In the past strong orators could move a nation and rally people to noble causes. When Churchill delivered his famous “On the beaches” speech to the British Parliament - 4 June 1940 it was a weighty 2,656 words. Would a ‘tweet’ work as well?
A ‘tweet’ of 280 characters hardly carries the same weight. Mind you the audience of a ‘tweet’ is massive, whereas Churchill’s speech was not broadcast live - indeed the recording you may have heard was only made in 1949. In 1940 it was up to journalists to distill and share Churchill’s message.
Similarly Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address was a scant 268 words.
Would it have worked just as well as a ‘tweet’?
It doesn’t work as a Powerpoint presentation! See https://norvig.com/Gettysburg/
Meanwhile Hamlet’s “To be or not to be …” loses all charm when smashed into 280 characters.
