This is an essay I wrote comparing two genres of Cyber Bullying. I described the website www.stopcyberbullying.org and a video titled "Cyber Bullying" on YouTube.com by a user named CooperHarrison. The essay describes the different methods used to display ethos, pathos, and logos in both the website and the video and how effectively they connect with their intended audience.
Erik Manriquez
University of Texas at El Paso
Abstract
Cyber bullying has become a major problem not only in the United States but around the world. There are many websites, blogs, videos, and organizations dedicated to help teens that have been bullied or are being bullied. Two genres are analyzed to find out which is more effective in their respective discourse communities. Stopcyberbullying.org is a website and a video from YouTube.com by a user named cooperharrison titled “Cyber Bullying” are compared. Stopcyberbullying.org is a website dedicated to educating people on cyber bullying. It has information as to what cyber bullying is, how it works, why it happens and how to prevent it. The video is dedicated to Megan Meier, who was a victim of cyber bullying who committed suicide. The video is very emotional, it puts the viewer in a cyber bullying victim’s shoes, and explains from news clips what cyber bullying is. Both genres effectively use ethos, pathos, and logos to display the seriousness of cyber bullying.
Almost every home in America has a computer with access to the internet. And the websites with the most traffic and popularity are the social networking sites. Websites like Facebook and MySpace have become very popular, especially among adolescents. These sites allow teenagers to stay more connected with their friends. Since teens spend more time online, they don’t engage in outdoor activities as they once used to. They are more concerned with their friends Facebook or MySpace status than playing football or basketball.
Almost every home in America has a computer with access to the internet. And the websites with the most traffic and popularity are the social networking sites. Websites like Facebook and MySpace have become very popular, especially among adolescents. These sites allow teenagers to stay more connected with their friends. Since teens spend more time online, they don’t engage in outdoor activities as they once used to. They are more concerned with their friends Facebook or MySpace status than playing football or basketball.
One could speculate that kids are safer this way, since they don’t have to worry about being tormented by the schoolyard bully as much. But another form of bullying has been growing just as fast as our technology has. Since news broke about several teens killing each other and committing suicide due to being harassed online, cyber bullying has become a major problem for parents. These social networking sites are available for people around the world, making this issue worldwide. Teenagers are constantly updating their social network accounts, making them more at risk to be tormented by cyber bullies. There are several websites, blogs, articles, and educational videos dedicated to make parents and guardians aware of what is happening or what could happen to their kids on these sites. Stopcyberbullying.org, a website, and a YouTube.com video titled “Cyber Bullying” created by a user named cooperharrison have been chosen to see which is more effective in informing people about the issue.
Stopcyberbullying.org is an informative website that effectively establishes logos by explaining what cyber bullying is, how it works, how it can be identified, why it occurs, and how it can be prevented. Anyone from concerned parents, teachers, and teens can visit this site and educate themselves about cyber bullying. The website defines cyber bullying as “when a child, preteen or teen is tormented, threatened, harassed, humiliated, embarrassed or otherwise targeted by another child, preteen or teen using the internet” (stopcyberbullying.org n.d.).
The website establishes pathos because some of the examples of the hateful and threatening messages may enrage some parents. The examples describe the different attacks cyber bullies have used to inflict emotional harm towards their victims. One of the examples listed is off of a social networking site called buddyprofile.com, it says: “Mary wants to get Jennifer back for not inviting her to her party. She goes online and, posing as Jennifer, posts “I hate Brittany, she is so stupid, ugly and fat!” (stopcyberbullying.org n.d.).” They list several reasons as to why teens decide to bully one another online. One of the reasons listed states that teens look at cyber bullying as a form of entertainment. Most parents would find that form of entertainment very upsetting. The website also explains how cyber bullying is being prevented in schools and by parents to help reduce the risks of harm to their teens. They state that educating kids and teens about the consequences of cyber bullying would greatly help prevention. They also provide information on how and when to alert the proper authorities if they suspect their child is being cyber bullied. The website’s ethos is executive director Parry Aftab, who is a security, privacy and cyberspace lawyer, as well as an author and child advocate. Aftab authored the first known Internet safety book, A Parent’s Guide to the Internet. She was identified by the Boston Herald as “the leading expert in cybercrime in the United States,” making the website highly credible and respected.
