In the modern world, the image (photograph or film) is becoming a more powerful way of communicating than the written word. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

"An image worth a thousand words" is a well-known proverb that almost everybody heard. In our time, some state that photographs and films are increasingly competing with
books
, magazines and other forms of written materials and are becoming the dominant form of passing on information.
Nevertheless
, I believe that
although
some merits are associated with these newer forms of education and with the advent of social
media
they are indeed more widespread than before, they are not going to replace texts completely. In
this
essay, I will try to reason my perspective on the matter and try to draw a conclusion based on it. On the one hand, the common use of social
media
and its effect on human societies cannot be more evident. These phenomena are mostly imaged-based, meaning that their primary method of transferring ideas is through photographs or images.
For instance
, the website YouTube is only concerned with videos, and there are numerous channels on it which are focused on scientific and educational purposes. Alas,
although
these videos are great at entry level, they fail to cover more advanced topics since the creation of these types of content will not attract the great attention and viewer figures that these algorithms are based on.
Furthermore
, the creation of deeper materials is time-consuming which many content creators do not bother with.
Thus
, written words are more suited to educated users.
On the other hand
, the present system of higher education does not fully practice the use of films. Graduate and undergrad studies are all based on
text
Correct your spelling
textbooks
show examples
books
that rarely contain complementary animations.
For example
, as an engineer, I have never encountered a
text book
Correct your spelling
textbook
show examples
which utilized
such
methods of teaching.
Hence
, the written materials are the primary method of studying and I do not believe that a paradigm shift might be near.
To sum up
, the existence of social
media
has shown the powers of other forms of communication other than texts.
However
, the lack of advanced content
due to
their time-consuming nature of production and lower number of interest in them, and the present system of higher education which is solely based on
text
Correct your spelling
textbooks
show examples
books
demonstrate that written words are still more powerful than
media
. As far as I am concerned,
although
I am sure that educators are going to use these newer capabilities to ensure a higher standard of teaching; I am certain that the cumbersome, expensive
text
Correct your spelling
textbooks
show examples
books
are not going to leave us any time soon.
Submitted by vohooman.karimiabadeh on

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Word Count

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Aim for between 260 to 290 words in writing task 2. This will ensure a concise essay and will be realistic in terms of time management. You have only 40 minutes to write the essay and you need around 10 minutes of planning time, so you will not be able to write a long essay in 30 minutes.

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Essentional vocabulary list for IELTS Writing 7+

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Topic Vocabulary:
  • Visual communication
  • Emotional impact
  • Transcend language barriers
  • Universality
  • Infographic
  • Memory retention
  • Misinterpretation
  • Manipulation
  • Complementary
  • Evocative
  • Multimedia
  • Contextual understanding
  • Ambiguity
  • Visual literacy
  • Instant communication
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