Digital Arguments in Social Media
Image, Harris, T. R. (2019)
We often see different posts on social media full of people's opinions that we might agree or disagree with. Turner and Hicks state, "Individuals often respond emotionally to what they read in social networks posting or reposting without critically analyzing the argument being made (2017, p.104). Reading other people's opinions that we may disagree with can be challenging because our first reaction is to respond to defend our own stance on the topic. However, as a professional educator, I have to be mindful of what I post and how it would come across because, in a sense, I am representing myself and everyone affiliated with me professionally and personally.
Discussions can escalate quickly, and communicating civilly can get lost online. I love to join educational and community groups to get great ideas and advice and keep up with what is happening in the community. Below, you will see a Facebook post about a parent asking a question about taking their children out of a community high school and, in return, starting conversations about agreements and disagreements about community schools.
Using the Turner and Hicks "Being a Mindful Reader and Writer of Social Media Arguments Table 6.1" (2017 P. 104).
Monitor- The intended audience is parents with children attending the high school mentioned. The author poses a question to attract parents with the same opinion about the high school.
Identify (the claim)- The claim in this post is not evident, which leaves readers to form their opinions by reading responses from other readers commenting about the post.
Note (the evidence)-The claim is not evident in this post, but we can assume that the author removed their child from the high school because they were not pleased. They did not use quotes from experts, noted individuals, or images.
Determine (mindset)-The creator does not seem upset but may be curious about how others feel about the high school. The creator's experience should be mentioned in the post and is a conversation starter to get everybody else's opinions. The creator did not make me feel different about the high school but left me curious about why the question was asked.
Facts- The creator does not present facts and opinions. The responses from other people were simply their opinions based on personal experiences, such as because they attended the school or because they may have children who have.
Understand (counter argument)- The post was a question with responses where people agreed and disagreed by sharing their experiences and opinions. No images were used, but the big font and the colorful background represent a confrontational tone.
Leverage (my response)-If I were to respond to this post, I would come from a stance of concern and experience as a teacher rather than a parent. I would give facts and offer support in the areas where I could help or advise.
Using a controversial tone, the creator simply posted an open-ended question in all capital letters. The post was created because of a bad personal experience and needed better thought out. Lawrence states, "An author must think about the task and plan their approach to constructing a message. Then, they must write the text featured in the media. The author should build the argument by cementing and elaborating on the purpose and how they can most effectively communicate that message" (Lawrence, 2022, P. 36).
In conclusion, Goudas, Louizos, Petasis, and Karkaletsis state, "Argumentation is a branch of philosophy that studies the act or process of forming reasons and concluding in the context of a discussion, dialogue, or conversation" (Goudas, Louizos, Petasis, and Karkaletsis, 2014, P. 2). This post was confrontational and created a space for a conversation of agreements and disagreements. However, it was not well thought out because it seemed to come from an emotional place.
References
Goudas, T., Louizos, C., Petasis, G., Karkaletsis, V. (2014). Argument Extraction from News, Blogs, and Social Media. In: Likas, A., Blekas, K., Kalles, D. (eds) Artificial Intelligence Artificial: Methods and Applications. SETN 2014. Lecture Notes in Computer Science (), vol 8445. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-07064-3_23
Harris, T. R. (2019). 3 Reasons Why Arguing on The Internet is so Ineffective (and What to Do Instead).
Kristen Hawley Turner, & Hicks, T. (2017). Argument in the real world: teaching adolescents to read and write digital texts. Heinemann.
Lawrence, D (2022). Digital Writing: a guide to writing for
social media and the web. Broadview Press
The Exceptional Skills. Retrieved 2024, from https://www.theexceptionalskills.com/arguing-on-the-internet/.
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ReplyDeleteMena, I found your blog post to be quite insightful. I agree with your observation that the content came from an emotional place. The table portrayed in Turner and Hicks' (2017) work, "Being a MINDFUL Reader and Writer of Social Media Arguments," serves as a valuable point of reference for both students and adults, offering guidance prior to engaging in social media discourse. I intend to adopt the MINDFUL acronym as a comprehensive checklist before contributing any content or commentary online (p. 109-110). In the Pew Research Center article, Teens, Social Media, and Technology (Vogels et al., 2022), the U.S. Surgeon General issued a new advisory on the negative impacts of social media on youth mental health. The article states that teenagers are using a social media platform almost constantly. This is a scary fact when anything can be posted on social media! “We must encourage students to be mindful as they participate in social media” (Turner and Hicks, 2017, p. 108).
ReplyDeleteSocial media can create opportunities for good collaboration and discourse. Unfortunately, people often use it in a negative way. I wish the MINDFUL acronym could be posted on every social media site. We teach our kids to think before they speak but we don't always practice that as adults. I think we often forget that there is are real people on the receiving end of our post and comments. We have a tendency to say things in front of a screen that we would never say to someone's face. In your post, you mentioned that the participants mainly just shared if they agreed or disagreed. I find this is often how people interact on social media. There is no communication to seek to understand an opposing viewpoint. I found the table on being a MINDFUL reader and writer on social media arguments that Turner and Hicks (2017) included in their book to be very insightful. Why might someone else feel differently than you? Have they experienced something that you haven't? I feel that we often talk "at" each other instead of "with" one another on social media.
ReplyDeleteSocial media can definitely become a means of spreading negativity. If social media users where required to use Turner and Hick's (2017) mindful acronym when posting, things may look a little different. It is so important! As Turner and Hick's (2017) stated on the Heinemann blog,“digital texts influence what students buy, who they vote for, and what they believe about themselves and their world.” It is critical!
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