Is Social Media Really Social?

The question, "Is social media really social?" is quite interesting. Merriam Webster dictionary defines social as follows:

¹so·cial

 adjective \ˈsō-shəl\

: relating to or involving activities in which people spend time talking to each other or doing enjoyable things with each other

: liking to be with and talk to people : happy to be with people

: of or relating to people or society in general

They will need to update that definition as social in their definition meant sociable in presence. To me, the term social media is a medium to facilitate communication and sharing of information.  Indeed, we are having less and less conversations as the use and prevalence of social media continues. I am certainly guilty of that. On occasion, my daughter or husband have had to compete for my attention as I peruse Facebook or respond to text messages. I have had to consciously remind myself that this is but entertainment which can cause distraction from important issues at hand. That being said, I think social media serves an important function in our day to day lives because it makes communication "fun" and "interesting". Without it, I would not know what is happening with many of my friends and family. I learn interesting tips and facts, get news and important information quickly and instantaneously. However, I am also exposed to nudity, inflammatory and inappropriate information as well.

Social media use and texting has given many a voice and audience that they would not have had in person. People can "hide" behind who they really are and communicate freely. Messages allow people the ability to communicate in silence. Conversations call for audio. As we learned earlier, moods and emotions are expressed without the need for bodily cues. It has broadened the number of people I can communicate with simultaneously. Before that, one on one conversations would likely occur. I think that overall this is good as it represents progress. Progress usually represent some trade off of current practices. However, as with press releases, there will be some relevancy to having conversations instead of messages. 

Rhetorical Analysis - The Danger of a Single Story

Rhetorical Artifact Analysis

Topic: The Danger of a Single Story – By Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Specific Purpose: To inform my audience of the rhetorical methods and devices used by Chimamanda Adichie in her speech titled, “The Danger of a Single Story”.

Thesis:

Upon review of this assignment, my first thought was to conduct my rhetorical artifact analysis on one of my favorite speakers, John F. Kennedy.  Then, I thought about it later and decided that I would prefer to conduct my analysis on a speech that is more recent and one which I, being from the islands, could also identify with.

Introduction

1. Chimamanda Adichie’s speech surrounds a theme that she calls, “The Danger of a Single Story” which in fact means the danger of stereotyping.  Stereotype is defined in Webster’s Dictionary online as, “An often unfair and untrue belief that many people have about all people or things of a particular characteristic”.
2. Adichie exposes the stereotypes she has encountered and uses those experiences to teach a lesson on the danger of telling or knowing only single story, point or perspective on a people or thing.
3. I have listened to this speech several times and each time it resonates with me. Again, it could be because we have shared similar situations being from another country but more importantly, because she uses credibility (ethos), logos (logic), and emotional appeal (pathos), to convey her points.
4. This speech identifies the flaws in stereotyping – even if it is done with empathy, and it shows how knowing or identifying other aspects of a people or thing are equally important in telling a fair and impartial story of people or things.
5. Adichie is a skilled speaker who was able to tell her story via the canons of rhetoric: invention, arrangement, style, memory and delivery.
6. This analysis will focus on the topic that gave rise to her speech and it will analyze her use of ethos, pathos and logos that she used to bring her point across resoundingly to her audience.

First, let me introduce the speaker and then the context that surrounded the speech.

 

1. The rhetorical situation/context of the speech, “The Danger of a Single Story”

1. The speaker, Amamanda Adichie, is a Nigerian author and writer who has been called ‘the most prominent of a procession of critically acclaimed young Anglophone authors that is succeeding in attracting a new generation of readers to African literature.” – Wikepedia
2. Adichie was born in the city of Enugu, Nigeria, where she grew up the fifth of six children.  She has written three books and given many speeches and her work has been endorsed by celebrities such as Beyonce who uses Adichie’s work in her song, “Flawless”.
3. Adichie delivers her speech in front of an audience which appears to be mostly white and sponsored by TED Talks.

Body

Now that the scene is set, let’s discuss the appeals she uses to argue her position:

1. Analysis of rhetorical devices
   1. She uses ethos (credibility), as a well-known “audience grabber” to capture and keep their focus
      1. She tells stories, beginning with herself as a child which her audience can also relate to.
      2. She included a story about the then, and still now, recent debate about the immigration situation in America.
   2. She appeals to the audiences emotions with a strong sense of pathos as follows:
      1. She tells the story of her house helper who was a little boy whose family was very poor.
      2. She uses humor to bring across the ridiculous nature of stereotyping by telling the story of her room-mate who was American and who felt sorry for her even before she met her, simply because she was from Africa.
      3. She tells the story of her being approached and being told a stereotype about her book and her African characters and her sarcastically responding to the person with her own stereotype of a book she read with American characters.
   3. She uses logos (the arrangement of all her ideas and experiences) to add power to her message in a way that is quite appealing:
      1. She supports the claims of her thesis with eloquent language and poignant examples.
         1. She speaks fluent and proper English and begins with her childhood and how the “single story” was portray to her from an early age.
         2. She uses situations that are of national debate, notable books, well-known artists, such as Mariah Carey to tell her story that others can identify with.
      2. She uses her own experience and failure in stereotyping others to further connect with the audience. Essentially, she critiqued her own self to show that she is subject to this behavior as well.
         1. She emphasizes that we must start with the positive stories of a people to get a clearer picture of their story.

