Cerda 1

Cerda, Esmeralda

Professor Lawson

English 113B

Project Web

05 March 2017

Word Count: 645

Rhetorical Analysis

According to the excerpt, Guess Who Else Is Reading Those Facebook Entries?, by

Eddie R. Cole Jr., the authors main focus is on social media and how these public sites have a

great impact inside and outside of the source. Cole mentions why having an account on social

media can affect your person experiences when it comes to job opportunities. As stated by Cole,

social media accounts reveal a persons identity. This can have a positive as well as a negative

result when applying for a particular job, one that requires further investigations to decide if the

applicant meets the jobs standard. Cole informs his audience of the limitations that we should

take into consideration when uploading posts on social media forums. The purpose of this

excerpt was to limit ourselves when we post responses or pictures on social media because it is

crucial when applying for jobs.

After reading through this piece, I believe the intended audience for this topic was guided

towards young adults. Although this social media site was well explained throughout the excerpt,

it would also be good for the audience to be familiar with other social media sources like

Facebook and MySpace because they all work very similar. College students are most likely to

use social networks to connect with their family and meet new people. As Cole mentioned in his

writing, Tondia Payne, a college student from Tennessee State University registered with
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facebook.comconnects college students worldwide through social networks (Cole 167).

These social media websites are used worldwide to connect others with their family and friends.

Coles piece of work was originally published on March 12, 2006 while both social media

websites were being used. The text was published to inform the audience of the approaches that

many jobs take into account when selecting an applicant.

Coles position towards Facebook and social media in general can be negative. He claims

that Facebook can have negative effects by revealing our current status as well as our

information on these public websites. In the excerpt, he supports his claim by referring to

experienced employees. Dennis Gendron works at Tennessee State University as the vice

president for technology and he disagrees with jobs that hire an applicant depending on their

current position. He mentioned, once an employer gets into the system, you dont get to ask that

question(Cole 168). I agree because people upload posts for the attention and what you post on

social media does not define who you are.

All through Coles piece there are supportive details for his claim, but the most

interesting point is made when he refers to Faheem Goree, a student at Tennessee State

University. He states that he will not upload personal information on social media. Moreover,

certain jobs like the law enforcement require applicants to reactivate their social media accounts

as part the process. This is conducted by the background investigator to confirm that the

applicant is honest and trustworthy.

The essay was fully developed and well structured. There are important sections in this

excerpt that help the reader understand the author by using personal experiences from different

people. The tone of the essay was direct and beneficial for others who have an account with

social media websites. The excerpt was to inform the audience of the people who are observing
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the things you choose to post on your personal account. The word choice used in his essay made

it easier for the reader to understand the main point of the essay. My thoughts on this topic

remain the same and similar to the authors text. We should set limitations when we upload

pictures or information about ourselves because it can affect you when applying for job

opportunities. This will connect to my essay topic because I plan to write about an online

subculture and how this can greatly impact a group of people.

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Works Cited

Gray-Rosendale, Laura. Pop Perspectives. Guess Who Else Is Reading Those Facebook

Entries? By Cole Jr., Eddie R.. 12 March 2006.