The websites has a professional layout. There is not much design or decoration, making the website clear and to the point. The text is mainly in black and white, which is easy to understand. The language used is comprehensible for its intended audience. The website’s overall simplicity is effective because there aren’t many distractions, allowing the viewer to take all the information displayed seriously.
YouTube.com has several informative videos on cyber bullying that like stopcyberbullying.org, is also available to parents, teachers, students and anyone related to cyber bullying and/or who are looking to educate themselves on the issue. A YouTube.com user named cooperharrison, created a video title “Cyber Bullying.” The video is dedicated to Megan Meier, who was a teenage girl that committed suicide because she was harassed on her MySpace account by a boy named Josh Evans.
The video begins with slow, harmonic music that makes the viewer feel sympathy, quickly creating pathos. It shows a text message that says “I know where you live,” and asks the viewer if they would want the text message sent to them. It continues to put the viewer in the victim’s shoes by displaying a message that says “everybody hates you.” It makes the viewer feel the fear that a victim experiences when cyber bullied. The video establishes logos by showing several news clips that display the seriousness of the issue and shows several interviews of teenage girls who have been victims. One news clip in the video explains how one man blames cyber bullying for the suicide of his thirteen year old son.
The video establishes ethos by showing the interview of the parents of Megan Meier on the Dr. Phil show, which is a reality/talk television show hosted by Phil (Dr. Phil) McGraw. Dr. Phil is a respected American television personality who has several degrees in psychology including a Ph.D. in clinical psychology. In the interview, the parents of Megan Meier explain what happened to her on her MySpace account, and describe in detail the moment they found she hung herself in her bedroom closet. The emotion shown by the parents makes the viewer feel sad and depicts the gravity of cyber bullying. The end of the video urges the viewer not to become part of the problem, but to become part of the solution.
The video is clear and comprehensible to its audience. It’s overall structure and style is proficient because the video is well organized. It explains what cyber bullying is, then gives examples of it and finishes with what someone can do to prevent it. The music and overall message of the video fuse together flawlessly to create a convincing sentiment.
Overall, both the website and the video effectively portray the seriousness of cyber bullying in their respective discourse communities. Both genres have respectable ethos, the website’s executive director Parry Aftab and television personality Dr. Phil are well known in their respectable discourse communities. The website develops more logos than the video by displaying very important information as to the identification and prevention of cyber bullying. However, the website lacks the pathos the video reveals to its audience, which would make the website’s discourse community take the matter less serious. The website could have a link to a memorial for those victims who have lost their lives because of cyber bullying to help establish more pathos. The video’s pathos forces the viewer to understand the difficult emotion the victims endure, allowing the audience to have a deeper connection. The video was overall more effective, but it could’ve shown more instruction as to the prevention of cyber bullying. Nevertheless, the video educates the viewer which, as the website states, education on cyber bullying contributes to prevention.
References
Aftab, P., (n.d.) Stop Cyber Bullying. Retrieved from http://www.stopcyberbullying.org/index2.html
Aftab. P., (n.d.) Parry Aftab The Privacy Lawyer. Retrieved from http://aftab.com/index.php?page=about_parry_aftab
YouTube, Harrison, C., (2005) Cyber Bullying. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZgpmuz2MQc
Both the video and website can display several levels of emotion. However, videos do have more advantages to connect with their audience. The website can display more information but I believe that the video is overall more effective. They both help prevent Cyber Bullying in their own way, and hopefully more and more people become informed by these genres.
Both the video and website can display several levels of emotion. However, videos do have more advantages to connect with their audience. The website can display more information but I believe that the video is overall more effective. They both help prevent Cyber Bullying in their own way, and hopefully more and more people become informed by these genres.
Wow, so moving
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