Ms. Adichie sets an audacious tone in this introduction – one that carries through the rest of the speech. She connects and holds the audience captive with each story or situation she will make to bring her point across.  Since the stories are personal and not fictitious, they  

 

 

 

Conclusion

1. Amamanda Adiche reveals in a very powerful but soft-spoken, eloquent and convincing manner to the audience the many ways that people stereotype people or things.
2. Ms. Adichie provides stories, lessons learned, topics of national debate and even makes suggestions as to how to tell a story or stories to avoid stereotyping.
3. Ms. Adichie uses all the cannons of rhetoric involving ethos, pathos and logos to capture and engage her audience.
4. This artfully delivered speech inspired me the first time I heard it and listening to it again, it still does.  I intend to emulate Ms. Adichie’s style and delivery in producing my own speech.

 

Bibliography (References)

1. Ted Talks -  http://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story?language=en
2. Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary definition of Stereotype:
   http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stereotype
    

Rives Speech Analysis Review

Rives Review                                                                                                                        Jacqueline Simmonds CIM603

John Rives did an excellent rhetorical speech about, of all topics – 4 o’clock in the morning.  Rives is a master at using ethos, pathos and logos to bring such a mundane topic across to his audience.  He uses humor, stories – mostly personal and other situational characters and events to bring this across. He bombards the audience rhetorically with 4 o’clock am video snippets which forces the audience to think on how much 4 o’clock is referenced. He even uses the Great Gastby where a reference to 4 o’clock in the morning.  More importantly, he uses humor and stories to connect with the audience and forces them to pay attention to his topic.

He makes comparisons and contrasting stories of well-known people who are totally opposites, such as Ron Jeremy, who is a porn star and Simone De Beauvoir who is a feminist and shows how that though they are different, they have something in common. Both have a significant event in their lives that happened at 4 o’clock in the morning.

Rives kept his audience attuned and used all the cannons of rhetoric to connect with and hold his audience’s attention while keeping them amused and informed. His skill in doing so is superb and he does it at ease and with comfort – even when his topic covers controversial or sensitive topics such as what a porn star does or his own private love life. I truly enjoyed this unusual Ted talk speech.

Press Release - Scottish Independence - CIM603

The recent vote by the Scottish people to retain British rule has left many who voted  "yes" for independence with unease and uncertainty.  The Scottish government has retained our firm, Spread the Word, to calm their unease and help them understand why independence would bring Scotland much success. Below is our initial Press Release to address the situation:  

_____________________________________________________________

Thomas & Jacqueline FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 11/23/2014

Spread the Word

www.SpreadtheWord.com

1-800-TheWordNow

thomas@Spreadtheword.com

jacqueline@Spreadtheword.com

______________________________________________________________________

Scottish Independence would be an Economic Disaster

Scotland is not ready for independence because of economic reasons

Longmeadow, MA: The government of Scotland has hired an outside public relations

(PR) firm, called Spread the Word. This firm is going to work with elements of the

Scotland government to help appease the 48% of the Scottish “Yes” voters who are

upset about the results of the September 18th referendum vote.

Part of the job in front of this firm is to convince the YES voters that the government was

not ready to make this change. Jacqueline Simmonds, the head spokesperson for

Spread the Word, said that they are going to work on the following main issues:

o Scotland’s economic power remaining intact.

o Change of currency and the confusion it would bring.

o Separating from the UK would mean losing their economic and military

support.

Scottish Parliament member Willie Rennie, said about the vote:

“A ‘No’ vote is a vote of confidence. A vote of confidence in the ability of Scots

to be all they can be, to aspire in the finest traditions of our nation, confident to

be part of something bigger, with global reach, of 60 million people, with an

economic base with broad shoulders, proud to stand with the rest of our family in

our United Kingdom.”

Thomas Guberow and Jacqueline Simmonds of Spread the Word said that one of their

first steps will be to create a survey for all Scottish voters to go to on their website and

feedback of on-going concerns at:

WWW.SPREADTHEWORD.COM

The survey will be available by December 1, 2014.

For questions, comments or feedback: contact Thomas or Jacqueline at

thomas@Spreadtheword.com or jacqueline@Spreadtheword.com.

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