Directions: Social media and social networking seem to play an imperative part…

2023

Directions: Social media and social networking seem to play an imperative part of peoples lives around the world. There are some who debate whether it is improving or crippling communication skills. Sitting behind a computer communicating with cyber friends can be easy and fun but can weaken a person's verbal communication skills. I will not only focus on the negative impacts on communication because there are some positive impacts on communication through social media.

Accessibility that one has to the internet through smart phones, tablets, computers, and other mobile devices has made accessing information and connecting with people a touch away in some cases. People are communicating almost all day every day through texting, e-mail, and the ever-expanding social media. Because it has had such a modern explosion in popularity and usage, social media has become the new norm when it comes to communicating everything from huge life events like engagements and the birth of children to minute particulars like what one ate for dinner. Social media has had one of the most substantial impacts on how people communicate within the past decade.

The internet has a greater impact on people today than ever before. It has been a continual source of news, entertainment, and education for users around the world for more than 20 years. However, the most innovative of its technologies, social media, did not achieve mainstream popularity until about ten years ago. Facebook, Twitter, and similar services are becoming the most visited destinations on the internet. These websites allow users to quickly and easily share pictures, links, ideas, and messages with other users; theoretically facilitating social interaction. These services, through a combination of accessibility, simplicity, and intuitive design promote positive social behavior by encouraging interaction among friends, relatives, and co-workers; facilitating communication between individuals, and fostering a profound sense of community.

Social media is a rising trends in the world today. Communication skills are exemplified by use of social media networking. Social media networking allows for a communication outlet. Social media is being utilized by students, parents, businesses, and religious organizations. It is being used in many forms by many different platforms for many reasons. The transmission device is anything that carries a message, including sound waves, light waves, pieces of paper, mobile-phone signals and screens, the Internet, computer monitors, billboards, radio and television signals, and an endless number of additional carriers (Baack, 2012). Social media is employing many transmission devices, including mobile devices and computers.

What is the main purpose of the passage ?

  1. A.

    To talk about effective communication

  2. B.

    To talk about effective communication and the role of media

  3. C.

    To talk about social media and its effects on communication

  4. D.

    To talk about social media

Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: C

Concept

The central idea, or "main purpose", of a passage is not any single supporting detail - it is the one idea broad enough to span every paragraph, while staying no broader than what the passage actually develops. If a paragraph's content sits outside a candidate summary's scope, that candidate is too narrow; if the passage never develops something a candidate claims, that candidate is too broad.

Application

  1. Paragraph 1 states the passage's own purpose directly: it will examine both the positive and negative impacts of social media on communication - naming social media as the medium and communication as what it affects.

  2. Paragraph 2 develops exactly that: accessibility to social media lets people communicate constantly, and social media has become the new norm for communicating both major and minor life events - a direct illustration of social media's effect on how people communicate.

  3. Paragraph 3 traces the internet's and then social media's rise, but closes by tying that rise to communication outcomes: sharing content, facilitating social interaction, facilitating communication between individuals, and fostering a sense of community.

  4. Paragraph 4 opens and closes on the same thread - communication skills are exemplified by use of social media, social media as a communication outlet - and frames its list of different user groups and the general transmission-device idea as evidence of that communication role, not as a departure from it.

Cross-check

There is no paragraph about social media that has nothing to do with communication - every supporting detail (accessibility, history, diverse adoption, transmission devices) is offered as evidence of social media's role in communication, exactly matching the purpose the passage itself announces in paragraph 1. So the summary must name both elements together - social media, and its effects on communication - naming only one half under-covers what the passage develops.

Contrast with the other options

  • "To talk about effective communication" drops the specific medium (social media) that anchors every paragraph, generalizing to communication technique on its own, which the passage never discusses in isolation.

  • "To talk about effective communication and the role of media" broadens the medium from the one specific platform-type the passage names throughout (social media) to media in general, which the passage never surveys.

  • "To talk about social media" drops the communication-effects framing that the passage explicitly announces as its purpose in paragraph 1 and returns to at the close of paragraphs 3 and 4 - the detail about broader adoption and transmission devices is offered as evidence for that communication role, not as a separate broader subject.

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