You’ve got a friend?
'The revolution will not be tweeted!' claims Malcolm Gladwell, author of 'The Tipping Point', in an article in the 'New Yorker'. This is a response to the conviction that social media - such as Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace - are powerful tools for organising mass protests against injustice. Gladwell is clearly unconvinced - even when it comes to the famous 'twitter revolution' in Iran, where protests were apparently orchestrated through 'tweets'.
If twitter had mobilised the masses, then why were the tweets in English, not Farsi? In contrast, the type of 'revolution' Facebook encourages is one that does not cost much for those who take part. It takes just a matter of seconds to sign an online petition, to 'badger' a politician, or 'like' the latest campaign.  Gladwell paints a vivid contrast between the types of relationships formed by social media and those relationships present during the civil rights movement in 1960s America. He focuses on the four black college students who staged a sit-in at a whites-only café in Greensboro, North Carolina. This brave protest spread to many other towns and played a key role in the struggle for racial equality. In analysing what enabled these four students to take such a brave stand, Gladwell argues, using the work of sociologist Doug McAdam, that it was primarily the strength of their relationships. Whereas social media tends to form 'weak ties', deep relationships - or 'strong ties' - are formed through sharing life together.
The four students had lived together during college, smuggled beer into their rooms and stayed up late talking about the deep injustices present in society - no doubt alongside talk of football, girls and, well... football. The 'weak ties' formed through social media cannot sustain the type of commitment and risk involved in standing up to the status quo. Only real friendships can change the world.
This should bring both reassurance and concern for those of us committed to the type of revolution (or renovation - 'making new') that finds its origin in Jesus' command to make disciples. Reassurance, because the life of Jesus was one spent sharing life with a small group of a dozen followers. 'Weak ties' and discipleship are clearly contradictory.
It also, however, brings concern. Friendship is at risk in our culture. It is not too difficult to accumulate 1000 'friends' on Facebook, yet statistics suggest that we have never felt more isolated and lonely. If friendship is at risk then, I suggest, so is discipleship. If so, what might be at stake is not just our psychological well-being, but also the great commission.
Author: Mark Sampson
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