Power in numbers, weak tie strength
http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/docs/icb.topic980025.files/Wk%2011_Nov%2011th/Gladwell_2010_Small_Change.pdf
The theory of strength in weak ties argues that social ties connect individuals to new sources of information and opportunities. An individual may not only have access to resources found through one simple connection, but also to resources in the span of their social network. By shedding light on the differences between strong and weak ties, the strength of weak ties may be better understood.
Gladwell’s article, “Small Change, Why the Revolution will not be tweeted”, suggests that it was the use of strong ties that contributed to the success of the Civil Rights movement. One particular happening during this movement was Freedom Summer, the nonviolent effort by activists to integrate Mississippi’s segregated political system. Participating in such a movement leads us to question what made people capable of such high risk activism. To answer this question, Stanford sociologist Doug McAdam compares two type of individuals involved in the Freedom Summer movement – those who dropped out and those who stayed. According to the article, McAdam explains that the main difference between these individuals was the degree of personal connection. Those who remained participants in the movement were those with a greater degree of personal connection with one or more other activists. This finding is supported by the implication that all participants were required to provide a list of contacts. Based on this, dropouts were far more likely to have less close friends involved in the movement than active individuals. We see that maintaining strong tie connections during this era was essential in fighting social/political issues. What mattered most was rounding up the most determined and resilient individuals.
Conversely, weak tie connections seldom lead to high risk activism, but these type of connections are greater in numbers and may be useful in other ways. Social media revolves around weak ties; platforms such as Twitter and Facebook enable us to expand our social network without having to build strong connections with others. There is strength in these weak ties according to sociologist Mark Granovetter. These connections give us access to new ideas and information. The article uses the story of a New Yorker in need of a bone marrow transplant to exemplify the powerful ways that weak tie connections may be used through social media. Essentially, the New Yorker came into contact with nearly twenty-five thousand individuals through a campaign set up by a friend to find a match for his transplant. The campaign motivated these twenty-five thousand people to register to an online bone-marrow database.
Ultimately the New Yorker found a match amongst these individuals. Ultimately, he accomplished his goal of finding a match through accessing his resources within the span of a weak tie connected social network. Reaching a greater number of individuals increased the probability of finding a match for his bone marrow transplant. So, in addition to the availability of new information and opportunities, the strength of weak ties is that they are greater in numbers.