Social Media and Online Identity
COMM 4048 - Media and Identity
September 10, 2023
Introduction
The emergence of social media has brought many social issues that
need to be addressed. As a key platform for social interaction, it can
be argued that this emergent technology influences how people
behave both online and offline. The article “Stranding online and
offline profile, millennials search for identity” by Rachel Lowry
explains how the youth struggle to maintain two identities in their
social life. Most importantly, online profiles have emerged to be
critical in many aspects, including employment. Such a characteristic
makes social media a crucial social issue, which has also attracted the
attention of multiple scholars. Lowry’s article is generally a collection
of opinions and responses regarding the influences of social media,
especially the struggles in maintaining a steady identity. However, it
can be argued that the author’s arguments are justified by the
extensive use of evidence in the form of both primary responses and
expert opinion, including the input from researchers.
Author’s Position
The author’s position is that social media has eroded the mechanism
with which people develop and sustain their identity such that
individuals keep moving between online and offline identities. Among
the main claims in the article include that social media has become a
tool for judging people and their behavior. Second, technology
influences how millennials access and are screened for employment.
The third claim is that millennials are experiencing an identity crisis.
Lastly, the author claims that the authenticity of the social identities is
jeopardized as people create fake stories to impress others. The main
ideas are derived from the expressions of those people interviewed,
including a book which is published on the issue. Therefore, it is true
to state that the claims are supported by adequate evidence as will be
evaluated in the following section.
Social Media Judgment
The first claim made by the author is that social media is a place that a
person can be judged based on what they post or say on the platforms.
The expressions of an interviewee, Mariah Hanaike, reveal that an
individual fear being themselves because anything they do will
potentially be used in other sites where other people will view and
judge (Lowry). Hanaike simply summarizes the behavior of people on
social media and gives the authors a starting point in presenting her
position regarding the effects of social media on millennials. Lowry
used these insights to further highlight that many individuals can only
be themselves when they are alone. Lowry states that a previous study
concluded that one in four millennials agree to the opinion that their
true selves are only possible when they are alone (par. 4). Therefore, it
means that what people view online is different from what can be
observed offline.
Evaluation
An evaluation of the first claim can be used to answer some key
questions, including the evidence used and whether the claim supports
the thesis. First, it is important to acknowledge that Lowry only
mentions a recent study for which she does not provide details.
However, the quote for Hanaike’s opinions provided enough
justification for Lowry’s ideas. Second, it can be argued that the
problem of social media judgment is real and can be expressed by any
person who uses the technology. Lastly, current studies can support
the claim by presenting empirical evidence that social networking
sites can be used as a means to judge people based on what they post
and how they act.
The empirical evidence of people being judged on social media covers
such key aspects as personality. For example, a study by Tadesse et al.
expresses that such social networking sites as Twitter, Weibo, and
Facebook are increasingly used by individuals to learn about others
(61959). The focus of their study is on how people’s personalities can
be predicted by examining online performances and behaviors. Even
though Tadesse et al. mean to illustrate how researchers and experts
can use social media, it is important to understand that the same
mechanisms apply when other users want to learn about individuals.
The same sentiments can be found in a study by Peters et al. who find
that teens are particularly sensitive to social evaluation (2). In other
words, adolescents tend to worry about how other people perceive
them, which illustrates that social media is used to judge. All
mentioned evidence supports the claim by Lowry that using social
media can cause judgement. However, no opposing views are
presented, but this does not affect the fact that the claim supports the
thesis.
Employment Scrutiny
One of the areas where the millennials express their fears regarding
the use of social media is employment. Lowry’s article explains the
employers are increasingly using social media to scrutinize candidates
(par. 23). The situation has become so common that many of the
individuals interviewed in the article fear that the companies are
already aware of the candidate even before the interview is convened.
Therefore, the millennials are having to ensure that whatever they post
on social networking sites is intended to sell themselves to the world
and, most importantly, the recruiters. Individuals without adequate
social media presence could risk missing the opportunities as their
peers exploit them fully. Lowry finds that, by quoting an individual
named Lake, paper resumes are no longer necessary. The key point is
that sending applications for jobs is now not a good route to success,
an opinion that Lowry backs with the views of a New York Times
editor, Phyllis Korkki. However, the major claim is that recruiters tend
to scrutinize candidates using their social media profiles, which leaves
some in a disadvantaged position.
Evaluation
While the author’s claim focuses on employment scrutiny, it is
important to understand that everybody and every firm seeks to take
advantage of the opportunities presented by social media. Lowry’s
argument is backed by real-life experiences of the individuals whose
opinions are expressed in the article. While there are no opposing
arguments, it can be understood that factual statements may not need a
refuting argument. Additionally, the article does not seek to be
argumentative, rather the author focuses on explaining and providing
evidence for her position regarding the subject. The claim also
supports the author’s thesis, especially because the millennials have to
develop online profiles customized for potential employers. The
online profiles create an identity that will differ from the offline one,
further supporting the author’s arguments.
