TOW #6: I Went Social Media Sober by Tess Koman

Tess Koman, a twenty-two year old writer for Cosmopolitan, isn’t someone who would seem credible to non-Cosmo readers.  However, she is here because she’s writing about her own experiences.  In her editorial describing her addiction to social media, “I Went Social Media Sober,” Koman describes how she has been trying to stop using Facebook and Instagram.  As everyone knows, teens and young adults are constantly on social media sites and, in effect, are becoming somewhat dependent on them to have a life.  As Koman tries to resonate with her fellow “twentysomethings,” she uses her own narrative, logical arguments, and humorous comments in order to explicitly share her story and implicitly to say how people are wasting too much time with technology and should instead be living a non-digital life.  By using her own story, Koman connects to her readers on a personal level because it proves to them that she isn’t writing to judge.  In fact, she even admits that she spends most of her free time on social media sites.  Along with her narrative account of her withdrawal, Koman uses logical evidence to point out the effect(s), social media has on the human life.  She references real-life studies to demonstrate that these types of websites are actually detrimental to the human mindset because they make people feel inadequate to those with more likes.  Therefore, both Facebook and this editorial appeal to pathos.  Koman also makes funny, satirical comments about the situation.  For example, she wrote in the opening paragraph, “I did have to allow myself Twitter, which I need for work, so while this was a crash diet, it wasn't like that lemonade nonsense where you have no solid food at all.”  That comment, as well as many others in the text, entice the readers because they make such a unique subject all the more interesting.  By using these rhetorical devices, Koman manages to accomplish her purposes of sharing her story and motivating her peers to live their live in the real world instead of the digital one.  If anyone actually heeds her advice, I applaud thee.  

What Our Time is Being Wasted On

http://entmoney.com/2012/12/17/did-facebook-backdoor-twitter-in-buying-instagram-pruchase/