Rhetorical Analysis of Four Sources on the Effects of Social Media on Students

            Rhetorical elements are used in articles by authors to convey their message to readers. The rhetorical elements include identifying the author(s), credibility, audience, tone, purpose, genre, medium, stance, rhetorical appeals, exigence, and constraints. The topic of social media’s impact on students will be used to compare the rhetorical analysis of four different article sources: a newspaper article, a magazine article, a scholarly article, and a web source. Certain topics covered include the positive and negative effects on students, the effect of Facebook on student behavior and the relation of usage to confidence, and the impact of social media on college students and colleges.

            The newspaper article, “The Impact of Social Media on Student Life” written by Abhishek Karadkar informs readers about the pros and cons of social media in student life. For students, the positive side of using social media is social networking and freedom. However, the negative aspects are concerns about student identity crisis, changes in mood and self-control, and addiction which can develop bad habits and neglect in studies. The article is credible because it was published by North Carolina State University and was peer-reviewed by other academics before publication. 

            The scholarly article, “The effects of social media on students’ behaviors; Facebook case study” written by Tugberk Kaya and Huseyin Bicen is a study conducted to analyze the effects of Facebook on student behavior and the positive relationship between social media usage and confidence. The study concluded that Facebook has the possibility to be used as a supporting learning environment. Like the newspaper article, the scholarly article is credible since it was peer-reviewed by other academics before publication. 

            The magazine article, “College Campuses: A Hot Spot for Social Media Influencers” written by Grace Kay discusses how social media marketing helps promote colleges and benefits college students with networking opportunities and industry experiences. The magazine article is credible since it was published by Forbes magazine, a reliable source related to business and technology. 

            The website, “The Positive and Negative Impacts of Social Media on Students” posted by Netsweeper explains the advantages and disadvantages of social media on the social, physical, and mental life of a student The website is not credible since Netsweeper is not a reliable or known blog site.

The Purpose and Tone

            The newspaper author felt compelled to write on the pros and cons of social media due to concerns about its effects on students. Although the author discusses the benefits of using social media, he also points out that social media “…has a darker side that has gained the attention of many parents, and even eminent psychologists, all over the world.” (Karadkar). The target audience are students, since the author states how it’s their choice on “…how much of this virtual life translates to real life.” (Karadkar). The tone is informative because of the use of statistical evidence and experts to explain the argues benefits of social media on student life. 

            The authors’ purpose of the scholarly article is to analyze student behavior on Facebook and the relation between confidence and social media usage because students are “…born with new technology and display excessive social network use.” (Kaya and Bicen). Facebook efficiently communicates between students and teachers and can be utilized to enhance learning growth for students. Therefore, the audiences are students and educators. The tone is informative since the authors use statistical data and other research articles to support the study and their conclusions. 

            The author’s objective for the magazine article was to demonstrate how social media is used by colleges to appeal to students. Therefore, the audience are students and colleges. Colleges benefit from the use of social media by “… the impact of student ambassadors on college recruitment.” (Kay) The tone is informative and casual since the article uses statistical data to and uses firsthand experiences from “…University of Delaware’s Digital Marketing Manager…YouTube influencer…” (Kay).

            Since students are more connected than ever before, the publisher’s intent of the website blog is to examine social media’s positive and negative implications on student health. The audiences are students, educators, and parents because the blog provides awareness of how social media can affect students socially, physically, and mentally. The blog states that “Educators and parents need to be mindful of the effects of social media…” (Netsweeper) which demonstrates a cautionary tone. The blog’s use of research from the Wall Street Journal also shows that the tone is informative. 

            When comparing the four sources with one another, the general purpose of the sources is to inform readers about the use of social media in relation to students. The newspaper article and website blog have a similar purpose as they both inform the audience about the pros and cons of students using social media. Students are the common audience. The newspaper article and website blog are directed to all students. In contrast, the scholarly article is directed to high school students and the magazine article is targeted to college students. Lastly, all sources use an informative tone.

The Genre and Medium

            The newspaper article is the genre and is effective in informing the public about the pros and cons of social media on student life. Furthermore, the headline is used to captivate the attention of readers to learn more about the topic. 

            The scholarly article is the genre, and it is effective for the author to inform the audience about the topic. The categories of the article allow the authors to organize and explain their study clearly to the audience. In addition, the conclusion and further studies section allows the audience to understand the limits of their research that can be further investigated. This genre is effective since it is based on previous scholarly research and its credibility further solidifies the author’s stance. 

            The magazine article is the genre and allows the author to gain attention and effectively express their topic on social media’s impact on students and colleges. This is because Forbes magazine has a demographic interested in social media and technology.

            The website blog is the genre and is effective in gaining the attention from a wide range of audience since they can easily access this website through a search engine. Additionally, the website blog would attract an audience that would specifically look for the topic on the effect of social media on students, so it allows the publisher to efficiently inform the audience. 

