The Effects of Technology on Communication
In the artifact “How Does Social Media Affect Our Relationships?: Interpersonal Communication in the Digital Age” the author Richard G. Jones Jr explores the effects that technology has on our everyday interpersonal relationships. There are positives and negatives of technology but the author focuses on neither, and instead takes a non-biased point of view. There are many subtopics within the overall topic of the artifact, however all of the subtopics are linked by the
common theme of technology’s effect on individual parts of communication.
Jones begins his artifact with a link to another one of his blog posts regarding a similar topic. He then goes on to summarize the main point of the artifact. He identifies seven subtopics: “Social Media Affects How We Use The Word "Friend", “Social Media Affects How We Think About Our Offiline Social Networks”, “Social Media Affects How We Present Ourselves”, “Social Media Affects How Others Perceive Us”, “Social Media Affects Our Support Networks”, “Social Media Affects Relationship Maintenance Behaviors”, and “Social Media Can Expand Our Perspective”. Each of these subtopics connects directly to Jones’ main point which is how technology has affected these parts of our lives. These
subtopics emphasize the change that we have seen when communicating and keeping up with old friends; even words like “friend” have taken on a new meaning because of technological advances. Jones also focuses on social media and how
people make judgments based on what we post. These profiles are open to anyone who wants to look into our personal lives including potential employers. They don’t just look at your own profile but also the profiles of your friends.
People will even judge you as more attractive if you have more attractive friends. Although Jones identifies several drawbacks of social media, he identifies several positive aspects of the communication medium as well. For
example, at the end of his artifact he writes about how the internet has been able to broaden our horizons by exposing people to new and different views. He wraps up this artifact by pointing out that his readers have possibly had
similar experiences. I selected this artifact for this rhetorical analysis because it contains an unbiased view and I wanted to see both sides of the argument before I took a side on whether or not technology has affected our interpersonal communication in a positive or a negative way.
The rhetor of the article “How Does Social Media Affect Our Relationships?: Interpersonal Communication in the Digital Age” is Richard G. Jones, a published author now working as a Assistant Professor in the Department of
Communication Studies at Eastern Illinois University which is located in Charleston, Illinois. The rhetors purpose of this artifact is not directly stated but through context it is mainly centered around the effect technology
has had on our interpersonal relationships and how it has had an effect on them. The kairos of this artifact is blatantly presented. Technological has advanced exponentially over the last decade but there have not been a large
number of studies on how this rapid change has affected communication. This is also connected to the exigence since there are not many other researchers investigating this issue of changing communication. This relates directly
with Jones’ target audience which is fellow scientists and readers who are just doing general research about the subject. Jones’ web page is essentially a summary of findings of other scientists whose research is linked at the end of
the page. This is also an appeal to ethos, Jones cites all his sources at the end of his article making it very convenient for his readers to further research his claims. There was no evidence of an appeal to pathos, instead Jones focuses
on the use of logos. Jones presents facts that are reasonable and supports them with examples from other scholarly sources or by using terms that have already been found relevant to his previous research. Within this artifact, I have
chosen to take a closer look at the rhetorical structures of ethos, visual rhetoric, and kairos.
In every part of this artifact there are appeals to ethos, both within his article and in the website itself. When looking at Jones’ article you can see these appeals right away at the bottom of the page because he lists the sources he uses to support the facts stated. He not only lists these sources but he also gives links to the research used for the readers’ convenience. When delving further into Jones’ website you find an “About Me” that links the viewer to an
entire page dedicated to the authors ethos. He has a Ph.D. in Human Communication Studies from the University of Denver, a M.A. in Speech Communication, and a B.A. in Communication Studies from the University of North
Carolina Greensboro. Jones is currently working as a Assistant Professor at Eastern Illinois University in the Department of Communication Studies; there he was recognized for teaching excellence. He has also been published in
scholarly journals not to mention that he wrote and published a textbook called “Communication in the Real World”. Each of these appeals contributes to Jones’ credibility making his artifact more relevant than it would be if he was just an everyday blogger. This strong appeal to ethos creates the image of a very reliable source though when first looking at the website and its design you might skip over this artifact because of its unprofessional look.
