Dubious Value of Social Networks

Published in the New Yorker, this article casts doubt on the indispensable value of social networks in affecting change by using recent (attempted) political revolutions as cast studies. Malcom Gladwell interestingly begins by explaining that social movements such as the sit ins of the 1960's occurred with great success before the advent of Twitter, Facebook, and other internet mediums.

However, Gladwell concedes that use of Facebook does offer the United States a unique advantage over terrorists; supporting this idea, he quotes a former State Department advisor in saying, "the Internet is now about interactivity and connectivity" (and terrorists networks are behind the curve in this respect).

Gladwell goes on to cite the Iranian protests in 2009 as evidence of Twitter's overstated impact. The vast majority of tweets were in English not Farsi, implying that those tweeters were Western sympathizers not Iranians.

Blake Narendra