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Rachel Ruggieri
Sipin
10-22-14
Anti-Social Cellphones

In todays society, people are all ages have a cell phone that is carried with them
everywhere they go. The main purpose of a cell phone is to contact anyone instantly anywhere,
which is a good tool to set up appointments or checking up on a loved one. Within the past few
years cellphones main use has changed to instant social media. Having access to social media
anywhere distracts people on social media all the time. Being social on social media is making
people antisocial; where people forget how to socialize among others around them.
The rhetorical situation of Gary Tucks YouTube video Look Up bring awareness to
our societys cell phone overuse and to persuade people to experience life without using a cell
phone all the time. Tucks video shows people in everyday life, while he narrates his
information. In the beginning of the video he starts talking about his own experiences of being
blinded of the false socialization. Then realizes he was stuck in the trap in and analyzes how
everyone is living their life behind a screen. In Tucks video he uses ethos, logos, and pathos to
help to spread his awareness by persuading viewers to put down their phone and live life. Since
Tuck talks about his own personal experience and observations provides a strong ethos so that
the audience and trust what he is saying is liable. Then he emphasizes the logos on how social
media forces people to stare at a screen, preventing them from actually being social by being
interactive with the world around them. At the end of Tucks video he says look up from the
phone, turn off the display, stop watching this video, go live life the real way. By having a

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strong ethos, logos and pathos, Tuck leaves a strong rhetorical persuasion for the audience to
think about.
The content of Look up is found in academic journals, internet blogs and news articles
show how persuasive the rhetorical situation is. Anastasiya Pocheptsova did a research paper on
cell phone usage. At first cell phones kept connections tied, but through Pocheptsovas research
she discovered it is doing the complete opposite. She notes in her paper People use mobile
devices to connect other and to satisfy their fundamental need to belong. Once this need has been
met, there is a decrease in motivation to seek further connection (Pocheptsova). In
Pocheptsovas quote she talks about how people use their phone to fill the desire to belong,
which corresponds with Kerim Karabacak and Oztunc Mustafas research on the topic. They
believe that when people feel lonely and shy tend to use social media to feel like they belong
then get in the cycle of referring to back to cell phones. Which does not help when people get
shy and lonely because it is only making them more isolated. Karabacak and Mustafas research
concluded by saying [The] increase addiction of mobile phone use [is] due to increase in the
feelings of shyness and loneliness (Karabacak, Mustafa).
Throughout Xanthe Plaisier and Konijn Ellys research paper they identified where the
main source of loneliness that humans experience that would lead them to the use of cell phones.
They said our study shows for the first time, how peer rejection may lead to a preference to
antisocial media content (Elly, Plaisier). Matthieu Miossec starts to discuss the overuse of cell
phones on TED Conversations. He beings off by saying The specific problem with cell phone
usage is that not only does it lead to similar antisocial behavior, that behavior seems to be more
widely accepted than it objectively ought to be (Miossec). Miossec and many other people do

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recognize the problem with cell phones shows that is it a popular issue that will have many
people trying to solve.
The You Tuber Tucks video is persuasive because its ethos and logos is supported by the
research that was found on this topic. Tuck was not the only one to find the problem; the authors
from the evidence also noticed there was something wrong with the use of a cell phone. There
are more people who know that cellphone use is a problem, which makes the ethos stronger since
more people besides Tuck who believes that people should solve the problem. Almost all of the
research evidence is summarized in Tucks video which supports the logos of the rhetorical
analysis. Since all of Tucks rhetorical devices are supported by other evidence, then this popular
culture is successful.
The cell phone over use has made people antisocial because it gives them the false shield
from loneliness and shyness. It has become a bad habit in our society that will be around for a
while, especially if the younger generation of children are born into it. In order to break the cell
phone habit, people need to interact with people around them and be open. When people are out
in public, talking and meeting more people is more social and beneficial than playing on a cell
phone.

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Works Cited

"Look Up." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2014.

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7dLU6fk9QY>.
Karabacak, Kerim, and Mustafa Oztunc. "The Effect Of Addiction For Communication Tools On
The Feelings Of Shyness And Loneliness." International Journal Of Academic Research
6.1 (2014): 368-373. Academic Search Complete. Web. 21 Oct. 2014.
Plaisier, Xanthe S., and Elly A. Konijn. "Rejected By Peers--Attracted To Antisocial Media
Content: Rejection-Based Anger Impairs Moral Judgment Among Adolescents."
Developmental Psychology 49.6 (2013): 1165-1173. ERIC. Web. 21 Oct. 2014.
Pocheptsova, Anastasiya. "The Cell-Phisheffects Of Cell Phones." Rotman Management (2012):
111-113. Business Source Complete. Web. 21 Oct. 2014.
"We really need to talk about the bad behavior cell phones are causing | A conversation on
TED.com." We really need to talk about the bad behavior cell phones are causing | A
conversation on TED.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Oct. 2014.
<http://www.ted.com/conversations/10467/we_really_need_to_talk_about_t.html>