Social Media As a Tool of Mobilization

Brian Reich in his book Shift and Reset explained how today’s hyper-connected society is affecting the way people behave and how social media and the new  technology have changed the old ideas of business and productivity. In chapter 8, “Shift Your Mobilization Efforts and Perform the Right Actions,” Reich suggests that mobilization it is an important method for helping accomplish goals. He gives the example of Social media as a tool of mobilization. However, I disagree with Malcolm Gladwell in his article when he said that “Social media is not the reason behind the revolution in Tunisia and Egypt. ” Since I am from the Middle East , I lived through each moment of those revolutions and I saw that social media was a big tool in spreading this revolution from Tunisia to Egypt. Through those revolutions, people shared their opinions when they were out on the street. They were in the place and at the moment of action, so every tweet and video or picture that was posted through social media was true. I agree with Biz Stone quote about Gladwell’s claims when he said, ” It would be absurd to think Twitter is not complementary to activism,” Yes, social media is a tool and a hugely effective medium. Without it, people in the Middle East couldn’t use their voices freely as in other countries that allow free speech for their citizens. So, social media has a big effect on the results of the revolution in the Middle East. Social media is a medium of mobilization.