In "Mind Over Mass Media," Steven Pinker seems to be for social media and the many uses of the internet. He supports the use of it because he finds it more helpful than harmful. With so much available on the internet and from the media, it makes certain tasks easier. An example of this would be when Steven Pinker noted that without things like PowerPoint or emails, scientists wouldn't have discovered all that they have;it's thanks to mass media that scientists can research and increase their knowledge. The only problem that Steven Pinker seemed to mention is that mass media is a form of distraction, but it can be solved with self control. Steven Pinker didn't really incorporate pathos but he did include ethos when he gave credit to the psychologists Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons since he mentioned their book.I agree with Steven Pinker because he has a convincing and valid point. Mass media allows us to explore and expand our knowledge by offering us a plethora of tools ands information.
In "I tweet,Therefor I am," Peggy Orenstein is not a big supporter of mass media,although she's not completely against it.She complains how when people use social media websites like twitter, they express their thoughts but only to the extent of how they want it to sound to their readers, not for themselves. It's basically shaping the way we're writing and our thought processes. She includes ethos when she makes a reference to a sociologist, Erving Goffman and how he said that life is like a performance or like putting on a show. She also included statistics by giving an example of an analysis of 72 studies performed. It showed a decline from 1979 to 2009 of 14,000 students. The study basically made an assumption that maybe there was a trend of "self promotion" over "self awareness." I have to say that Peggy Orenstein also has a point. Social media seems to promote what we're really not, but what we want others to see or read. As of it's a stage and we're the players or actors.
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