When social media becomes visualized in an image, it becomes far less powerful than what society might think.  In today's world, especially in a country such as the USA, society gives so much powerful to social media, and almost uses it as an outlet to feel like better people. What is society really doing by liking a post of an African child or by sharing an image of starvation in a third world country? The answer is nothing. That does absolutely nothing to help the issue. All it does is make us feel like a better person for that split second, and then let us return to scrolling through twitter or Facebook. This idea is demonstrated through a powerful advertisement for Crisis Relief. The selected image is a visual representation of what actually happens on social media, opposed to what society might think happens. It is through angle, words, and the contrast between black and white that the image makes the point that the power society gives to social media really isn't much of a power at all. It has no benefits to the world around us, contrary to popular belief.

The angle of the image creates a distance between the child and the viewer. The baby is lower than the viewer and the hands surround him. Given that the baby is looking up at the viewer and the hands, it creates a sense of helplessness for the baby. The child also does not have a leg, but only bandages where the leg would be. The child is surrounded by thumbs up, as well as by us as the viewer. We overwhelm the baby by putting all these thumbs up, yet none of the hands are touching the child or providing any actual comfort or love. From the baby's point of view, he sees no help. He sees no hope for his future. He is surrounded by all of these hands but none of them are aiding him or comforting him.

By putting us, the viewer, above the child and in the same perspective of the hands, the advertisement is telling us that we are part of the issue. We are liking these images and sharing them on social media, but that is clearly doing absolutely nothing. It provides no real relief for the baby or for the other human beings affected by third world problems. From the viewer's perspective, it puts us above the child. We feel sorry for him, but all we can do is like the picture or share the post. It makes us feel better about ourselves for a moment in time and makes us feel like good humanitarians, but then we get on with our lives. We keep scrolling and see what else there is.

The words in this image are so influential. The visual consists of three words. Liking isn't helping. Small, white, and so simple, these words have work in unison with the image depicted to create such a compelling advertisement and message. Also, the structure of the sentence is parallel which allows the sentence to flow naturally and read smoothly.  The lettering is a smaller size and a simple font, which contrasts with the somewhat hectic image and overwhelming amount of thumbs up. Also, the period at the end of the sentence creates an interesting effect. It makes the sentence linger and stick with the viewer for long after they see the image. The sentence might not have had the complete same effect if it did not end with a period. Although a minor detail, the choice of words, punctuation, and font leave a lasting impact on the viewer.

The contrast between the black and white underlies the whole image. Not only is the image in black and white, but also the races of the people in the image are black and white. The black and white image provides a focus on the light intensity and the contrast of the darks and lights. It emphasizes the dark shadows around the child's face, which could represent that lack of hope the child has. By stripping the color of the image, different details become more important and other parts of the image are emphasized.  The other black and white contrast between the African child and the Caucasian hands present a stronger, deeper issue. It suggests that there are two opposite ends of the spectrum being depicted: the people who are liking the image, which are represented by the hands, and the object of the image, which is the child in need.

In conclusion, visual texts have the power to convey a strong message without using words or as without as many words as an actual text. Through other compositional elements such as angle, object placement, contrast, and color, visual texts can denote an even more powerful message than just a text. The image analyzed conveyed a very intense message through the use of angle, color contrast between black and white, and a simple yet moving choice of words. Through these compositional elements, the visual text proves that social media doesn't have nearly the amount of power or beneficial impact that society credits it with.
