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Salma Cruz

Eng 5

17 Oct 2020

Social Media and Self Perspective

In today's society, it’s no question that social media has become a fundamental part of

our day to day lives. A great percentage of the population has opened up accounts or “profiles''

with different sites that allows us to share life events or even just thoughts amongst our loved

ones. Posts on social media can range from pregnancy announcements to a post about

somebody's current jobless situation. Of course some people have more time and are more

invested into keeping up with updates shown on these sites compared to others. Some people

also are completely against social media, not having any profiles on these sites. They often refer

to the negative effect that can come with spending time on these sites. The first article in

comparison is from ​NMEDIAC​, by Lee Farquhar and Theresa Davidson. The second article

being from ​scienceblog.com. ​The first article is more formal: using a more professional

terminology, longer page wise, and a more specific use of statistics. The second article however,

is shorter, straight to the point, not as detailed, and doesn’t refer to research as much.

Overall, these articles both have a similar overall purpose, which is to reveal the negative

emotional effects that can come from social media use, as well as the happiness it can bring.

WIth the emotional sense, the use of pathos is seen. Within the more “blog” style article, the

purpose is more to communicate what others feel when it comes to their social media use. The

unknown author of this article states how “​It is not simply the amount of social comparison one

does that matters, but the type of comparison that predicts happiness and life satisfaction”

(scienceblog.com). What I took from this part of the writing was that social media does not
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always bring negative and degrading thoughts about oneself. Rather so, some people let certain

content affect them and their self esteem. For example, there’s two social media users. One may

be a bachelor that feels stable in life, without any desire to settle down and get married, have

kids, buy a house, etc. Another person may be a man who is also single, but feels lost in regards

to their current path in their life journey. Let’s say they both see their mutual friend’s photo post

about their new house, with a ring on their finger while holding two children. The bachelor is

more likely to go on about their day after seeing the post than the other man. In fact, they might

even feel BETTER about themselves and their current life that does not include the same

responsibilities as others. This is because the bachelor currently feels at ease, happy, and

satisfied with their life. The other man may get upset after seeing the post, maybe have a self

conflicting moment, and begin to have dramatic thoughts in their head. He may begin to think

what is he doing wrong, and if he will be alone forever. The first article though is more research

based, including different cases. Regarding the percentage of Facebook use to one’s life

satisfaction and overall happiness. This writing piece is more centered around numbers, and

these statistics are to be used more in a professional conversation. In general, these both have the

same purpose to further state that social media does not only have cons and brings negative

emotions as assumed, but it also can bring happiness to others. The difference between the way

these two communicate this idea is that one goes more into depth than the other, and serves

different purposes. The blog post being more for entertainment value within normal citizens, and

the other article that is more likely used in a professional setting and shared amongst a higher

educated community. The blog post has more a sense of ethos due to its credibility and more

educational use.
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It is safe to say the biggest difference between the two articles is their genres. Without

even reading both pieces, the audience can automatically tell which one is more formal, and

which would be more appealing to a regular person. The blog post is obviously set up in a more

eye appealing way, it is spaced out well, not too overwhelming at first sight. The text is laid out

reasonably, while still containing interesting information. This is because people who write blogs

do so with the hope of having a bigger audience. They need to keep their posts at a reasonable

length that seems appealing to the eye. Layout is very important in a genre like a blog post.

However, the other article in comparison has a more crowded look at first sight. Apart from

being longer in page length, it automatically looks more formal. The layout is simple yet

contains an extensive amount of information. This is because it’s purpose is different, it is not for

entertainment. It is intended for a more professional use, and for exclusive educational purposes.

Because of this, it contains a more serious tone and a higher vocabulary.

With each article and their different genre, comes a difference in their audience. After

analyzing both articles, it is clear who the authors were intending to communicate their message

with. Because of the second article’s informality, we can instantly tell it was written for an

average person to read. Someone such as a person who feels that their use of social media is

beginning to affect their mental health. “It is not the amount of Facebook use that matters, but

rather, how one feels they measure up in comparison with those around them”, is said by the

unknown blog author. By saying this, his/her intention may be to communicate to a social media

user that maybe they should think differently about how the emotional effects their social media

is having on them. The more formal article includes references to other research done and is

therefore intended for a professional audience to use perhaps in their workplace. “Using survey

data from a sample of college students and Amazon’s Mechanical Turk workers, findings
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indicate the salience of general social comparisons, and Facebook-specific comparisons to

impact Life Satisfaction and Happiness”.

In conclusion, both writings show similarities within their information about the

happiness and pros that can come from social media. Although the differences are evident,

within the intended audiences and the way each is transmitted in an informal, and professional

method. The importance about the differences within these two texts is that each difference

explains why it is important to be familiar with different genres. For each genre, the purpose is

clearly different from the other. This is because they are intended for different audiences. Yes,

they are about the same general concept but completely different characteristics within.
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Works cited

Farquhar, L. (2019). Happiness, Life Satisfaction, and Comparing Oneself to Others on

Facebook. Retrieved December 01, 2020, from

http://ibiblio.org/nmediac/2019/comparing_on_facebook/Facebook_comparing.html

ScienceBlog.com. (2019, February 04). Surprising Link Between Social Media and

Happiness. Retrieved December 01, 2020, from

https://scienceblog.com/505768/surprising-link-between-social-media-and-happiness/