Melissa Raynor

Mrs. Kyllikki Rytov

ENC2135
3 October 2016
Catholic Student Union on campus & online
The Catholic Student Union is an organization stationed in Tallahassee for Catholic students
attending Florida State University, Tallahassee Community College, and Florida Agricultural &
Mechanical University. I was approached by Brother Ray during orientation and decided to join this
organization where I was warmly welcomed into this discourse community! The Catholic Student Union
is present in a multitude of digital discourse communities including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and
YouTube. The Catholic Student Union uses a variety of genres ranging from captions, picture posts,
direct messaging, videos, and hashtags within the social media sites listed above to appeal to its
members.
There are many people involved in this community with a variety of backgrounds. Lisa Shatnyski
voices that the people in the community are her favorite part about CSU. I love everybody in the
community and they all bring Christ to me in different ways! Lisa exclaims as she describes the Catholic
Student Union and its role in the online world. Lisa has been a member for six years in the Catholic
Student Union. She attended Rutgers University with her best friend, Becky Hill, where they both
became members and now continue to serve others through CSU in Tallahassee as interns. Both follow
the organization on Facebook; however, Becky follows CSU on a broader variety of social media. Hill
states she follows CSU on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Becky and Lisa feel engaged by the CSU
Facebook page. Hill expresses that she favors the Facebook page compared to the Instagram or Twitter

accounts because she likes to share some of the videos JP (the CSU historian) has been making and
thinks that she will sometimes simply scroll right over tweets or pictures. I follow the Catholic Student
Union on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and I feel it is
important to note that JPs videos are also posted on Twitter
and Instagram, not just Facebook as Hill suggests. Hill
articulated that the posts are more visible and more widely
shared on Facebook. The favorite genre among CSU
members is pictured above in a Facebook wall post that
includes a link to the YouTube channel to show how a
community can interact through multiple social media. While filming, JP usually conducts interviews
with members of CSU to appeal to the pathos, which was furthered by the caption; another useful genre
used by CSU. The caption emphasized pathos by describing other members of CSU as your siblings to
promote a sense of family. The genre featured below also highlights the pathos of togetherness, which
is expressed in the form of hashtags that read #Fam. It comes down to personal preference in the end
because Nicole Munoz (the secretary on the executive board of CSU) posts all important upcoming
information on every social media site.

Even though Facebook is an older social media site, it has more information available to its
users, in my opinion, compared to Instagram and Twitter. The Facebook account emphasizes the
atmosphere of inclusiveness as it names the three schools individually in the name of the Facebook
page. Nicole can also advertise for main events like the upcoming fall retreat through the use of the
cover photo. The tabs on the Facebook page exemplify the ethos of CSU by offering concrete evidence
of events, photos, videos, and much more. Another useful quality on Facebook is the multiple tabs,
especially the About tab located on the right-hand side of the page. Members can also find pertinent
information such as the address of the Co-Cathedral of St. Thomas More, phone number, website link,
and FAQs.

As opposed to Twitter and Instagram, Facebook contains all the information the CSU members
need on a single page. The other two social media networks have a website link in the biography
section, but it redirects them to another webpage, whereas the Facebook page has all of these features
readily available. The Facebook page also has the CSU Womens and Mens groups available. The
Facebook postings are also separated by the genres which include photos, posts, and videos which make
it easier for followers to navigate the site, watch hilarious videos, and communicate with fellow
members.

Instagram is another
useful method of relaying
information to the members
of CSU. An Instagram post by
CSU usually consists of selfies
with Pope Francis with a
caption that reminds the followers about events such as Spirit Nights as depicted in the photo to the
left. Some people comment on the picture to clarify or ask questions about a particular event as seen in
the captions to the right of the picture. A fellow member, Erica Richard, responded to Amanda
Wolfroms question, which speaks to the ethos of the Catholic Student Union. Others use the direct
message as a genre to allow for more privacy; however, Becky claimed that she doesnt use direct
message on Instagram or Twitter because the Catholic Student Union is built on the premise of unity.
Lisa confessed that she uses Facebook messenger, if and only if, she doesnt have their number. The
Catholic Student Unions digital discourse community also highlights the manual works of the
community like the chalking. The Catholic Student Union leaders definitely appeal to their audience by
advertising FREE food and entertainment. Nicoles postings are very informative, yet concise and fun
at the same time. Her use of rhetoric in the post to the right is chosen to persuade incoming freshmen
and transfer students to join the organization
during Seminole Sensation Week as noted in the
hashtag. The use of the rhetorical question
builds excitement for the upcoming event and
also prompt relief for the viewer because

