The Best Persuasive Technology Argument

Are people too digitally connected? The article, “Are We Too Wired” presents two different answers to this question. One section of the article, written by Emerson Csorba, makes the claim that people are too digitally connected and that people are too afraid to be alone because of social media. However, the other section of the article, written by Noa Gafni Slaney, claims that people are not too digitally connected and that technology actually helps human connection. It can be said that one section is better than the other. One section made a more effective argument. The author, Noa Gafni Slaney, makes a more effective argument because she was able to use research and data to support her claim, appeal to one’s emotions, and present a counter-argument. To start, the author was able to use research and data in order to support her claim.

In Slaney’s section of the article, she said, “...many studies have shown that people who connect with others online are less likely to be socially isolated than their peers who don’t” (par5). This quote shows that Stanley’s claim can be back up by with research. Another example of using research is when the author said, “...studying teenagers who used chat rooms, I discovered a generation of digital natives who were socially adjusted as their peers” (par4). This statement appeals to one’s logic. When the author uses data to appeal to someone’s logic, she uses a persuasive technique called logos. Because the author used this technique, the argument was more effective. That being said, Csorba’s section of the article had used logos as well. This is seen when Csorba said, “...the University of Michigan suggests that increased Facebook usage contributes to anxiety and even depression” (par4).

However, Slaney was able to use her own observations and research from other sources to support her claim, unlike Csorba. This makes her argument more convincing. Furthermore, the author was able to appeal to one’s emotion. The author, Slaney said, “The positive influence of the interest in terms of human connection is evident in many areas… culture spread easily across the globe, providing powerful links across international borders” (par2). This quote uses loaded language words like positive and powerful in order to provoke emotions. In this case, words like positive and powerful have a good connotation. Therefore, those words give a positive emotion to the reader. When the author uses those words, it tells the reader that technology is able to help bring good and strong human connections.

This is a persuasive technique called pathos. The author is able to connect one’s emotion to the article. Therefore, the reader will care more about the argument. In addition, the author was able to present a counterclaim. Slaney said, “When I first began researching social media in 2004, it was assumed that people who choose to interact online did so because real-world social opportunities were closed off to them” (par5). This quote is the counter-argument. The quote state that the internet makes people less active in the real world. Then, the author said, “One kind of digital interaction, online dating, is now the second-most-common way to meet someone. And couples who have met online have marriages that are just as strong as those who met in real life” (par5). With this statement, the author was able to disprove the counterclaim, saying that being online helps people get real-world social opportunities like marriage.

Unlike Slaney, Csorba did not present a counter-argument in his section. Because Slaney acknowledged the other side of the argument, she was able to make her argument have a broader perspective. Therefore, Slaney can effectively persuade the reader. Slaney made the more effective argument. She argued that people are not too digitally connected and claims that technology makes it easier for deeper connections to happen. Her argument is effective because she was able to use research and data to backup her claim, appeal to one’s emotions, and present a counter-argument. With these different techniques, she was to make her argument more appealing. Therefore, it can be more convincing. Anybody can use these same methods that Slaney used in order to convince someone else to believe in their opinions. In fact, these techniques are used every day. 

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