Ravit Lichtenberg’s “10 Ways Social Media Will Change In 2010” on the social media site ReadWriteWeb serves as a follow-up and continuation of her previous w
By beginning her article with and allusion to her past piece, “10 Ways Social Media Will Change in 2009”, Lichtenberg can conclude that all of the predictions she made “have materialized or are on their way.” By doing this, Lichtenberg accomplishes three things. First, she immediately establishes an assertive and persuasive tone for her article. This undoubtedly gives the reader an insight to her opinion on the subject of social media. The second thing Lichtenberg’s introduction enables her to do is establish credibility among her audience. Knowing she has already predicted last year’s changes in social media, the reader is more inclined to believe or be persuaded by her views and evidence pertaining to social media change in 2010. Finally, Lichtenberg’s opening helps her provide is a transition to the thesis of her article, the ten ways social media will evolve for 2010.
With the introduction and central thesis out of the way, Lichtenberg wastes no time switching gears to the bulk of her article, her ten predictions for social media change in the coming year. She creates a well-organized body by separating each of the ten “prophecies” into individual paragraphs. Additionally, she includes bolded sub-headings, which give a brief overview of each prediction. By keeping things organized, Lichtenberg is able to avoid excessively long paragraphs that could potentially confuse readers or cause them to get lost. The list-like format that results from the sub headings also allows readers to quickly return to a previous 2010 prediction they would like to re-evaluate.
Various examples and/or evidence accompanies nearly every future prediction Lichtenberg formulates for the year 2010. Numerous sources, statistics, and surveys facilitate in building and supporting her argument. Doing so allows her to weave objective and concrete facts with her opinion on the subject at hand. Lichtenberg cites multiple websites in her article, including informationisbeautiful.com, twitter-360.com, and uopeople.org. Websites such as these further solidify her ideas with credible and well-known sources. They also allow her to put the readers at ease to a certain extent, as the idea of Lichtenberg’s writing stemming solely from a bias is eliminated. Having multiple sources also decreases the concern for source credibility; for the more diverse and numerous the author’s sources are, the more likely a good amount will be credible.
Much like sources, the employment of statistics and surveys in the article plays a key role in backing up the author’s ideas. Statistics are strategically placed throughout her ten predictions for 2010. When introducing her third prediction, which asserts how mobile phones will take “center stage” in accessing social media, several statistics are employed. One statistic from IDC predicts that by 2010, there will be one billion mobile we browsers. Such a statistic transforms the argument being made. Instead of taking Lichtenberg’s word for it, the reader is now able to access research done by an outside source, in the same way consultants provide an outside opinion for corporations. Surveys, such as the one included in the prediction of ROI (return on investment) being measured, provide a similar reassurance to readers that they received from statistics. The survey mentioning what portion of companies saw what kind of return on investment is key to this argument in the same way the statistic above was key in that prediction. Being able to see not just what an author believes, but what real people and businesses actually said on surveys, persuades readers in the side the author has taken.
Two of Aristotle’s appeals are evident in “10 Ways Social Media Will Change In 2010”. Both of these appeals help persuade the reader, either by offering background information on the author, or by providing an outside look at the argument. Ethos, or the appealing to the credibility of the author, is evident in the introduction of the article. When she mentions that her predictions for 2009 had materialized or were almost at that point, she is appealing to ethos. Logos, or appealing to logic, is exemplified through all the sources, statistics, and surveys Lichtenberg employs to gain a tighter grasp on her audience.
Several elements of Toulmin’s framework are present as well in the article. Every one of Lichtenberg’s ten predictions represents a claim, or a statement of belief, opinion, or fact that serves as the basis to an argument.[iii] Statements such as “Women Will Rule Social Media” or “Social Media Will Move Into New Domains” all qualify as claims made by the author. In most cases, claims such as these do not amount to much unless there is evidence, or examples, personal experience, facts, statistics, surveys, and statements by credible sources to back it up. To get from the claim to the evidence warrants, or links from the claim to evidence frequently taking the form of assumptions and beliefs that are either explicitly stated or implied. [iv] The statement, “Virtual worlds, games and avatars were just the beginning of the online-offline integration. In 2010 we’ll see a greater push on this front as distance and physical walls will matter even less” is the first sentence in Lichtenberg’s seventh way social media will change in 2010. It serves as link from the claim of this seventh prediction, “Finally: Real, Cool and Very Bizarre Online-Offline Integration”, to the evidence from Augmented reality and Twitter360 used to back it up. Organizing her arguments in such a manner helps to clearly communicate her message to the reader.
When analyzing her argument, it is also important to note the elements that Lichtenberg excluded from her piece. Through the use of concrete evidence and unbiased claims, she avoids employing any fallacies, or severe imperfections that can damage the effectiveness of an argument, in her writing.[vii] By avoiding ethical, emotional, logical, and visual fallacies, the reader sees that the author is not bent on destroying the credibility of others or overly focused on bandwagon appeal as a means of persuading readers. While some of her arguments may resemble those of the latter, her use of clear evidence is able to back up her belief on the topic at hand.
When writing her article, Lichtenberg employs many techniques, practices, and frameworks. An organized layout sets the stage for a clear and easy to read argument. The use of evidence (logos), credibility (ethos), claims, warrants, and lack of fallacies soon follows. When these elements combine with her drive to improve her reputation, Lichtenberg is able to create a persuasive and tangible argument her audience can understand as an organized and gripping whole.
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