Facebook Vs. Rhetorical Analysis

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What if you could put your whole life on display for everyone to see? In this decade, such thing is possible with the help of social media sites. If you want to upload pictures, Instagram is available. If you want to write different statuses, Twitter is a step away. If you wanted to do both while interacting with people from across the world, Facebook is the right choice. With the progression of technology and the need for people to show the world who they are, social media sites are becoming increasingly popular. Some people may see this recent boom of social networking as a chance for people to self-brand as well as to present themselves as someone who they are not. As Joel Stein declares in his article You Are Not my Friend, “until we can build some kind of social network where we can present our true, flawed selves, I say we strip down our online communities to just the important parts” (para. 9). While Facebook can be seen as a place for “self-branding” it is a place where someone can analyze someone else as a whole. This allows us to understand someone better and get to know who they really are. By using the method of ethos, pathos and logos, rhetorically analyzing someone’s Facebook profile is easy to do.With the use of one account user’s profile, Jenna LoBello, this essay will show that Facebook can be used more than just somewhere to interact and “show off,” but that it can be used for rhetorical analysis.
For rhetorical analysis, we use Aristotle's’ ethos, pathos, and logos. Ethos is the credibility the author or in this case, the account user, presents. Whether it be the use of pictures, interests, or friendships Facebook achieves this. Pathos is the author’s emotional appeal. This could be presented in what movies s...

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...is evident that this is false. Facebook is a place where someone can rhetorically analyze someone else and find out who they exactly are. Although people can post anything they want others to see, this is true off the screen as well. When people first meet, they only show the other person what they want them to see. Someone who uses Facebook more than someone who does not will have more of a relationship with the audience due to a stronger ethos, pathos and logos. Facebook is a site that allows us to analyze other people but also ourselves. By taking time to rhetorically analyze your Facebook profile, one might see themselves differently afterwards. It is important to know what energy you give off to others. If someone is interested in hiring you or getting to know you, having a profile that makes you look immature and not credible, may cause them to turn you down.

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