In this essay, a comparison/ contrast will be done between two articles. These articles include ‘Growing up Tethered’ by Turkle and ‘Beyoncé: Social media, authenticity, and the presentation of self’ by Avdeeff. ‘Growing up Tethered’ by Turkle is an effective representation of present world technological advancements (Turkle). As the article progresses, a major emphasis has been laid on the technological effect on the life of young teenagers as their life patterns have drastically changed. With the help of this article, Turkle tries to capture the role of technology concerned with the current youth lifestyle (Turkle). To support her argument Turkle uses different examples to explain the effect of technology such as how cell phones have been replaced by the excessive use of social media in different sectors of life. The article presents the idea that in the present time people are bound with their cell phone for day to day activities. To suppose this argument Turkle further mentioned that immense attachment of people and reliance on technology ultimately detach the people from their daily life and real-life communications (Turkle). Moreover, the article further highlights that excessive attachment to cell phones has certainly changed the rules of engagement in the lives of younger people. Verbal connection with each other has become less with every passing day. Young people are so absorbed in their cell phones that they prefer talking on cell phones rather than the person sitting next to them.
Contrary to this, ‘Beyoncé: Social media, authenticity, and the presentation of self’ by Avdeeff used the iconic figure of Beyoncé to grab the attention of the readers (Avdeeff). However, the use of iconic figure Beyoncé in the article was a way of passing a message as well. Beyoncé is a well-known figure on social media as well as the music industry. Based on this perspective, she portrays the idea of authenticity as well as presentation around the use of social media. Avdeeffhighlights the theme of sexuality and feminism in relation to the use of social media (Avdeeff). The article further highlights that social media and the level of authentication in the presentation across social media connects with themes in the article. While presenting the themes in the article, Avdeeff uses the perspective of pathos, ethos, and logos to pass on the information to the public. Ethos is an ethical appeal that convinces the audience with the credibility of the author, for instance, the use of Beyoncé as the iconic figure of the article. Pathos is an emotional appeal to the audience for instance, the use of feminism and social persuades the concerned audience to read the article. Also, logos is the use of logic and reason in the article to support the proposed argument. Overall the article sums up that even though iconic figures gain high social media following but this has concerned the perspective of perception more in comparison to the actual reality in the life of a human.
Both the articles, ‘Growing up Tethered’ by Turkle and ‘Beyoncé: Social media, authenticity, and the presentation of self’ by Avdeeff. ‘Growing up Tethered’ by Turkle, use social media as the major area of concern in the articles. The articles are inclined towards the effect of social media on the lives of the younger generation. Both these articles highlight the concern about superficial perspectives raised by the excessive use of social media.
Thesis Statement: The development of social media is linked with a large number of followers gained by the iconic figures. However, the perception of reality has changed with the development of social media as people are more absorbed in their cell phones rather than focusing on real-life engagement.
Work Cited
Turkle, Sherry. “Growing Up Tethered.” From Inquiry to Academic Writing (2015): 428-443.
Avdeeff, Melissa. “Beyoncé: Social media, authenticity, and the presentation of self.” The Beyoncé Effect: Essays on sexuality, race, and feminism. McFarland & Company, 2016. 109-123.
