Sample Text Analysis: “Social Media for Social Good or Evil: An Introduction”

“Social Media for Social Good or Evil: An Introduction” is an academic article by Hemsley,
Jacobson, Grudz, and Mall (2018), researchers at Syracuse and Ryerson Universities,
published in Social Media + Society Journal. Its target audience are the academic
community, researchers, and college students whose interests focus on social media. The
article aims to contribute to the ongoing debate whether social media can have a positive or
negative effect on users and on society as a whole.

The article discusses the role of social media in various social and political movements. First,
it reviews the negative aspects of social media: the “clickwraps” that desensitize people on
the importance of privacy, the fake news, and the manipulation of public opinion. Second, the
article acknowledges the positive effects of social media: its contribution to the current
discussions about climate change, its role in connecting people, and its impact on improving
the social life of the elderly. The researchers conclude that the role of social media can rarely
be neutral and underline the responsibility of the individual user (Hemsley et al., 2018). The
layout of the article is characteristic of academic writing: it features an abstract, keywords, a
reference list, a title and subheadings in bold fonts, and a DOI and ORCID—the electronic
identification numbers of the article. The language is formal, with a few technical terms
(“clickwraps,” “pseudo-knowledge”) and passive voice verbs (“social media platforms were
lauded,” “social media has been used”). There are many plural first-person pronouns (e.g.
“we recognize,” “we need to go further”), which reinforces the main idea of the article that
we, as social media users, are responsible for the outcome of our social media activity.

The quote I selected appears in the concluding section of the article, restating its main idea:
that social media can be used for good or evil purposes, depending on the users. It highlights
that, no matter the social position of the users, they are the only ones responsible for how the
new communication technologies are used. I can relate to this idea because many of my
friends use social media during class, which distracts them from the lecture and annoys the
teacher. This is only their fault, not the fault of the technology. Others use social media to
connect with their peers and find important information, which is an example of using social
media for good. The quote refers to users as “actors” and employs terms like “precarious,”
“humans,” “determination,” “afforded,” and “socialize,” which are indicative of a formal,
academic language. Although in this particular quote the author uses only active verbs
(“depends on,” “have created”), the sentence length and complexity suggests that the text was
written by researchers who intended it for an expert audience.

In conclusion, although it primarily addresses the academic community, this study is

important for all today because the use of social media has permeated everybody’s private
and public life and has a growing control over people’s decisions.

(492 words)