Social Network

These events in the early sixties became a civil rights war that engulfed the South for the rest of the decade—and it happened without e-mail [sic], texting, Facebook, or Twitter.

Some of this grandiosity is to be expected. Innovators tend to be solipsists.

The platforms of social media are built around weak ties. Twitter is a way of following (or being follow by) people you may never have met. Facebook is a tool for efficiently managing your acquaintances, for keeping up with the people you would not otherwise be able to stay in touch with. That's why you can have thousands of "friends" on Facebook, as you never could in real life.

But how did the campaign get so many people to sign up? By not asking too much of them. That's the only way you can get someone you don't really know to do something on your behalf... In fact, it's the kind of commitment that will bring only social acknowledgement and praise.

Malcolm Gladwell