Piper Harris

Harris 1

Zack De Piero
Writing 2
19 February 2016
Social Media: Helpful or Hurtful?
In todays society, social media is deemed as an efficient and creative way of sharing
things about yourself and connecting with others across the globe. Whether it be keeping in

Comment [1]: Any way you can hook me more

effectively, Piper?

touch with your family on the other side of the country or sharing what you had for lunch with
your Facebook friends, millions of people look to social media as an outlet for spreading
information and making connections. However, people have very different opinions regarding
social media and its impact on the world. In the following paper, I am going to discuss three
articles that take various positions on social medias influence on society, analyze the different
strategies used by authors in order to best make their case, and identify some key differences
between academic and non-academic publications.
The first scholarly analyzed is one from the Psychology discipline, titled The Impact of
Social Media on Personal and Professional Lives: An Alderian Perspective by Jesse Fleck and
Leigh Johnson-Migalski. The articles aim is to explain the influence of social media within the
health care field and provide support both for and against the use of it. The article identifies some
of the negative aspects of social media use in the health care field, such as clinicians and
clients lack of awareness and knowledge of the impact of social media use, but also recognizes
some of its more positive qualities, like how social media can educate and reduce isolation of
clients or induce a bidirectional and cooperative relationship between patient and practitioner

Comment [2]: I need more of a specific, driving thesis

statement, Piper. What, exactly, are you going to be
arguing here? And what specific points are you going
to use to make that case? What about the conventions
within this genre will you be emphasizing? And what
about moves?

Also: do you think itd help your reader (technically,
me) to lay out which specific sources youll be using
to make your case?

The introductory paragraph is so crucial *for readers*
because it provides them with the expectations for your
whole piece. The more direction you give me, the
more focused *my reading* will be --- and the more I'll
be able to take away from your piece.

Harris 2



(Fleck and Johnson-Migalski). This article is primarily directed at people involved in the health
care field, as it pertains to their connection to social media. Thus, the authors tailor the article
based upon what is appropriate for their intended audience in that specific situation (Boyd 87).
They use a lot of complex language popular in the health care field, such as therapeutic
relationship and health-care practitioners (Fleck and Johnson-Migalski). However, the
authors also make sure to offer conceptual definitions for terms readers may not be familiar with,
such as explaining that Alderians look at everyones conscious and nonconscious motivations in
the context of community feeling or social interest (Fleck and Johnson-Migalski).
The next article analyzed is Measuring Emotional Contagion in Social Media by
Emilio Ferrara and Zeyao Yang. The scholarly academic article stems from the Sociology
discipline, and focuses on how the content of what people see on social media can influence their
emotion. The authors of the article implemented an observational study that recorded how the
emotional tone of peoples tweets were influenced by the tweets they had previously been
exposed to. Its purpose is to explain how the content produced and consumed on social media
affects individuals emotional states and behaviors (Ferrara and Yang). The audience of this

Comment [3]: Piper, I'm wondering what this paragraph

does for your paper/argument. It provided an overview
of this 1st article, sure, but I thought it was pretty
surface-level.

Why, exactly, are these issues positives/negatives for
healthcare professionals? And what insights do these
conceptual definitions and jargon-y terms give us -- as
people studying their writing -- into how they "see"
social media through their "healthcare eyes"??

I guess what I'm saying is, it seems like you tried to
make this paragraph was part-overview, partspecifics.... but they kind of battled each other. Pick
one focus, maybe?
Comment [4]: Try to connect your topic sentences more
directly to your argument -- this doesn't tell me
how/why this upcoming paragraph pertains to your
ultimate claim(s).

scholarly article is likely people with a scientific or sociologic background, as the authors

Comment [5]: Cool! Tell me more. Who/what was

observed? What kinds of emotional tones were they
looking out for? What kind of tweets?

implement technical language such as emotional valence and negative polarities (Ferrara and

Comment [6]: The writers (of the tweets)? Or the

readers?

Yang). Such complex, technical terms are not defined or explained, so it can be assumed that the
audience is people that are familiar with this type of language.
There were many similar conventions of a scholarly academic publication present in both

Comment [7]: Nice insightful inference here, Piper.

(Side q: can you figure out what these terms mean
through context clues or anything else?)

The impact of Social Media on Personal and Professional Lives: An Alderian Perspective and
Measuring Emotional Contagion in Social Media. Both articles began with an Abstract,

Comment [8]: You might wanna give these a

truncated/abbreviated title -- you can save time/space
that way.

