Editing 1239: Social Media

{{comic
| number    = 1239
| date      = July 17, 2013
| title     = Social Media
| image     = social_media.png
| titletext = The social media reaction to this asteroid announcement has been sharply negative. Care to respond?
}}

==Explanation==
This comic parodies how journalists tend to focus on social networking. Specifically in the case of revolutions, social media is given a lot of weight, even in countries with limited internet access. A direct parallel is made to the so-called {{w|Twitter Revolution}}s.

On {{w|Twitter}} you can send text messages with a maximum of 280 characters (140 at the time of writing). This means that there could not be much content in a single post, but often many people ''follow'' the people doing these ''tweets''. People who are not on social media tend to react like [[Cueball]] and come to the conclusion that Twitter makes press coverage more stupid, just because those messages lack much detail. Cueball is also surprised about the stupidity of trying to link social media to the orbit of the asteroid — social media has no impact on the orbit of any space objects.{{Citation needed}}

The title text continues the joke. The negativity on Twitter concerning an Earth-bound asteroid has nothing to do with the press conference that announced it but rather with the negativity of wiping out life on earth in general. Again, journalists give undue weight to social media.

It's simply that "How has Twitter affected this" has become a standard question for journalists, posed in complete disregard of the actual event

==Transcript==
:[Cueball heads a press conference.]
:Cueball: NASA has confirmed that the asteroid is heading directly for us.
:Cueball: ...Yes, a question?
:Reporter 1: What role has social media played in this asteroid's orbit?
:Cueball: *''sigh''*
:Reporter 2: Has Twitter changed the way we respond to asteroid threats?
:Cueball: Well, it's made the press conference questions stupider.
:Reporter 3: Fascinating!
:Reporter 4: What about Facebook?

==Trivia==
*The comic may also parody an actual interview [http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/02/12/deb_feyerick_to_bill_nye_is_asteroid_2012_da14_connected_to_global_warming.html Is asteroid 2012_DA14 connected to global warming] in which {{w|Bill Nye}} was asked if the approaching asteroid {{w|2012_DA14}} was a result of global warming.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Social networking]]