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  1. It is a well known fact that social media platforms can make it easier to communicate with others and how fast and convenient this communication is.

I find

  1. It is a well known fact that social media platforms can make it easier to communicate with others in a fast and convenient way.

a safe alternative, but I'm curious about the first sentence. Does including the bolded section make the sentence ungrammatical?

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  • << It is a well known fact that social media platforms can make it (a) easier to communicate with others and (b) how fast and convenient this communication is. >> doesn't work. //// << It is a well known fact that (a) social media platforms can make it easier to communicate with others and (b) how fast and convenient this communication is. >> doesn't work. //// << It is (a) a well known fact that social media platforms can make it (a) easier to communicate with others and (b) how fast and convenient this communication is. >> doesn't work. Can you find a deleted form that does work?
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Nov 16, 2020 at 11:21
  • 'How fast and convenient [it] is' is an opinion rather than a fact. I don't know whether the sentence is actually ungrammatical, but it reads oddly to me. You could change it to and that users find this communication fast and convenient.
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented Nov 16, 2020 at 11:28
  • My fix: It is a well known fact that social media platforms can make it easier to communicate with others. And how fast and convenient this communication is!
    – Yosef Baskin
    Commented Nov 16, 2020 at 14:37

2 Answers 2

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You need parallelism (not always an essential, but certainly in this case) in the sentence:

  • It is well known that social media platforms can make it easier to communicate with others and that this form of communication is fast and convenient.

=

  • It is well known [that social media platforms can make it easier to communicate with others] and [that this form of communication is fast and convenient].

or

  • It is a well known fact that social media platforms can make it easier to communicate with others; it is equally well known that this form of communication is fast and convenient.

.....................

None of

  • It is a well known fact that social media platforms can make it (a) easier to communicate with others and (b) how fast and convenient this communication is.
  • It is a well known fact that (a) social media platforms can make it easier to communicate with others and (b) how fast and convenient this communication is.
  • It is (a) a well known fact that social media platforms can make it easier to communicate with others and (b) how fast and convenient this communication is.

work. I can't find a deleted form that does work, and would say that for this reason, the original is ungrammatical.

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It doesn't work at all. If you are going to say "It's a well known fact that 《something》and 《something else》" then, if it's going to be grammatical and make sense then "It's a well known fact that 《something else》 " needs to be a proper sentence.

The reason for this is that the word 'and' links 《something else》back to the start of the sentence. In this case removing the first fact and the word 'and' gives "It's a well known fact that how fast and convenient this communication is" which is almost nonsense. The writer needed to express the concept of speed and convenience as a statement of fact, which is what you have done in your version 2. You could also have said "...and that this communication is fast and convenient".

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  • @EdwinAshworth I was in the process of writing mine when you finished yours and posted it so I didn't see yours until I'd posted mine. Just a case of the parallelism of competent, if not great, minds!
    – BoldBen
    Commented Nov 16, 2020 at 11:43
  • I've nicked 'parallelism', which is the term I knew was there somewhere, so I'll delete the remonstration.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Nov 16, 2020 at 11:55
  • @EdwinAshworth I've just had a thought. I wonder whether parallel great minds ever take part in a meeting of great minds, particularly if they are mathematicians.
    – BoldBen
    Commented Nov 17, 2020 at 13:23
  • Vive la difference; one doesn't want to be a fool.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Nov 17, 2020 at 13:34

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