Social Media Saves Lives?

Just ate breakfast. I have a headache. I’m hungry… These are the kind of posts that come to mind when I think of what my Twitter page would consist of. I don’t own a Twitter nor do I want to. I can’t seem to understand why people would want to give the world a play by play of everything their doing every day. My life certainly is not very interesting and I’m not witty or clever enough to post silly topics that might make people laugh and actually want to follow me. I understand why celebrities might have a Twitter but why the average Joe like me?

Apparently Twitter is actually beneficial in a lot of ways that I have never thought of, or even heard of. After reading Why The Revolution Will Not be Tweeted by Malcolm Gladwell I couldn’t help but get extremely excited that someone else had the same ideas and the same point of view about social media that I do. However, I can’t deny that I didn’t second guess myself for hating Twitter after reading some of the positive stories about the use of social media during serious situations.

The current protests in Egypt are like the Greensboro protests in that they spread “like fire”. Gladwell's strong point that today people have forgotten what TRUE activism is might be correct to a certain extent; however activism using Twitter and other forms of social media must have had a serious impact on Egypt’s leader for it to be shut down completely.

So does it matter what type of activism we are talking about? Does it matter that today we don’t have to meet at a church at a certain time and day to discuss the ways we can protest and make a change? Or is it actually a blessing that we can now connect with people we don’t know on Twitter, and have hundreds of “friends” on Facebook. Gladwell even says himself that “acquaintances are how you get the greatest source of new ideas and information” but again explains that this is still NOT ACTIVISM.

 In my opinion I fear for the future. If social media continues to grow and new forms of communicating with others are created then Gladwell is right no one will ever be motivated enough to make real life sacrifices.

 Today celebrities are “sacrificing" their digital lives to help the lives affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa and India. This concept is pathetic to me, because I don’t understand why these celebrities can’t actually make a real sacrifice by leaving their hairstylists and personal shoppers and actually visit these poor countries. Make a change with their actual bodies present at the site of a charity project. Instead they see relaxing by not tweeting or blogging a sacrifice. So I truly support Malcolm Gladwell’s opinion that the things Martin Luther King needed in Birmingham (discipline and strategy) are things that social media can in no way provide. Do you disagree? Tell me your thoughts.

Image from thenextweb.com