Using Graphics to Explain Social Media

We've always been a very visual society. And with the implementation of Web 2.0 technologies and the proliferation of social media channels — digital images and graphics are everywhere — perfect for the visual learners among us.

 If you're not familiar with this learning model (one of many), Wikipedia briefly describes Neil Fleming's VAK (or VARK) model that divides learners into three types:

1. Visual learners who think in pictures and learn best with visual aids (infographics would work well)
2. Auditory learners who learn through listening (these are the podcast and book on CD people)
3. Tactile learners who learn through doing and touch (those who need to experience it themselves to learn, enjoyed science lab immensely)

I'm definitely a visual learner, and it doesn't matter if there are words or images — it's still all visual. For instance, I've always been one of those people who is inspired by quotations (that's the point, right?) that resonate at different phases in my life. And I keep a file of relevant quotations for the Facebook pages I manage, and I enjoy sharing the ones I find on my own Facebook page. But lately, I've noticed the words alone are no longer enough — they're always included on or with an image. (There's a potential  argument here about too much of a good thing diluting value, but I'll leave that for another time.)

So recently, this graphic came across my Facebook news feed, and amused me to no end (so of course I had to share it).

And it reminded me of one I saw a few months ago. (I guess food and a sprinkling of snark cross most if not all social, ethnic, and gender boundaries, so it makes for a good example.)

 

And whether or not you're familiar with all of these social media channels, you can still get a good feel for how people use them by these tongue-in-cheek examples.

And really, isn't that the point of them?