Social Networking Fact Sheet – Rhetorical Analysis
Written By: Josie Markham
The article “Social Networking Fact Sheet” was done by PewResearch and published on their website for viewers to see the results. The initial research was done in November of 2010, as social medias have grown more research has been done. At the beginning of the article PewResearch states “Note: This page will be updated whenever new data is available.” The article then goes on to discuss online adult’s usage of social networking sites and the breakdown of that information. PewResearch then discusses how social media has jumped among young adults over the past couple of years and why that might be. The article then goes on to talk about how the rise in cell phone usage, especially because of the use of smart phones, has also increased the amount of social media used by both adults and teenagers. The article then jumps back to adult usage of social medias and what are called “Power Users.” Finally, it talks about how social media is used for politics and why social media is used to promote politics. This source is effective in establishing its ethos and tone, but it does have some missing information in the studies. I selected this artifact for this rhetorical analysis because I thought that it was an effective way of showing the usage of social media.
The rhetor of this article, “Social Networking Fact Sheet,” is PewResearch, which is a research company out of Washington D.C. PewResearch’s exigence of conducting this project was rising internet usage, social media usage has risen as well, in November of 2010. PewResearch’s purpose of conducting an ongoing research project in order to determine if social media sites hindered people’s involvement with each other. This article is only four years old and is updated often making its kairos credible and in good standing. PewResearch tried to make their target audience was hard to pick out because they did not seem to be targeting anyone in particular but would be the public in general. Appeals to ethos are evident in the fact PewResearch is known for their different research projects. A lot of data is given in this article and gives lots of detail into the research that was happening gives into the appeals to logos. I did not find an appeal to pathos, but in this case an appeal to pathos would not be needed because this article is mainly compiled of data. I have chosen to take a look at ethos, tone and exigence because I find them an important part of this artifact.
PewResearch began their research in November of 2010 because they wanted to know if social networking sites isolate people and truncate their relationships or if there were benefits associated with being connected to others over these sites. There are a few reasons for which PewResearch may have chosen this time to begin their research, after having done some more research in what would have sparked this article I concluded with two possible reasons. The two reasons that I found were an article coming out on BBC News on November 19, 2010 called “Social Networking ‘Damaging School Work,’” the other possible reason was the movie “Social Networking” coming out, both of these pieces address how people relate to others after social media has been introduced. Although this article originally started in 2010 PewResearch has continued to update the information as new information has become relevant. Since the information is up-to-date it makes this article timely and current because today almost everyone that has access to internet is using a form of social media.
The tone in this piece is a little confusing at times but it helps make the piece easier to understand. In parts of the article PewResearch uses terms like: friends and tagging, this helps reach out to the younger audience and connect with them on terms that they know and use on a regular basis. In other parts of the article PewResearch uses bigger words that teenagers and young adults wouldn’t understand making it hard to state an audience for this piece.
In the initial research of this piece of who uses social networking sites there are a few pieces of information that should be essential in the research. One thing that PewResearch limited was the race/ethnicity category to three choices. With limiting this category it is hard to determine who the real users are. Another thing that was limited was the choice in urbanity and should have used different terms to get a better range of where people that use social networks.
The company PewResearch is a think tank based out of Washington D.C. They provide information for the public on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends in the United Sates. They do this by conducting public opinion polls, demographic research, media content analysis, and empirical social science research.
The rhetor’s ethos really helped make this piece seem like it was a good source. Also the fact that a lot of statistics were used helped make the piece seem credible. The fact that there was no pathos made it hard to connect with the piece. The article does fulfill its purpose of how social media changes people’s interactions with each other. This piece does establish ethos by using it’s a different methods of gathering information. The rhetorical appeals are reaching the intended audience because people just want to know the facts and that is it and they don’t really care about the words.
Works Cited
"Social Networking Fact Sheet." Pew Research Centers Internet American Life Project RSS. Pew Research Center, 2014. Web. 28 Mar. 2014. <http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheets/social-networking-fact-sheet/>.
