Online Landscape and Persuasion

    As the online landscape has changed, so has communication and the way people convey their opinions. The growth of social media has aided in these changes. Being able to more easily share opinions publicly has brought about some benefits but has also been detrimental to the way people engage online and with one another. The Narrative Paradigm and the Gatekeeping theories can be used to explain the influence of social media on the way we communicate.

     The explosion of social media has led to easier access to socialization on a global scale. This gives people a greater opportunity to share content and engage with one another on matters that may have been out of our reach before this technology. The power of persuasion has increased in a huge way. With the vast amount of knowledge being shared on social media sites, and the fact that people are able to engage with a much larger audience, the opportunity for persuasion increases. According to the Narrative Paradigm, people are naturally prone to storytelling in a way of communicating with others. How many times have you read a post on Facebook or a similar site, explaining about an experience someone had, and you were able to take some sort of lesson from it? This is a tool used for persuasion. For example, a cousin of mine posted on her Facebook, telling the story of how she accidentally stepped outside the house, letting the door shut behind her, only to realize that the door was locked and her young child and dog were now alone inside the house. She typically has an extra set of keys hidden or in her vehicle, but she did not this time. After frantic phone calls and trying everything she could on her own, she ended up calling the police for help. This story is an example of pathos, or emotion. What happened in this situation could bring out a feeling of panic in any parent. It is also a story that can help persuade readers to always keep an extra set of keys in a safe place outside the home, in the case of emergencies such as this. 

    On the other side, this easy access to content creation and endless information can lead to elaborate storytelling that stretches the truth or is altogether false. The Gatekeeping Theory explains how information is filtered and passed along to the public, usually sharing what may be interesting to the audience. This can be seen as a form of persuasion because, by only sharing certain information and not others, the audience's perception can be changed to agree with only the information provided. This can result in a shift in public opinion because people are continuing to be fed only the information that continues to support one opinion. 

    Another way the changing online landscape has affected strategies used to engage audiences is the use of persuasive imagery, or using visuals as tools of persuasion (Pearson, Nelson, Titsworth, & Hosek). When visiting social media sites, for example, there is a constant influx of advertisements trying to convince people to click and explore. There is also a constant presentation of videos and reels, trying to convince social media users to click, which results in being sent more videos of similar style, or to "like" or "follow" as a means of persuading people to continue watching the same type of content.

    In conclusion, the online landscape we have available to us today has changed the way people communicate and form public opinions. Persuasion uses many tools, such as storytelling, pathos, and visual imagery. It is important to remember that when navigating online, especially on social media websites, not all information available is being presented to you. Try to find unbiased sources to do your own research before forming an opinion.

• Pearson, J. C., Nelson, P. E., Titsworth, S., & Hosek, A. M. (Eds.). (2021). Human Communication (7th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education. Chapter 15: Persuasive Presentations.