@MyDtcAccount – Jonathan Crabtree
“The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” This quote, accredited to Aristotle, is an indication of how powerful people can be when they come together, and how long it has been this way. Since before the time of Aristotle, people have been congregating in order to achieve a goal that would be too difficult to reach by themselves. Social media has given society an easier way than ever before of getting people with like-minded ideals and goals together. One of the ways that people are drawn to others is through the use of stories. The neurological process of hearing stories causes people to remember the idea that was communicated in the story longer than when they are simply told an idea or goal. Deanna Zandt states that “social networking gives us unprecedented power to share our stories with more people than we ever imagined” (1). This “unprecedented power” has organized protests, rebellions, and weekend get-aways to the beach, with more ease than ever before. Gone are the days of having to go around areas and posting physical material and hoping to get the populations’ attention, or relying on word of mouth to spread the date of an event. Individuals are now able to directly contact people and open up message boards so that everyone interested in the event is able to get on the same page and there’s no confusion.
Zandt presents six key terms (originally presented by Tara Hunt) that increase an individual’s value within a social media environment – although I would posit that they are all transferable to real-life value. The main one that social media immediatly improves is the term “connections.” By being a part of a social media environment, people are connected with others, which can lead to a discussion of ideas and eventually bloom into a full-blown event that seeks to create social change.