Visual rhetoric is very important to a website because it is the first thing the readers will notice and if the design of the page looks boring or unprofessional the rhetor will lose readers. Jones used 11pt font, Georgia which is a very simple, professional choice. Though he uses serif instead of sans serif, serif is harder to read on a webpage and is normally used for printed articles. This shows that Jones is not a web page design expert or just didn’t put in the time
to do a little research on the topic of web design. His choice of color also makes his website look unattractive for his links. For example, he uses a light pink and light blue for titles. This color scheme clashes with his brown web page title and his black tabs. Of course a web site needs a splash of color but for a more professional feel, darker colors would work better. As for the main title of the web page the background obscures his name, making it harder for the readers to decipher. The design of the article was designed to be easy to read. He inserted photos to keep the readers engaged and broke up the page according to subject which helped structure the page in an easy to navigate format. Because of the use of color this website is easily passable, it is presented in an unprofessional manner and readers looking for credible sources may skip this one. It is very important to have a professional looking website when you are trying to attract any kind of audience.
This article is very relevant in today's society because technology has taken over the way we communicate with friends and family. So the question is: how has this affected us, if at all? This artifact address this question in a non biased way,
Jones presents us with facts about how times have changed because of the use of technology. Even the word “friend” has a new definition, it used to hold more meaning than it does today. Today we “friend” people online that we may only have met once or twice in our lives and we will never speak with them again, but they are still our “friend”. This is one of many examples presented in this artifact pertaining to changes technology has made. Each day some type of technology is being used either for recreation or research. This means that technology has become a huge part of our lives; it has advanced our own society and is working to advance others. Clearly the effect on communication of these advances has to be addressed before it completely takes over face-to-face contact.
Jones really focuses on his appeal to ethos and kairos but lacks in his appeal to visual rhetoric. His ethos is very well presented through his previous and current work, as well as after the article where he lists his references. His kairos is obvious; he writes only about the present and how social media today has affected the way we communicate with one another. As for visual rhetoric, I believe he could have presented his information in a more professional manner and he should have chosen colors that also supported his professionalism. The appeals Jones made throughout his article were successful in getting his point across. Jones wanted to write an informative article and his lack of pathos shows he wrote in a non-biased way. His big appeal to ethos shows he knew what he was talking about along with his smaller appeal to
logos.
Citations:
Jones, Richard. How
Does Social Media Affect Our Relationships?: Interpersonal Communication in the Digital Age.
May 12, 2013. Web. April 3, 2014.
http://www.richardgjonesjr.com/blog/2013/5/12/how-does-social-media-affect-our-relationships-interpersonal-9.html
Urban Fonts. Serif vs Sans: The Final Battle. February
26, 2013. Web. May 12, 2014.
http://www.urbanfonts.com/blog/2013/02/serif-vs-sans-the-final-battle/
common theme of technology’s effect on individual parts of communication.
Jones begins his artifact with a link to another one of his blog posts regarding a similar topic. He then goes on to summarize the main point of the artifact. He identifies seven subtopics: “Social Media Affects How We Use The Word "Friend", “Social Media Affects How We Think About Our Offiline Social Networks”, “Social Media Affects How We Present Ourselves”, “Social Media Affects How Others Perceive Us”, “Social Media Affects Our Support Networks”, “Social Media Affects Relationship Maintenance Behaviors”, and “Social Media Can Expand Our Perspective”. Each of these subtopics connects directly to Jones’ main point which is how technology has affected these parts of our lives. These
subtopics emphasize the change that we have seen when communicating and keeping up with old friends; even words like “friend” have taken on a new meaning because of technological advances. Jones also focuses on social media and how
people make judgments based on what we post. These profiles are open to anyone who wants to look into our personal lives including potential employers. They don’t just look at your own profile but also the profiles of your friends.
People will even judge you as more attractive if you have more attractive friends. Although Jones identifies several drawbacks of social media, he identifies several positive aspects of the communication medium as well. For
example, at the end of his artifact he writes about how the internet has been able to broaden our horizons by exposing people to new and different views. He wraps up this artifact by pointing out that his readers have possibly had
similar experiences. I selected this artifact for this rhetorical analysis because it contains an unbiased view and I wanted to see both sides of the argument before I took a side on whether or not technology has affected our interpersonal communication in a positive or a negative way.