Written By: Josie Markham
The article “Social Networking Fact Sheet” was done by PewResearch and published on their website for viewers to see the results. The initial research was done in November of 2010, as social medias have grown more research has been done. At the beginning of the article PewResearch states “Note: This page will be updated whenever new data is available.” The article then goes on to discuss online adult’s usage of social networking sites and the breakdown of that information. PewResearch then discusses how social media has jumped among young adults over the past couple of years and why that might be. The article then goes on to talk about how the rise in cell phone usage, especially because of the use of smart phones, has also increased the amount of social media used by both adults and teenagers. The article then jumps back to adult usage of social medias and what are called “Power Users.” Finally, it talks about how social media is used for politics and why social media is used to promote politics. This source is effective in establishing its ethos and tone, but it does have some missing information in the studies. I selected this artifact for this rhetorical analysis because I thought that it was an effective way of showing the usage of social media.
The rhetor of this article, “Social Networking Fact Sheet,” is PewResearch, which is a research company out of Washington D.C. PewResearch’s exigence of conducting this project was rising internet usage, social media usage has risen as well, in November of 2010. PewResearch’s purpose of conducting an ongoing research project in order to determine if social media sites hindered people’s involvement with each other. This article is only four years old and is updated often making its kairos credible and in good standing. PewResearch tried to make their target audience was hard to pick out because they did not seem to be targeting anyone in particular but would be the public in general. Appeals to ethos are evident in the fact PewResearch is known for their different research projects. A lot of data is given in this article and gives lots of detail into the research that was happening gives into the appeals to logos. I did not find an appeal to pathos, but in this case an appeal to pathos would not be needed because this article is mainly compiled of data. I have chosen to take a look at ethos, tone and exigence because I find them an important part of this artifact.
PewResearch began their research in November of 2010 because they wanted to know if social networking sites isolate people and truncate their relationships or if there were benefits associated with being connected to others over these sites. There are a few reasons for which PewResearch may have chosen this time to begin their research, after having done some more research in what would have sparked this article I concluded with two possible reasons. The two reasons that I found were an article coming out on BBC News on November 19, 2010 called “Social Networking ‘Damaging School Work,’” the other possible reason was the movie “Social Networking” coming out, both of these pieces address how people relate to others after social media has been introduced. Although this article originally started in 2010 PewResearch has continued to update the information as new information has become relevant. Since the information is up-to-date it makes this article timely and current because today almost everyone that has access to internet is using a form of social media.
The tone in this piece is a little confusing at times but it helps make the piece easier to understand. In parts of the article PewResearch uses terms like: friends and tagging, this helps reach out to the younger audience and connect with them on terms that they know and use on a regular basis. In other parts of the article PewResearch uses bigger words that teenagers and young adults wouldn’t understand making it hard to state an audience for this piece.
In the initial research of this piece of who uses social networking sites there are a few pieces of information that should be essential in the research. One thing that PewResearch limited was the race/ethnicity category to three choices. With limiting this category it is hard to determine who the real users are. Another thing that was limited was the choice in urbanity and should have used different terms to get a better range of where people that use social networks.
The company PewResearch is a think tank based out of Washington D.C. They provide information for the public on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends in the United Sates. They do this by conducting public opinion polls, demographic research, media content analysis, and empirical social science research.
The rhetor’s ethos really helped make this piece seem like it was a good source. Also the fact that a lot of statistics were used helped make the piece seem credible. The fact that there was no pathos made it hard to connect with the piece. The article does fulfill its purpose of how social media changes people’s interactions with each other. This piece does establish ethos by using it’s a different methods of gathering information. The rhetorical appeals are reaching the intended audience because people just want to know the facts and that is it and they don’t really care about the words.
Works Cited
"Social Networking Fact Sheet." Pew Research Centers Internet American Life Project RSS. Pew Research Center, 2014. Web. 28 Mar. 2014. <http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheets/social-networking-fact-sheet/>.