Alice Mathias is a Dartmouth University graduate in Hanover, New Hampshire in the United States who wrote the article ‘Fakebook Generation’. She argues that the use of social media platforms was turning into a comic. Moreover, she doubts the fact that social media could promote genuine personal and professional connections. Information on the platform cannot be relied on as people give unsubstantiated answers like having relationship status with food and adding false pictures.
Fakebook generation employs various persuasion ideologies. Firstly, emotional responses are a critical part of her persuasion model. Pathos is the use of emotional-based persuasion and used by Mathias in this article. The tone is casual but very convincing as it uses questions that one would generally have a response to and thus influencing the opinion of the readers. Mathias (348) in her article asks questions like “But does this more reverent incarnation of Facebook actually enrich adult relationships?” with the aim of getting an emotional reaction from the readers. she also uses pathos to disclose how her friends would ogle to their lovers profiles all day.
Secondly, the use of pathos is, however, the most effective way to convince readers. Logos is the use of logic. Some of the arguments in the articles use logic to persuade the readers for example “my generation has long been bizarrely comfortable with being looked at.” Finally, her critique of Facebook seems to be timely. This shows that there is the use of kairos and from 2007 when the article was, first published Facebook was rapidly growing in popularity. The initial purpose of Facebook was social interaction and honesty was very important in maintaining this. This article explores the ways in which this intended purpose changed. Society has used this platform in a manner that increases the shareholder’s value but does not achieve the intended purpose and information provided by the users is not credible.
The issues raised in this article are relatively true. There could be some negative aspects of the use of social media platforms but there are some advantages. It is also apparent that not everyone is honest with the information provided but there is some information that is from credible organizations like media, governments, and other organizations that can be relied on. It has had a positive impact on the way people interact and is advantageous especially when distances are involved. Breaking up relationships is a common problem associated with the use of Facebook but it has evolved to include other issues outside this scope. I believe it will constantly shape itself in the future in a way that more and more people appreciate the creativity of the developers.
In conclusion, Mathias’s opinion in this article has had a great impact on persuading her readers. The use of pathos is the most effective way to persuade the readers as emotional responses have more impact. However, logical evidence has been left out in the article as no statistical data was provided but this does not affect the overall intention of the writer. In addition, the use of kairo had a positive impact on persuading the readers. It can also be noted that Facebook has its advantages and disadvantages and the advantages will consistently grow as its use is diversified to include businesses and other organizations. It can also be noted that most organizations including governments are using this platform to communicate to its audiences.
Works Cited
Mathias, Alice. “The Fakebook Generation.” The New York Times. The New York Times. 2007. Web.