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Harim Oh
Ms. Lee
English Writing
February 27, 2025
The Influence of Social Media: Rapid Changes
Have you ever imagined your life without social media platforms? A life in which
you would have to get information from books and could only communicate with people you
had met before. Social media changed our society and became a new channel for worldwide
communication. However, social media sometimes has negative influences on the world. In
Malcolm Gladwell’s article, he argues that social media weakens driving significant social
change because of its weak-tie connection and disorganized system. While Gladwell insists
that social media is an inappropriate tool to encourage social changes, I claim that social
media is an influential medium that connects people quickly and serves a platform where
everyone can speak up.
On social media, substantial information is spread globally, and people can easily
react to it by commenting or sharing posts to others. Gladwell points out that this easy
accessibility weakens people’s motivation to behave in real society. He argues that people just
scroll down posts and do not act in reality such as participating in protests. Nevertheless, I
argue that the accessibility of social media can drive enough action to change the society. For
instance, on December 3rd, 2024, the Korean president Yoon declared martial law to keep his
authority, and he tried to control the media. However, through social media, people could
rapidly share information about military movements and government restriction. Thus,
Yoon’s martial law declaration also spread internationally, and it caused worldwide resistance
against him. As a result, within a couple of weeks, thousands of people protested in front of
National Assembly building and made the president Yoon undergo impeachment trial. The
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easy accessibility of social media that Gladwell criticized, in fact, was a main factor that
made whole Koreans recognize about the case and aspire to protest it. This case demonstrates
that people can become interested in social problems and motivated to solve them through
social media. Therefore, social media is not a weakness but crucial catalyst for social
changes.
Countless people can freely express their opinions since social media does not have a
firm restriction or government control. However, Gladwell argues that this freedom can
create a disorganized system that hinders social change. On the other hand, an organized
system usually means that some individuals do not have a say and simply follow the leader.
In our society, it is common to ignore the ideas of a few people and follow the majority. This
is why social media should not strictly restrict freedom of speech and remain disorganized.
The excluded can voice their arguments through social media. Enormous information,
conflicts, and debates among people will broaden our perspective on the society. If we see
them as a sign that we begin to understand and listen to each other, the world will change
significantly.
Social media is an effective tool that rapidly changes the world. It can consistently
expose social problems such as injustice, crimes, and corruption, motivating people to resolve
these problems. The protest against the Korean president Yoon proves that social media can
be an important catalyst that drives social action. Furthermore, the loose restriction of social
media allows people to speak their ideas freely. This freedom of speech enables society to
consider minorities as well as and embrace various opinions. Therefore, social media is
essential tool to understand the world with a wider perspective and facilitate social changes.
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Work Citied
Gladwell, Malcolm. “Small Changes: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted.” They Say I
Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing. Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein. New
York: W.W.Norton, 2014. 399-415.
