Social Media Persuasive Analysis

Freitas, Donna. “The Happiness Effect: How Social Media is Driving a Generation to Appear Perfect at Any Cost”. Oxford University Press, 2016. Ebook.

Social media has been a topic of debate for years. Some people are strongly against any use of it while others like the instant connection it provides. A major concern over social media is the lasting effects it has on teenagers. Social media can affect teenagers through many ways including things like their self-esteem. Cyberbullying is a raging topic of discussion centered around teens social media use. It can also effect their people skills and create a lack of community involvement. Some parents think that watching what their children do on social media is an invasion of privacy but is your concern for their privacy greater than your concern for their safety? Social media poses a great danger to today’s children. It can affect many aspects of their lives.

I fondly remember the days when I was naïve enough to think that when someone went through the trouble of uploading a photo of a product into their Instagram account (or Facebook, or any other social media handle) it was because they actually, truly enjoyed using it (eating it, wearing it, you get my point).

A study at Stanford University shows that people tend to “underestimate how many negative experiences their peers are having” and “overestimate how much fun those same peers are having” (592). Social Media lets people decide what they want their life to look like and how they want to portray themselves to others. The platforms allow one to put together bits and pieces of ones life in order to create a puzzle of optimism to hide the sadness they don’t want to show the world. “The site’s very design- the presence of a ‘Like’ button, without a corresponding ‘hate button’- reinforces a kind of upbeat spin doctoring” (592). Copeland says that even the design of the social media platforms encourages putting a positive spin on things that aren’t so attractive to the people on the other side of the computer. “The human habit of overestimating other peoples happiness is nothing new, of course” (591). While people will always look at others and see their happiness, and never their pain, Social networking gives a bigger platform for people to do so. In an everyday conversation at the grocery store, people tend to focus on the positive. It is no different on Facebook, other than the positive spin is done in larger

“We don’t have a choice on whether we do social media, the question is how we do it” (Qualman, n.d). According to Merrain Webster 1828, “social media is form of electronic communication (such as websites for social networking and microblogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messaging, and other online (such as video). Technology has involved into something that everyone can utilize effectively just by the swipe of finger or by pressing a single button. We don’t have to go the post office for hand written letter from families and friends abroad, but we can get them through simply opening a chat box online. However, social media has become the addiction to many young people today and even adults alike. We eat with your phones. We study and communicate with others on your various devices. We even go into the bathroom with our devices to ensure that we don’t miss a tweet, recent Instagram post or a WhatsApp message.

Ever since I was little and did not know how to do basic things like walk, talk or solve an algebraic equation. Naturally I would get discouraged and would not try to do it again. However, my parents effortlessly raised me, had encourage me to keep going. That I would get what I wanted if I put my heart into it. I’m not spoiled like Simon sinek would say we were raised with bad parenting skills.; my parents did not argue with my teachers over a stupid grade or to force me intro honors class room.

“I now walk into the wild” stated Chris McCandless, as he is about to make the worst decision of his life. Chris was just your average rich suburban kid when one day he decided to flip his whole world around, Chris decided to leave his whole life behind and to go live off the land in Alaska. Chris tried to do the impossible, and failed terribly. For all i know the only people living off the land are tribes and people in third world countries, these people would switch lives with chris in a heartbeat! Chris never realized how lucky he was to have an education (not just your average education either, he attended Emory), a home, and people that love him. In my eyes chris killed himself with his stupidity. He lacked knowledge of the wilderness, and he never got to prove his point. Although he followed his dream, he died which proves that you cannot live your life off of the land. Chris was a fool because he was not prepared to go into the wild and because he hurt a lot of people emotionally while gone.

B. Relevance: We live in a world of ever changing technology. Products are always getting upgraded every year and everyone wants the biggest and newest thing on the market. It’s hard to not get caught up in all the buzz of things. We feel almost “naked” without our phones; our attachment to them is overwhelming. Without them we feel as though we’re missing out on what’s happening in the world. Our heads are always down; our thumbs are always swiping up and down on our newsfeed. We’re living a life that is more involved in someone else’s social media accounts than our own.

In the Ted Talk “We should aim for perfection- and stop fearing failure”, Jon Bowers outlines his argument for perfection. He begins by giving an example of a “small error” that ended up costing Amazon over $160 million dollars. He then lists more examples draws them forward to present his idea of perfection. The examples show how one tiny error can have an enormous impact and he turns to the audience asking “why we cannot achieve perfection?”. He draws the listeners in by giving personal experience in striving for perfection. “Look, a hundred people die everyday due to vehicular crashes. Think about that for a second. That's like the equivalent of four commercial airliners crashing every week, yet we still can't convince ourselves to pay perfect attention behind the wheel. So I teach my drivers to value perfection”. Jon is an educator for professional delivery drivers and has to ensure that they are prepared to handle any and every situation possible.

We were expecting to receive the Monosodium Phosphate for your order on Thursday of last week.

Social media allow us to depict our life in an ideal way through editing, yet these edited posts promote unrealistic standards for our sense of happiness. We feel unhappy and unsatisfied with our real life because all we see on social media is others’ “perfect lives”. Reynolds shares her personal experience to illustrate this idea: felt lonely and isolated in reality, she amplified her social media presence and sought validation and comfort from likes and comments; however, she felt her old friends had better lives than she did when she saw them posting happy pictures with their new college besties. When she compared her life with her old friends’ “happy lives” on social media, she felt sad, isolated, and unhappy with her own life. Reynolds’

It is not hard to summise when looking over the rest of your website comments that this is a subject which brings out many opinions about this subject. I suppose it is lovely to meet fellow opinionated people! Just one more thing I bookmarked this post to my FB faves.

Good tempo and good control veryall. Again, at the octave watch out for the for the higher note. Make sure it's in tune with the lower note. I know it's hard but try not to rush in the octave, it will make you life a lot easier. In the up bow staccato, use your index finger to articulate more especially in this tempo.

David Sack, a doctor who wrote an article for Psychology Today articulates, “trauma experienced in childhood has a special ability to wound.” Nevertheless, these difficulties allow teens to gain insight into adulthood. Melinda Sordino from Speak struggled to overcome her battle with depression after being raped. Rudyard Kipling, the author of “If-,” explained the traits needed to deal with challenges in adulthood. “The Art of Resilience” emphasizes the point that people are competent in subduing hardships. In Speak, “The Art of Resilience,” and “If-,” personification, conflict, and symbolism develop the theme, although adolescence can be associated with challenges, it ultimately culminates individuals into young adults.

For the essay I chose the play The Mountaintop by Katori Hall and an interview from the documentary Twilight, by Anna Deaver Smith, “When I finally Got My Vision/Nightcloud.” The Mountaintop depict the tenacious leader of 1960’s Civil Rights movement, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., being visited by an angel the night before his assassination. “When I finally Got My Vision/Nightcloud” is a first person narrative about a man who, becomes a victim of police brutality and loses his sight because of it. These two text share common themes; which, are that mankind tends to persevere for the sake preservation.