With the 2016 United States presidential race coming to a head, social media channels are buzzing with opinion, retweets, shares, and other sound-bites. Over the last month I’ve spent time on Facebook, along with others, sharing pieces of content, and writing quick blurbs, as it pertains to the election. Facebook (and Twitter) make it entirely too easy to click the magic “like/love” button, to express your interest. If you’re feeling especially motivated, perhaps you’ll even go as far as clicking share.
Level of effort: slightly more than changing channels on the TV.
Social media doesn’t allow for (effective) elaboration of thought, it allows you to share how you think.
Sitting down with a virtual pen and paper, however, allows one to think through an idea. Not being bound to a character limit has its obvious advantages but it also requires thoughts to have flow, and direction. The concept of drafting, editing, and publishing are lost in a world of quick comments.
Facebook is a crutch. The next time you want to express an opinion, don’t take the easy way out and re-share a piece of content, open an editor and start your first draft.