Alisha Starbird
English 110 Sec. U  
Professor Owens
                                                         Hiding Behind a Computer Screen

   Malcolm Gladwell, staff writer for the New Yorker, composed an essay titled "Small Change" in which he discusses the ties that bind society, both "strong ties" and "weak ties." Gladwell takes a look at the power invested in social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter and compares them to the traditional social networks of the 1960s. He believes that the number of "friends" one may have online does not compare to the quality and success rate of actual human-to-human interactions in the real world.
   What bothers Gladwell the most about modern-day technology and the interactions involved is the fact that individuals are able to get acknowledged and praised without getting off the couch. One can simply sit behind a computer screen and manage to make the world surrounding them believe that they are a great person. An individual is easily able to post pictures, videos, pass on articles, etc. to their "friends" under the impression that they are doing an amazing, world changing thing. Demonstrating this type of "activism" takes very little time, effort, and commitment, thus it is considered to be low-risk activism. Considering the small amount of participation necessary to become active in the social networking, many people hop on the bandwagon and support whatever cause is popular at that point in time. Internet sites such as Facebook succeed in activism by motivating users to do the things that people are willing to do when they are not motivated enough to make a legit sacrifice.
   Another aspect of modern-day social networking that bothers Gladwell is the networking itself. The networks made online do not have a single central authority. Decisions are made by the entire group and the connections included in the group are loose and weak. There is no leadership or structure involved, thus leading to conflict and error. Unlike online activism, real life activism is usually high-risk and has no room for conflict and error. Boycotts and sit-ins were used frequently during he civil-rights movement. They required leadership, strategies, large followings, and execution. Although they were high-risk, they were extremely effective. Social media may make it easier for activists to express themselves but it makes it more difficult for the expressions to have any impact on the issue at hand.
   Dana Boyd, author of "White Flight," expresses the significance that politics and culture has on social media. Unlike Gladwell, Boyd has an understanding and acceptance for social media and expands to further discuss how it emulates the real-time-world-environments. After years of research, Boyd creates numerous hypothesis as to why specific groups of teenagers and adults migrated from Myspace to Facebook. The theory that Boyd configures that speaks to me the most in the idea of the Digital ghetto.
   Myspace was the original "hot" social media site to go to, connecting people with bands and other strangers. It allowed people to personalize their profile with flashy backgrounds and a variety of music. This was popular with the young crowd until Facebook came about. Facebook has a metaphor of the suburb because it has a higher-class outlook to it. This outlook originated because it was strictly for Harvard students only. Eventually it allowed other top tier colleges access and finally, in 2006, the rest of the world. Myspace, now the digital ghetto, had adamant users that came from the less-privileged, lower-class individuals. These people usually were of the black or latino race and did not attend these top-tier colleges that originally were allowed usage of Facebook. When Facebook became public, friends and family members of these elite college kids followed and also became Facebook users, thus moving into the suburb. Others joined the networking site because it was the latest thing and the new "fad." These types of individuals were mostly upper-class, usually white or asian. With these people came their friends who were sometimes of the same race and ethnicity. While friends of friends of friends continued to follow each other to the Facebook suburb, Myspace became almost deserted. The less-privileged individuals were left in a dirty, unrepeatable ghetto with wild street gangs otherwise known as spam.
   The comparison and transfer between Myspace and Facebook illiterates how race and class influence both social media and real-world environments. Individuals of similar race and ethnicity self-segregate and create this separation in every aspect of interaction. Both Gladwell and Boyd discuss in their essays how social media accurately depicts how individuals act in real life. People will only put themselves in high-risk situations if it benefits them, otherwise they may put little time and effort in. This shows via social media because individuals are easily able to support a cause with a touch of a couple buttons and in return they receive praise. Also depicted on social media is the segregation of individuals based on race, ethnicity, and socio-economics.