Social media has changed lives, often for the better but at times for the worse.

It’s transformed how people communicate. It used to be that the phone, the postal mail and face to face were the only options.

Now people have online resources and social networking sites to talk to relatives, classmates and friends. Many times it facilitates good interaction. Sometimes it’s caused confusion or even animosity.

Social media is basically an oxymoron, which means that the title of the concept does not reflect its true role in society.

Media is not a social outlet. Social situations involve two way communication, where the different parties can check their understanding of what someone says. They do it with verbal cues such as tone of voice, or with physical factors like posture and facial expressions.

Media instead involves putting together a message, hopefully one that’s carefully crafted, and then posting it to give a large audience an opportunity to react.

When I write my weekly column, I offer you ideas that are hopefully relevant to the Marshall area and to daily life. If I do a good job, I’ll have clearly stated my viewpoint. Readers can evaluate and decide whether they agree or disagree.

All the readers have, either in print or electronically, are the words of a message. They’re not hearing someone’s voice. Sometimes a photo at least partly takes the place of a facial expression, but not always. It’s nice to have both.

Television has a long history of letting people see and hear the person on camera. At times it influences how people react.

A famous example is the close 1960 Presidential race between Kennedy and Nixon. People who heard the debate on the radio thought Nixon performed better. On television he looked tired. He didn’t have his best outing.

Coverage of wars changed by the 1960s due to faster use of footage from the vicinity of front lines. Technology has more recently brought online and video capabilities into homes and office buildings.

Even so something is still missing. It’s not like chatting in the yard or meeting for coffee. There isn’t the easy give and take of a casual conversation

With the volume of information that’s available even at the local level it’s more important than ever to think critically.

It’s important to ask yourself “Oh really, Is that right?”

If we don’t do that, we aren’t taking the time to judge the information. There’s just a blind acceptance.

We learned about propaganda in 1970s grade school classes. Our schools felt it was very important that we could recognize the basic propaganda techniques and think for ourselves.

It’s good to sometimes pause in the Information Age to think about what’s factual and what’s a matter of opinion.

Many special interest groups would be happy to have either firm believers in their cause or apathy among the rest of the public. It’s vital for everyone to take an interest whenever there’s a major issue; either locally, statewide, nationally or globally.

I’m not totally sure how society is doing with that. We know that most 21st century people don’t read daily newspapers. Most don’t spend at least an hour in the evening simply reading. Anyone who reads is likely to be better informed than someone who skims.

Social media might be an oxymoron, but it’s also a learning opportunity. It all depends on whether people know how to use it. Everyone has the opportunity to make full use of their own judgement and their analytical skills.

— Jim Muchlinski is a longtime reporter and contributor to the Marshall Independent