college students always love free things, especially when food is involved! The community obviously
accomplishes the appeal of pathos because, as shown above, @danny_hynes comments #RIP with a
crying emoji to express his sadness that the BBQ is over.
On Twitter, Nicole periodically posts fun
facts about the club. For instance, Fun Fact #26
which is produced in the photo to the left. CSU
promotes unity and a love for God, but that is not
to say that individuality is not allowed in this
organization. These fun facts or photos usually
display a couple people or a single individual to demonstrate the diversity found within the club. The
photo to the left perfectly captures Renees spunky personality, while also persuading students to
attend the Overcome Retreat from September 23 to September 25 through her use of logos. Nicole
appeals to her audience by including the link to the registration page in order to make it more feasible
for her followers to participate in events. She also chose this picture to foreshadow the atmosphere of
the retreat by including Camp Cherry Lake in the background. Nicole appeals to her audience of college
students by including new lexis like sick to gain credibility and hopefully persuade more people to
attend. For all of the new members, the direct message is very useful to connect with other freshmen
or learn about leadership roles in the club from experienced officers. Nicole does an excellent job of
attracting new members and exciting old members through her concise diction considering the fact that
Twitter only allows 140 characters per post.

Another genre present within this discourse community is the use of hashtags. Hashtags are
used to identify messages on a specific topic. The post below includes three hashtags which help to

convey the purpose of the picture. This post depicts the mission leaders having fun before the school
year begins. From left to right, the photo includes
Mike Hyatt, Becky Hill, Christine Lang, Lisa
Shatynski, and Brother Clinton. The hashtags are
a way of linking information to other tweets
and/or posts on other social media sites like
Facebook or Instagram. The genre of hashtags
can be tricky because if Nicole does not carefully choose the logos, it will limit the outreach that the club
is trying to gain. In every post, Nicole uses the hashtag #CSUatFSU to provide unity between the
members. Also outsiders may stumble upon the Catholic Noles webpage or Twitter account simply by
the hashtags used. The hashtags allow non-members to become involved in their faith and gain
information or even join the organization if they so choose.
In the age of the twenty-first century, I think digital discourse communities are very influential in
this world. Since most college students are addicted to their phones, it is easy for organizations to relay
information through social media. As seen in the picture to the right, most posts include a date, time,
and meeting area. The
posts, like the one to
the right, perfectly
convey ethos because
it provides evidence of
the community and its
meeting places and
times. The Catholic
Student Union also appeals to the pathos of tree-huggers by using apps as a means of communication

rather than paper. Also the use of bright colors, in the above post, creates contrast and attracts the
readers eye which increases membership. The caption furthers Beckys prior statement that Facebook
is the most useful genre because it has the capacity to hold more information. As Becky suggested,
Facebook does have the greatest outreach to the community and has 2,224 likes on its page compared
to the 361 Instagram followers and 279 Twitter followers. Beckys opinion may be valid because
Facebook is the oldest social media site and members have previously used it as compared to the newer
sites of Twitter and Instagram which have only been in existence for four and three years, respectively.
This also proves that the Catholic Student Union is not only united in their members, but the social
media accounts are intertwined. The caption above perfectly depicts the flexibility of genres; it shows
that captions, pictures, and Facebook wall posts can overlap and convey the same idea in multiple
genres.
The Catholic Student Union is a large digital discourse community that interacts with its
members through Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter. Within these applications, a multitude of
genres are present which include direct message, captions, photos, videos, wall posts, and hashtags. All
of the social media sites, except YouTube, have some form of direct message; however, according to the
interviewees, the members of CSU are not particularly fond of using this genre unless it is to get
someones number, simply because it excludes others from the group which negatively affects the ethos
of CSU. The captions, videos, and photos gain strength when paired together to compensate for what
one genre lacked. Each genre has unique features to enhance the rhetorical situation present within
this digital discourse community.