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Yeah, I totally agree with Gladwell on this one. I'll go even one step further and claim that many to most of the people you see joining these Facebook charity
by kyro 16y ago
Yeah, I totally agree with Gladwell on this one. I'll go even one step further and claim that many to most of the people you see joining these Facebook charity groups do so almost involuntarily because their friends do. I was so irritated by this when the Save Darfur groups started gaining traction, that I created my own bogus group with the premise that we should recycle garbage and feed all the rotten thrown-out foods that supermarkets discard to African orphans. Within days I got several thousand members with some commenting about how great the cause was. I even threw in some really bogus stats, like 30 orphans die in the time it takes you to exhale. Morbid prank, I know, but it was an experiment that proved to me that most on Facebook don't give a damn about causes and join these groups for purely narcissistic reasons.
- aaronbrethorst 16y agoI must say, I think this is the first time I've ever agreed with Malcolm Gladwell on, well, anything.
- jgrahamc 16y agoI realize it's a bit "me too", but having used Twitter and other social media during the Turing apology campaign I too agree with Gladwell. Twitter's great for getting a message out, but I don't think it's going to change the world. However, that doesn't mean you shouldn't use it. It's a very valuable addition to the arsenal. Pity Gladwell doesn't use his Twitter account.