How does social media effect activisim?

In the past 2 weeks the unrest in Egypt has become a topic that the world, or at least the world's major media outlets, is talking about. The current situation in Egypt has highlighted several issues that face the internet but the one that I will focus on here is how social media effects activisim.

This past October, Malcolm Gladwell wrote an article entitled "Small Changes" for the The New Yorker which addressed this topic. If one had to guess what this article said without reading it, they might say that this article probably raved about how social media has made activism easier, more widespread, and much more accessible. In actuality, the article essentially said the opposite, that while social media can produce activism it is much more limited and is not as effective as traditional face to face activism.

Throughout the article Gladwell uses the civil rights movement as a historical example of activism to compare current social media driven activism to. In comparing the civil rights movement to current social media driven activism Gladwell notes that "Activism that challenges the status quo—that attacks deeply rooted problems—is not for the faint of heart" and that this type of truly challenging activism requires strong ties to the source of the activism. In this article, Gladwell expresses his belief that social media such as Facebook and Twitter do not produce the strong ties necessary for truly challenging activism. He says that they produce loose ties which create networks, but not the strong hierarchy that serious activism requires.

I find that I agree with Gladwell in his belief that social media does not produce the type of environment necessary for activism that changes big problems. If you think of the number of people you are friends with on Facebook, how many would you actually count as having a real bond with and how many would just be labeled as acquaintances? If you lived during a time period that had a social issue like segregation would you really go protest with an acquaintance just becuase they asked you? And if you did would you be willing to endure the hardships that civil rights activists did?

I think that most people couldn't respond yes to all of those. I know that I wouldn't. I think that social media can definitely serve a purpose within activism in that it is a great way to communicate with the general public. But as a single source of activism it is rather ineffective. Joining a group to save Darfur on Facebook really doesn't do much to actually save Darfur. If you actually want to save Darfur your going to have to do something more than just join a group. Sometimes I think social media activism is just a way for my generation to achieve a certain "look" without having to actually do anything. 

So how do you think social media effects activism? Is it a great tool, the next big thing, a fad, or perhaps something else?

-M