Harris 3



which serves to provide background for the following claims. They also both used plenty of
references and citations, as scholarly publications are typically research-based. However, the
sociological article, Measuring Emotional Contagion in Social Media, followed a much more
scientific academic publication structure, including sections titled Materials and Methods and
Discussion (Ferrara and Yang). Another distinct difference between the two articles is that the
sociological article implemented its own observational study, and included a vast amount data

Comment [9]: OK, this is all fine'n'dandy, but... so

what? Why are you telling me this? How does this
relate back to your main argument? (I think you need
to remind me -- either explicitly or tacitly.)

and evidence from that study. It incorporates many charts and formulas, such as S(t) = S+(t) S(t), and figures displaying the data collected (Ferrara and Yang). The psychology article, on the

Comment [10]: What data? The tweets? In what

way(s) was it collected and analyzed?

other hand, supports its claims with textual evidence cited from other authors, but there were no
experiments, studies, or surveys implemented. It does not use direct quotations to support
arguments, but rather combines and summarizes the works of others, such as writing that Reich
argues that social media or Osman documented that (Fleck and Johnson-Migalski).
The non-academic article investigated was a pop-culture opinion article from Time
Magazine titled Social Media is Making You Stupid. The purpose of this article is to
summarize the findings of a study that investigates how social media could make people less
intelligent through connections with others by supplying answers and insights without requiring

Comment [11]: It's tough to describe this, but I feel like

this is a little bit "wonky," Piper -- almost as if you're
trying to remove yourself/"I" from the piece.

Do you think it'd be any smoother to start of this
paragraph with something like:

The purpose of the non-academic, pop-culture opinion
article from Time Magazine titled Social Media is
Making You Stupid was....

any actual thinking (Social). As Carroll writes, Rhetors make all sorts of choices based on
their audience (49). Times Magazine typically aims their publications at people who want to
stay educated and informed, but simultaneously a mass variety of people read their works. The
audience is expecting something straightforward, simple, and easy to comprehend. Therefore, no
complex or technical language is used that an everyday reader would not be able to understand.
The authors adhere to this and explain everything extremely clearly, such as writing If you look

Comment [12]: Could this decision be considered its

own "move" in a way? (Where's your analysis of
"moves"??)

Harris 4



at things on the group level, there is reason for cheer and But for individuals, the implications
are less positive (Social).
Throughout the various articles pertaining to social media, the authors consciously make
certain choices in order to best get their message across. Boyd writes that choosing how to
express your meaning is every bit as important as the message itself, which is really what
rhetoric is (87). Thus, the authors make use of moves and strategies to convey their message
in the most effective way. In The Impact of Social Media on Personal and Professional Lives:
An Alderian Perspective, Fleck and Johnson-Migalski implement a variety of moves to best

Comment [13]: Nice use of our course readings here -also, I'm glad you're getting at "moves." I'm wondering,
though, if your overall argument/paper would benefit
from including this earlier on.

make their claims. Because the evidence used in the article is not based off an experimentation or
study, the authors cannot assume cause and effect. Thus, the authors make use of a move called
Hedging, which prevents overgeneralizing by limiting something by conditions or exceptions.
For example, the authors claimed Sometimes, social media can be helpful for inducing a
bidirectional and cooperative relationship (Fleck and Migalski). The use of the words
sometimes and can shows that the claim can be true in some cases, but it is not making too
broad of a statement.
In the scholarly article Measuring Emotional Contagion in Social Media, Ferrara and
Yang present a more scientific approach to social media and make claims based on research
rather than just citing other peoples works. In one move I call the Colored Graphs, the authors
present the data they collected in organized, colored graphs. Since the report collected data from
three different groups, the use of colors allows the reader to easily identify which group the data
being presented belongs to. In another move I call the Question and Answer, the authors
present a question and then proceed to address it. In once instance, the authors questioned How

Comment [14]: Great job here.

Harris 5



do Adlerians comprehend this new way of interacting with clients and in the world? (Ferrara
and Yang) and then go on to explain just that. In the Time Magazine article, the authors also
make use of the Question and Answer move. The article prompts many questions such as
How can spending more time on Facebook or Twitter end up making us stupider? or Were
those who were more socially connected more or less likely to figure out the right answers?
(Social) and then explicitly answers those questions in the following sentences. This move is a

Comment [15]: Question for you: are they asking

*different kinds of* questions in these two separate
pieces? If so, how? Why?

