With the endless battle on social media for “Likes” it’s difficult to become distracted instead by what is perhaps the less beguiling engagement of pure intelligence.
Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the creation, sharing and aggregation of content, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks.
Social media outlets differ from traditional media (e.g. print magazinesand newspapers, TV, and radio broadcasting) in many ways, including quality, reach, frequency, usability, relevancy, and permanence. Additionally, social media outlets operate in a dialogic transmission system (i.e., many sources to many receivers) while traditional media outlets operate under a monologic transmission model (i.e., one source to many receivers). For instance, a newspaper is delivered to many subscribers, and a radio station broadcasts the same programs to an entire city.
Having attacked social media by questioning narrowly its intellectual appeal, it nonetheless remains certain that the media properly employed by the right people could do as much as the infrastructure does for a nation. Feeding a population nutritious information is indisputably a worthy network to preserve. And fortunately in spite of the proliferation of rubbish on social media there are exceptions to the rule. The instant recognition is that social media provide a professional platform upon which one may interact as though in a well equipped movie studio. And to a degree an audience is provided as well.
It is with this substantial initial capital that those who are exceptional succeed to expand their personal hierarchy of artistic ingredients. That’s a ’round about way of saying, the talent will shine through; and, more particularly, one mustn’t mistakenly presume that any platform has one use only. Often detecting the location of the platform is labeled the trouble. But that minor obstacle confuses the real issue which is not where to find a platform; rather where and when to acknowledge the talent right before your eyes. I say this so broadly to emphasize that talent can awaken in the most unlikely environments and circumstances. This I know doesn’t constitute an epiphany. What however is especially commanding is the requirement to believe what you see. And if it is good, broadcast it! In an age where people are constantly shouting at one another, it behooves us to organize our thoughts sufficiently to attract and entertain an audience without the fear of being a complete bore.
I recognize naturally that the universal implementation of restraint in any manner upon expression is dangerously close to an attack upon democracy. But I believe that if there were a calculated decision to popularize and stimulate intellectual matters, we might see a different world. I am guessing that it goes without saying that stimulating intelligence is not impossible nor entirely unmarketable. Maybe the more clever way around the perceived interference with constitutional rights and freedoms is the income tax incentive (similar to the one already in common use). Using tax incentives is normally as popular as any other appetite gratification. Indeed it doesn’t really matter by which approach the machinery is made to work; all that matters is that it does. Suddenly the broadband news is of a delightful nature, perhaps laden with insight and improvement generally. It’s the sort of thing that catches on if judiciously repeated.
Throughout the world, and as close as your neighbour’s back yard, there are human beings of inexpressible dynamism. These superlative people are those who can seriously influence their brethren. Ours is the duty to promote the good stuff. Often the drive to promote something is nothing more than the carrott at the end of the stick. On occasion however people are meaningfully moved by something. Yielding to that energy is primary; but it is equally important to spread the news, the news about the frightfully clever things being exchanged by people in the know! I’m guessing there’ll be quite the collection of on-lookers.