Considering the definition of Rhetorical Analysis, “A rhetorical analysis considers all elements of the rhetorical situation–the audience, purpose, medium, and context–within which a communication was generated and delivered in order to make an argument about that communication.”, examples of this can be found in many social media posts. The platform that I chose for this post is Facebook. I personally have a Facebook account and see numerous of posts a day. All of them are different. Some being posts of photo albums and some being long, lengthy posts about someones opinion of a current event. Just the other day I came across a long post that included a picture of President Trump working hard while he is in quarantine after contracting the Coronavirus. The context of the post was to talk about how Trump is one of the most hated or most loved men in America but continues to do his presidential duties despite others opinions. And on top of that, the virus he has contracted is dangerous to people of older age because their immune system is not always strong enough to fight it off. But he continues to sit at his desk and deal with what he is supposed to be doing as president. The purpose of this post was to share her opinion of how this man deserves more praise than ever right now as he is sick. She included a picture so people could actually see and analyze what she was stating. She was targeting the audience of her friends on Facebook. It didn’t matter what their political opinion was, she wanted everyone to see what she thought about the President. She was not forcing her opinion on people who have a democratic opinion, she was just trying to praise and show the good Trump was doing to everyone. Despite his current state. The purpose of the picture was to not only back up her text, but so that people would have a visual and actually look at it and analyze the positivity around his name. She also talked about the ridiculousness happening in the world so that people would take a minute to stop and just look at something positive. When researching about rhetorical analysis within social media posts, there are three different components. Ethos, Logos, and Pathos. When someone uses ethos in their post, they should not criticize someone else’s opinions. And the author of the post did not. Logos is showing the objective truth and evidence. The evidence would be the picture she provided backing up the context of her words. Pathos would be the emotional part of the post. When she “likes” a comment that someone would have posted to reply to her post, that is her showing emotion to what others think or what feedback they have. Social media is ultimately the living place of rhetoric because this is where people spend most of their time. And where people go to gather information from their peers. Touching sensitive topics can pose a bad look at people who are sensitive or do not agree. So if someone posting is looking for positive feedback or for a large supportive audience, it is important to be open to others opinions even while stating your own.
Works Cited:
Social Media Content Creative Spotlight: Rhetorical Analysis and the Art of Persuasion