            The newspaper article, scholarly article, and magazine article can be published in a print or electronic medium which can be easily accessed by the audience and would be effective for the author. On the other hand, the website blog only has an electronic medium which limits the audience’s access to the article. 

The Stance

            After stating the positive and negative effects of social media on student lives, the author concluded that “…it is necessary to develop certain regulations over the use of such social networking sites…analyze how much time they want to spend on social media…” (Karadkar) The author believes that students should manage their time on social media well and determine for themselves how social media can benefit them. 

            The conclusion and future studies of the scholarly article states that social media is “… highly used among students and there is a chance that these platforms can be used as a supporting learning environment…” The authors’ stance is that social media, specifically Facebook, is a platform that can be used to help students with learning. 

            The magazine article states that colleges “…realize the impact of student ambassadors on college recruitment…” and that “…many influencers see the benefits of a college atmosphere on their social media following.” (Kay) The author’s stance is that social media benefits college students by helping with networking opportunities and industry experience. It also benefits colleges by marketing to recruit new students. 

            The website blog discusses how social media is used by students to connect and “…while social media provides many benefits… social media can also have a negative impact on students…” (Netsweeper) The publisher has a neutral stance on the effect of social media on students because the blog demonstrates both the positive and negative aspects. 

            The newspaper article, scholarly article, and magazine article all have a stance that relates to how social media benefits students. The website blog, on the other hand, has a neutral stance on social media since its purpose was just to inform readers of the opposing sides of social media use on students. 

The Rhetorical Appeals

            The newspaper article’s informative tone explains both sides of the argued topic and appeals to credibility. The use of statistical data and sources from experts is a logical appeal that supports the author’s claim. The conclusion on how social media affects student life, either positively or negatively, is dependent on the appeals to emotion since the audience would reflect on if social media would affect their personal life. 

            The scholarly article’s use of statistical data and evidence from other academic articles appeals to credibility and logic. The conclusion section appeals to emotion since it explains the analysis of data and allows the reader to compare their personal experience to the results. 

            The magazine article’s use of statistics to show that social media users are “…individuals between the ages of 18-29″ (Kay) and the history of colleges using social media appeals to credibility and logic. The firsthand accounts of organizations and college students using social media platforms would appeal to emotion because the audience would relate to their experiences. 

            The website blog’s use of research from the Wall Street Journal appeals to credibility and the explanation of the different sides of social media appeals to logic. The statement on how “students are more connected than ever before through social media…” (Netsweeper) appeals to emotion, since readers can relate to how social media is used to connect with others. 

            Most of the rhetorical appeals in all four sources are similar. The four sources use statistics and research as evidence to appeal to credibility and logic. The Kairos for the sources is the same as well since the general topic on the argument of the effect of social media on students is timely because student use of technology and social media platforms are prevalent in everyday modern society. 

The Exigence and Constraint

            The exigence of the newspaper article is the concern that social media has negative impacts on student life. The constraint is to use relevant, credible sources and evidence to support the claims. For instance, the author uses data and evidence from experts to support the benefits of social media. 

            The exigence of the scholarly article is the student’s use of Facebook in the era of new technology and the common use of social media for communication. The constraints for the author are to be completely informative. For example, the authors use previous research from scholarly sources to support their study. They also created their analysis based on their data and created a conclusion that supported their findings. 

            The exigence of the magazine article is that college students and colleges benefit from the use of social media and their marketing. The constraint is the use of firsthand accounts. An example of this would be the author’s use of accounts from people related to social media and social media marketing to further explain how social media affects college students and colleges. 

            The exigence of the website blog is that students, educators, and parents should be aware of the effects of social media on students. The constraint would be some form of evidence to support the claims made. The publisher uses research findings from the Wall Street Journal as evidence to support the opinion of the effects of social media on students.

Works Cited 

Karadkar, Abhishek. “The impact of social media on student life”. The Technician: North Carolina State University, September 13, 2015 Sunday. advance-lexis-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/api/document?collection=news&id=urn:contentItem:5GXG-04S1-JBSN-33J5-00000-00&context=1516831. Accessed February 15, 2022. 

Kay, Grace. “College Campuses: A Hot Spot for Social Media Influencers.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 29 July 2019, https://www.forbes.com/sites/gracekay/2019/07/29/college-campuses-a-hot-spot-for-social-media-influencers/?sh=2ed55dcf445a. 

 Kaya, Tugberk, and Huseyin Bicen. “The Effects of Social Media on Students’ Behaviors; Facebook as a Case Study.” Computers in Human Behavior, vol. 59, Elsevier Ltd, 2016, pp. 374–79, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.02.036. 

Netsweeper. “The Positive and Negative Impact of Social Media on Students.” Netsweeper, 29 Oct. 2021, https://www.netsweeper.com/blog/2021/10/07/the-positive-and-negative-impact-of-social-media-on-students/#:~:text=It%20is%20easy%20to%20become,anxiety%2C%20cyberbullying%2C%20and%20more.