Introduction
I wish to conduct research on: How do writers incorporate their reader’s values in their Facebook statuses in order to get their audience to pay attention and/or interact with them? Specifically, I will look at how values are included within the rhetorical canons of invention, style, arrangement, delivery and memory.
To elaborate on how the canons can include value, perhaps a person invented their statuses by including ideas they felt would appeal to their target audience, while using specific word choices and sentence structures for additional emphasis. Secondly, perhaps they organized their text in a specific way that gives their reader a clear understanding of what the text was attempting to convey, while having a clear memory of what their words mean to their target audience. Lastly, perhaps the writer chose to deliver their text on Facebook in order to accommodate what their audience expects to see form them when they use Facebook.
By reading my research project, my audience will become more aware of their own Facebook audience and can better predict the impact their overall composition may have on not only their target audience, but to other people who read their statuses and leave a not favorable comment on their status.
Background
In one article, the writer mentioned that instead of just one person posting status updates on Facebook, multiple people can monitor a page and make numerous posts as well. The writer said that the people needed to post daily on their page in order to keep conversations going among their readers in order to promote connectivity, while at the same time making sure the statuses create a friendly tone for the target audience (King 45).
Secondly, in another article, an instructor decided to create a Facebook group in order to make learning Biology a more engaging activity for the students in their class (McGraw 83). Some of the students made appropriate use of the site by posting links relating to their study in friendly ways in order to promote connection with other peers (McGraw 84), while others posted test related questions when tests of their class were within sight on the syllabus (McGraw 85).
Method
I will begin my research by reading different articles that discuss similar research to my own research question. Next, I will read background material on discourse theory and articles that discuss the general principles of value so I can get a better understanding of what the reader may value in a piece of writing. My hope for reading discourse theory and articles on value is that it will help me get at a better understanding for what persuades an audience to act in ways that are favorable to the writer.
Lastly, I will collect a sample size of about 20 Facebook statuses from celebrities who have their work open to the public. My hope in targeting celebrities instead of non-famous people is that I may get to avoid having to get approval from the Montana State University Institutional Review Board (or IRB).
With regards to the presentation of my paper, I plan to write an essay using a Microsoft word document. In that document, I will incorporate screenshots of the statuses and tables that include the writing styles I wish to highlight and discuss in more detail throughout my paper. I feel that not only will using this modality be easier for me as a writer, but I feel like it will look less confusing for my audience as well. However, I may present my research project as a blog if I can think of way to do so that is organized, interesting and easy for my audience to comprehend and read, while at the same time being a manageable experience for me as the writer.
Works Cited
King, David, and Eric Poulin.
"Facebook for Libraries: It's Easy to Use Social Media's Most Popular Tool to
Connect with Your Community." American Libraries 42.5/6 (2011): 42-45. Print.
McGraw, James.
"If You Can't Beat 'Em, Join 'Em: Using Facebook to Reach Students About the
Relevance of Ecology." Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America 93.1 (2012):
82-90. Print.
I wish to conduct research on: How do writers incorporate their reader’s values in their Facebook statuses in order to get their audience to pay attention and/or interact with them? Specifically, I will look at how values are included within the rhetorical canons of invention, style, arrangement, delivery and memory.
To elaborate on how the canons can include value, perhaps a person invented their statuses by including ideas they felt would appeal to their target audience, while using specific word choices and sentence structures for additional emphasis. Secondly, perhaps they organized their text in a specific way that gives their reader a clear understanding of what the text was attempting to convey, while having a clear memory of what their words mean to their target audience. Lastly, perhaps the writer chose to deliver their text on Facebook in order to accommodate what their audience expects to see form them when they use Facebook.
By reading my research project, my audience will become more aware of their own Facebook audience and can better predict the impact their overall composition may have on not only their target audience, but to other people who read their statuses and leave a not favorable comment on their status.
Background
In one article, the writer mentioned that instead of just one person posting status updates on Facebook, multiple people can monitor a page and make numerous posts as well. The writer said that the people needed to post daily on their page in order to keep conversations going among their readers in order to promote connectivity, while at the same time making sure the statuses create a friendly tone for the target audience (King 45).
Secondly, in another article, an instructor decided to create a Facebook group in order to make learning Biology a more engaging activity for the students in their class (McGraw 83). Some of the students made appropriate use of the site by posting links relating to their study in friendly ways in order to promote connection with other peers (McGraw 84), while others posted test related questions when tests of their class were within sight on the syllabus (McGraw 85).
Method
I will begin my research by reading different articles that discuss similar research to my own research question. Next, I will read background material on discourse theory and articles that discuss the general principles of value so I can get a better understanding of what the reader may value in a piece of writing. My hope for reading discourse theory and articles on value is that it will help me get at a better understanding for what persuades an audience to act in ways that are favorable to the writer.
Lastly, I will collect a sample size of about 20 Facebook statuses from celebrities who have their work open to the public. My hope in targeting celebrities instead of non-famous people is that I may get to avoid having to get approval from the Montana State University Institutional Review Board (or IRB).
With regards to the presentation of my paper, I plan to write an essay using a Microsoft word document. In that document, I will incorporate screenshots of the statuses and tables that include the writing styles I wish to highlight and discuss in more detail throughout my paper. I feel that not only will using this modality be easier for me as a writer, but I feel like it will look less confusing for my audience as well. However, I may present my research project as a blog if I can think of way to do so that is organized, interesting and easy for my audience to comprehend and read, while at the same time being a manageable experience for me as the writer.
Works Cited
King, David, and Eric Poulin.
"Facebook for Libraries: It's Easy to Use Social Media's Most Popular Tool to
Connect with Your Community." American Libraries 42.5/6 (2011): 42-45. Print.
McGraw, James.
"If You Can't Beat 'Em, Join 'Em: Using Facebook to Reach Students About the
Relevance of Ecology." Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America 93.1 (2012):
82-90. Print.
Kelly - Interesting choice to choose celebrities rather than a non-famous person. I wonder how that might change your study. For example, how do you know if the celebrity is actually making the posts? These are things you might want to think about as you move forward. -- Michelle
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