different ways than we have in the past, not all of which is positive. We question whether our relationships with others are ones of friendship or ones of acquaintanceship. This is something seen primarily in the younger demographic—Gen Z and Gen Alpha—because of how younger people today were practically born right into the new digital era. Turkle discusses in her essay how the dean of a middle school in upstate New York expressed her concerns about how the students seemed to have a change in their demeanor when it came to their relationships, telling Turkle, “Students don’t seem to be making friendships as before. The make acquaintances, but their connections seem superficial.” (Turkle 344-345). Where this is something more commonly found in today’s youth, Gladwell discusses similarly how social media has affected almost everyone as a whole, quoting, “The platforms of social media are built around weak ties. Twitter is a way of following (or being followed by) people you may have never met. Facebook is a tool for efficiently managing your acquaintances, for keeping up with the people you would not otherwise be able to stay in touch with. That’s why you can have a thousand ‘friends’ on Facebook, as you never could in real life.” (Gladwell 7). Because of these concepts on how we view relationships, it can be somewhat difficult for others to share similar concerns one might have on a certain topic. Where making others aware of a situation is a good thing, it is not nearly as effective as actually going out and taking some form of action.

            People always seem to ask a question when it comes to activism, which is, “Why should I get involved?” There are a number of reasons why we should participate in activism, especially if it is for a good cause that could create massive change and affect several others. Although, it is perfectly reasonable why one would not care about a certain situation, most likely for the reason that it does not directly affect them or is not something that they relate to or care about. Gladwell discusses how this is apparent during the Civil Rights movement, quoting, “What mattered more was an applicant’s degree of personal connection to the civil-rights movement. All the volunteers were required to provide a list of personal contacts—the people they wanted kept apprised of their activities—and participants were far more likely than dropouts to have close friends who were also going to Mississippi.” (Gladwell 6). This quote is in relation to the four students who were turned away at the Woolworth’s diner, how people similar to them—not just because of their race—went out and protested with the students because they had been turned away from the opportunity to also be students. In my own personal experience, my family and I have not protested before, but we have raised money for a greater cause that has affected us personally; back in early 2021, my grandmother had unfortunately passed away from lymphoma. My younger sister took the opportunity to participate in an organization, where she and the rest of my family reached out to others to donate for leukemia and lymphoma research. She ended up raising almost $20,000 in funds in a little over a year. She would not have been able to do this without the use of technology, as donations were made primarily online. This is a real-world example that helps to contradict Gladwell’s thoughts on how today’s form of online activism comes no where close to how impactful activism was in the past.

            Whether we like it or not, we will always be surrounded by technology and the Internet from here on out. Our future children will never know a world without technology, much like the ones being born today. Although, this is not necessarily a bad thing. We can make the Internet and technology a good thing that can truly benefit us and help us do good. Where activism online is no where near as impactful as how we advocated for change in the past, it has become one of the best ways to help spread awareness.