Does the way that they ask questions -- or the types of
information they wish to find out -- give us insights into
how they "see" the world of social media and its impact
on humans?

creative, solid way to explicitly show readers what is being explained and adds some variation to
the writing.
Despite the fact that all of the articles address the same issue social media they all
differ in their limitations and allowances. For the psychology article by Fleck and Migalski, it
must follow a straightforward and organized format, as it is being aimed to professionals in the
health care field. Its sections are clearly labeled with titles like Positive Impact of Social Media
on Health Care and Negative Impact of Social Media on Health Care (Fleck and Migalski). It
also cannot be too complex in the psychology aspects, as people in the healthcare field might not
be extremely familiar with that kind of terminology.
Since the Measuring Emotional Contagion in Social Media article by Ferrara and Yang
is more scientific and evidence based than the article by Fleck and Johnson-Migalski, it has
many more constraints. Constraints are the things that have the power to constrain decision and
action needed to modify the exigence (Carroll 49). The audience of this article is expecting the
it to be complex and scientific, so the article is constrained in that it must use professional,
appropriate language, such as phrases like manipulate the exposure to arbitrary emotions

Comment [16]: What, exactly, was measured? How

was it measured? What'd they find?



(Ferrera and Yang). This article is also restricted to the format of a scientific academic

Harris 6

publication, with sections labeled Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, and such.
The article from Time Magazine has more affordances and less constraints than the other
two articles because unlike the first two, it is not a scholarly article. Non-academic pieces are
allowed to use informal language; the Time Magazine article exhibited more freedom when
writing and used playful language, like downright dumb and copycats (Social). The
writing also takes on a casual, conversational tone, with phrases such as Nope, they were just
stealing (Social). It also does not follow any kind of format or structure. However, a nonacademic piece is constrained in that it cannot use any language that would be too complicated
for the typical reader to understand.
What are some differences between an academic and non-academic article? To begin, the
scholarly articles make use of logos, which is defined as argument from reason, and it usually
appeals to an audiences intellectual side (Carroll 52). They follow a strict format and structure,
and the writing is professional and formal. They are based off of research and evidence, and
make references to many other works to support their argument. On the other hand, a nonacademic piece can use informal language, does not need to utilize research from other people,
and can be opinion based.
The effectiveness of both academic and non-academic articles depends on the audience
that they addressing. As Carroll writes, the audience can determine the type of language used,
the formality of discourse, the medium or delivery of the rhetoric, and even the types of reasons
used to make the rhetors argument (Carroll 49). The scholarly articles are aimed at a more
academic audience, and must be factual and professional. People that are well educated or are in

Comment [17]: Solid textual evidence here. Now: how

does this relate back to your central argument?

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the scientific community might prefer these types of articles over ones like the Time Magazine
article, as the scholarly articles provide more data, analysis, and evidence. On the other hand,
non-academic pieces can sometimes be more effective than scholarly pieces because nonacademic pieces have much more freedom they are allowed to be subjective and use persuasive
language. Scholarly pieces are simply stating information rather than trying to lure people in.
However, some people might take a non-academic article less seriously because of this, and
might find a scholarly article more persuasive because it is unbiased and just provides
information.

Works Cited

Harris 8

Boyd, Janet. "Murder! (Rhetorically Speaking)." Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing. Vol. 1.
N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Print.
Carroll, Laura Bolin. "Backpacks vs. Briefcases: Steps Toward Rhetorical Analysis." Writing
Spaces: Readings on Writing. Vol. 1. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. Print.
Ferrara, Emilio, and Zeyao Yang. "Measuring Emotional Contagion in Social Media." 10.11
(2015): n. pag. Web. 13 Feb. 2016.
Fleck, Jesse, and Leigh Johnson-Migalski. "The Impact of Social Media on Personal and
Professional Lives: An Adlerian Perspective." The Journal of Individual Psychology 71.2
(2015): 135-42. Web. 13 Feb. 2016.
"Social Media Is Making You Stupid." Time. Time, n.d. Web. 14 Feb. 2016.

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Writing 2 Feedback Matrix for WP2

Table of Textual Features and Qualities
Did Not Meet
Expectations

Thesis Statement
Use of Textual Evidence from
Genres
Use of Course Readings
Analysis
Organization/Structure
Attention to Genre/Conventions
and Rhetorical Factors
Attention to Moves
Sentence-level Clarity, Mechanics,
Flow

Comments and Grade

Exceeded
Expectations

Met
Expectation
s

X

X
X
X-

Piper,

Youre off to a good start on this WP2, and I
expect that youll submit an even stronger
revision for your portfolio. Please review my
comments on some ways to re-see your paper. If
I could give you two suggestions, itd be:

1, Tell me more about these pieces -- what
specific data did they collect? Whatd they find?
Whats going to be done with their work? I dont
feel like I learned anything new about social
media or measuring its effects -- help me
understand what theyre trying to teach us about
this issue. Get into the data. Get into their RQs.
What does it seem like each perspective values
with regard to understanding this topic?

2, Id like you to have a more deliberate argument
at hand -- finding out what, exactly, youre trying
to convince me of might also help you to think
about what kind of structure/organization would
be best suited to laying out that argument from
the start to the finish.

Z
7.5/10

Harris 10