Public Thinking Intro Draft

What comes to mind when you think of social media? Many believe that it is corrupting our youth and deteriorating their brains or that it makes us less productive, well Clive Thompson believes the complete opposite as he states in the chapter “Public Thinking” in his novel Smarted Than You Think.Ever since the age of social media has began with websites such as Myspace and AOL Messenger it has been one of the most controversial subjects in the United States for Teenagers and Young Adults. It is seen to be a place to waste time watching silly cat videos and show everyone the coffee you drank this morning from Starbucks, but in reality all of these social media sites are a place to express your mind through the use of writing as Thompson states in his novel. Thompson has been arguing on the side that social media is beneficial for teens but it wasn't until he released his novel that where he gained widespread awareness. In his novel he argues that social media has encouraged our generation to write more, better and often to get their ideas out. He makes many claims in his work and supports them with solid evidence using professional research as his main strategy. I will explore the way Thompson structures his novel, states his claims and supports them with solid evidence to enlighten his readers on the benefits that social media has on transforming the coming generations to become bigger and better writers.

Thompson discusses the effects that having an audience can have on a person that is performing anything from a concert to a sports game to even choosing out a simple pattern, this effect is called the “Audience Effect”. He discussed the “Audience Effect” in a study that was performed by a group of professors at Vanderbilt University where they proved that having an audience can force the writer or performer to feel more compelled to produce better work than they would have if they had no audience. In the study at Vanderbilt, three groups of students were given the task to solve a pattern of different bugs, but each group had been given a different audience. The first group had been given no audience at all and had to work in solitude, the second group had been asked to speak into a tape recorder and explain their actions, and then the third group had been asked to explain to their Mothers, who were sitting next to them, what they were doing step by step. it was shown that “The Children who solved the puzzle silently did worst of all. The ones who talked into a tape recorder did better, the mere act of articulating their thinking process aloud helped them think more critically and identify the patterns more clearly. But the ones talking to a meaningful audience, Mom, did best of all.” In this example Thompson proves that even having the most miniscule audience such as a video camera can make you think more before you do something because you want to impress your audience.