This shift is definitely interesting, and two particular examples come into mind. Both of these examples are related to Obama: the first is that Obama’s recent State of the Union speech is considered to be one of the most readable SOTUs in history (about a 9th grade level comprehension is sufficient), and that Obama recently had a 45-minute long interview on YouTube.

The readability example (for anyone who’s currently in COMM106, I’m sure you’ve heard of this too) is interesting because I am curious as to what Obama’s intentions are for speaking at a “dumber” level. Is he hoping to catch the attention of the younger demographic, or is our American language evolving to be simpler? Does the increase in social media usage have to do with how we stylistically and linguistically communicate?

The second example really surprised because I think the general population still view YouTube as just a website to pass the time and watch viral videos. The fact that this entire interview was published makes YouTube seem, to me, more credible and legitimate as an information platform available to the general public. I think this is a concrete example showing the transition of the objective of using social media platforms.