The rhetor of the article “How Does Social Media Affect Our Relationships?: Interpersonal Communication in the Digital Age” is Richard G. Jones, a published author now working as a Assistant Professor in the Department of
Communication Studies at Eastern Illinois University which is located in Charleston, Illinois. The rhetors purpose of this artifact is not directly stated but through context it is mainly centered around the effect technology
has had on our interpersonal relationships and how it has had an effect on them. The kairos of this artifact is blatantly presented. Technological has advanced exponentially over the last decade but there have not been a large
number of studies on how this rapid change has affected communication. This is also connected to the exigence since there are not many other researchers investigating this issue of changing communication. This relates directly
with Jones’ target audience which is fellow scientists and readers who are just doing general research about the subject. Jones’ web page is essentially a summary of findings of other scientists whose research is linked at the end of
the page. This is also an appeal to ethos, Jones cites all his sources at the end of his article making it very convenient for his readers to further research his claims. There was no evidence of an appeal to pathos, instead Jones focuses
on the use of logos. Jones presents facts that are reasonable and supports them with examples from other scholarly sources or by using terms that have already been found relevant to his previous research. Within this artifact, I have
chosen to take a closer look at the rhetorical structures of ethos, visual rhetoric, and kairos.
In every part of this artifact there are appeals to ethos, both within his article and in the website itself. When looking at Jones’ article you can see these appeals right away at the bottom of the page because he lists the sources he uses to support the facts stated. He not only lists these sources but he also gives links to the research used for the readers’ convenience. When delving further into Jones’ website you find an “About Me” that links the viewer to an
entire page dedicated to the authors ethos. He has a Ph.D. in Human Communication Studies from the University of Denver, a M.A. in Speech Communication, and a B.A. in Communication Studies from the University of North
Carolina Greensboro. Jones is currently working as a Assistant Professor at Eastern Illinois University in the Department of Communication Studies; there he was recognized for teaching excellence. He has also been published in
scholarly journals not to mention that he wrote and published a textbook called “Communication in the Real World”. Each of these appeals contributes to Jones’ credibility making his artifact more relevant than it would be if he was just an everyday blogger. This strong appeal to ethos creates the image of a very reliable source though when first looking at the website and its design you might skip over this artifact because of its unprofessional look.
Visual rhetoric is very important to a website because it is the first thing the readers will notice and if the design of the page looks boring or unprofessional the rhetor will lose readers. Jones used 11pt font, Georgia which is a very simple, professional choice. Though he uses serif instead of sans serif, serif is harder to read on a webpage and is normally used for printed articles. This shows that Jones is not a web page design expert or just didn’t put in the time
to do a little research on the topic of web design. His choice of color also makes his website look unattractive for his links. For example, he uses a light pink and light blue for titles. This color scheme clashes with his brown web page title and his black tabs. Of course a web site needs a splash of color but for a more professional feel, darker colors would work better. As for the main title of the web page the background obscures his name, making it harder for the readers to decipher. The design of the article was designed to be easy to read. He inserted photos to keep the readers engaged and broke up the page according to subject which helped structure the page in an easy to navigate format. Because of the use of color this website is easily passable, it is presented in an unprofessional manner and readers looking for credible sources may skip this one. It is very important to have a professional looking website when you are trying to attract any kind of audience.
This article is very relevant in today's society because technology has taken over the way we communicate with friends and family. So the question is: how has this affected us, if at all? This artifact address this question in a non biased way,
Jones presents us with facts about how times have changed because of the use of technology. Even the word “friend” has a new definition, it used to hold more meaning than it does today. Today we “friend” people online that we may only have met once or twice in our lives and we will never speak with them again, but they are still our “friend”. This is one of many examples presented in this artifact pertaining to changes technology has made. Each day some type of technology is being used either for recreation or research. This means that technology has become a huge part of our lives; it has advanced our own society and is working to advance others. Clearly the effect on communication of these advances has to be addressed before it completely takes over face-to-face contact.
Jones really focuses on his appeal to ethos and kairos but lacks in his appeal to visual rhetoric. His ethos is very well presented through his previous and current work, as well as after the article where he lists his references. His kairos is obvious; he writes only about the present and how social media today has affected the way we communicate with one another. As for visual rhetoric, I believe he could have presented his information in a more professional manner and he should have chosen colors that also supported his professionalism. The appeals Jones made throughout his article were successful in getting his point across. Jones wanted to write an informative article and his lack of pathos shows he wrote in a non-biased way. His big appeal to ethos shows he knew what he was talking about along with his smaller appeal to
logos.
Citations:
Jones, Richard. How
Does Social Media Affect Our Relationships?: Interpersonal Communication in the Digital Age.
May 12, 2013. Web. April 3, 2014.
http://www.richardgjonesjr.com/blog/2013/5/12/how-does-social-media-affect-our-relationships-interpersonal-9.html
Urban Fonts. Serif vs Sans: The Final Battle. February
26, 2013. Web. May 12, 2014.
http://www.urbanfonts.com/blog/2013/02/serif-vs-sans-the-final-battle/