The impact of an event is linked to its dissemination.
The Latin word repercussĭo came into our language as repercussion . A verb that is the result of the sum of two elements: the prefix "re-", equivalent to "again" or "backwards", and the verb "percutere", which can be translated as "penetrate by hitting" or "hit." insistently." It's about the act and result of impacting . This verb, for its part, can refer to propagate, diffuse, reflect or bounce .
The concept is usually used with reference to the significance or propagation that an event achieves. For example: "The words of the Spanish president had a great impact in Bolivia" , "I thought the concert would have a greater impact in the city's newspapers" , "Luckily, the company scandal had almost no impact" .
Impact and media
The impact of an event is usually linked to the arrival of the event in question to the media . When news is communicated to society through television , radio , newspapers and the Internet , it is likely to have a lot of impact. On the other hand, a fact that is not covered by the media will have a limited impact.
Suppose a deputy is denounced for corruption . If the complaint reaches the media, it will have a great impact: this means that many people will find out about the news. On the other hand, if the press decides not to broadcast the event, people will not have the possibility of knowing what happened.
The media are key actors in the impact of events.
The importance of social networks
Currently the impact is closely associated with the Internet and more precisely with social networks. So much so that today many events and people become protagonists of the news because they have become known through the aforementioned networks. An example of this is the spectacular repercussions that certain demonstrations by politicians have, which become the focus of comments and jokes on apps such as Facebook or Twitter.
Thus, for example, some time ago the blunders of the former president of the government of Spain, Mariano Rajoy, have become known throughout the world due to their dissemination on the aforementioned networks.
These technological platforms influence the impact of events and people to such an extent that new concepts have emerged in this regard:
-This would be the case of viral , which is a word used to refer to photographs or videos that become true phenomena throughout the world, jumping to the media, because they are seen by millions of people.
-There is also what is known as "trending topic", which is the list created by Twitter with the issues that are currently being discussed the most and are generating the most comments around the world. Matters that are presented through the relevant “hashtag”.
Impact on a small scale
The impact can also occur on a smaller scale. If a person moves and leaves the neighborhood in which they lived for twenty years, it is likely that the news will have an impact among their former neighbors, who will discuss the move among themselves.
This type of novelty, however, is not usually picked up by the media since its social importance is limited (it is of interest to few people).