This is a really interesting prompt
because I feel that my answer is yes and no. My initial instinctive answer to
this question is that yes, it is possible to convey complex ideas/messages via
social media, however, I think in some ways it is necessary to combine multiple
forms of social media in order to have understanding. For example, I saw news
about Kony2012 on Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, and eventually in the video (which
was available on YouTube and other video hosting websites).
The point I am trying to make is
that first, the gravity of it was implied by the volume of posts about it on
multiple websites. It was EVERYWHERE so I understood that it was important and
notable, therefore triggering me to watch it.
The second point I am making is that
had I seen information about the movement on Twitter or Facebook alone, I might
not understand it below the surface, i.e. its complexity. Because Twitter only
allows 140 characters, it was necessary to provide links to outside sources in
order to convey a complex idea. But it also works both ways, had I just seen
the video, I probably could have understood the complexity of the issue
however, it was the brief and descriptive messages that included the link that
brought me to the video.
To conclude, I think that there are
some social media websites that need their messages to be simplified in order
to be understood. Twitter because of its character limit and Facebook because
readers simply won’t stay interested in long posts. Because of this, these
sites need to utilize other social media sites such as blogs or videos in order
to relay the actual complexity of the idea. In contrast, sites like Facebook
and Twitter also have strength because they have unbelievable popularity, and
viewers are able to gauge the importance and relevance of topics based on how
much they are appearing on their feed. So overall, my answer would remain to be
both yes and no that complex ideas can be conveyed through social media.
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