There were two very interesting articles about the use of technology in inciting social activism.
The first in The New Yorker, Small Change, by Malcom Gladwell, asserts that social media (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) are inherently based on weak link associations—acquaintances not friends—and thus cannot be reliable for the strong friendships necessary for organizing protests or revolutions.
The second, at DesignObserver.com, Malcolm Gladwell Is #Wrong, by Maria Popova, who is a regular contributor to Wired magazine, takes Gladwell to task on this assumption and a host of other points in his article.
On a first read, I tend to agree with Popova, but maybe I'm biased since I am using social media.