The main support for the author’s claim regarding employment
scrutiny can be made by considering the scholarly work and scientific
evidence. According to Vitelar, personal branding has become a
critical aspect for Generation Z, in which case social media becomes a
crucial tool to serve this purpose (257). The need for personal
branding is to create an identity that represents an individual in the
networking sites, either for job-seeking, blogging, entrepreneurship, or
other personal development and promotion initiatives. Additionally,
the fact that all information that employers need regarding a person
can be found on social media means that employers find an easier
scrutiny mechanism than arranging for interviews and reviewing
resumes.
An argument can be made that the article fails to present the other side
of the story in that the candidates also scrutinize businesses on the
internet to determine whether they can be good employers. Firms,
therefore, also behave in the same way as the millennials on social
media (Mičík and Mičudová 171). In other words, entities create
online profiles, which are intended to attract new employees,
especially millennials.
Identity Crisis
The title of the article hints at the main claim made by the author,
which is the fact that millennials are having to keep switching
identities. Such a scenario can be described as an identity crisis, which
implies that the youth no longer understand what their real identity is.
Lowry used first-hand experiences of individuals and a published
book by Van den Bergh to support the argument that online identities
are different from offline ones. The main cause for such a scenario is
that the millennials have been pre-wired to create and achieve success
stories. Such critical requirements mean that their daily strife is geared
towards finding means to represent themselves online. Those that do
not find real or genuine stories to tell have no option but to create fake
stories. Identities created out of such strategies are not real, which
explains why many explain that they can only be themselves when
they are alone.
Evaluation
The claim of identity crisis is connected with the argument of
authenticity as will be discussed in the following section. However,
the article succeeds in supporting the fact that online and offline
identities are different and having to constantly switch between the
two creates the phenomenon of an identity crisis. What Lowry
represents as a behavioral problem could be perceived by scholars as a
cognitive issue affecting all social media users. The identity crisis is
described by researchers as the condition where individuals cannot
establish how to view, create, and define their identity. According to
Arfini et al., personal identity is contextually framed, which means
that the networking sites have created a context in which people’s
identities have to adjust (193). The keyword in this statement is
‘adjust’, which reflects a scenario where a change in context causes a
change in identity. Therefore, Lowry’s ideas of stranding between
online and offline profiles are supported by scientific literature.
The identity crisis could also be the result of a globalized social sphere
created by influencers. Alishahi, et al. explain that social media
creates an identity crisis because the globalization of communicates
creates a scenario where individuals do not know their identity
elements, including religion, race, language, culture, and ethnicity (2).
The role of influencers has been reviewed by scholars who reveal that
hybrid identities have been created in an attempt to adjust to the online
communities (Ayish and AlNajjar 27). The concept of identity denotes
a sense of belonging to a group. Therefore, what the article by Lowry
fails to mention is that social media has created a global online
community that is culturally diverse. The result of diversification is
that the influencers have a chance to determine the norm, meaning all
those who need to be part have to adjust to new norms and form a new
identity. The challenge comes when such online identities do not work
in the real world where the media users have to adopt new identities
for the context of the physical world. However, the article supports the
thesis and uses real-life experience as evidence to support the claim of
an identity crisis.
Authenticity of Identity
As mentioned earlier, the claim of identity crisis is related to the
problem of authenticity. The argument is that the crisis results in a
situation where people have to switch between identities as they move
across different contexts. People with more than one identity can be
seen as having fake identities, which is the basis of the claim by
Lowry that social media undermines the authenticity of personal
identities. The root cause of the problem is the fact that the millennials
are having to constantly worry about missing opportunities, especially
employment. The need to create success stories leads to the
development of fake profiles, stories, and identities. The millennials
are aware that they will be scrutinized by potential employers through
what they post on social media. Therefore, there emerges the need to
market oneself, even if it means creating misleading profiles.
Evaluation
The problem of authenticity is real and has even attracted the attention
of scholars. For example, Salisbury and Pooley define authenticity as
the situation where the users’ online profiles match their real-world
(2). The scholarly work on the issue of identity authenticity means that
Lowry’s claim that social media undermines the genuineness of users
is justified. Therefore, employers can no longer trust that the social
media posts reflect the true identities of potential candidates. As in all
other claims, the evidence can be deemed adequate to support the
argument. Additionally, the claim supports the thesis because it shows
one key problem of changing personal identities across contexts.
Lastly, there are no opposing arguments for this claim because the
author focuses more on presenting evidence than on creating an
argument. As mentioned earlier, the article by Lowry is majorly a
collection of opinions and evidence to explain the situation. Therefore,
the author cannot be criticized for not creating alternative arguments
regarding the issue.
Recommendation
The arguments in the article have all been supported by quoting
expressions and opinions from various people. However, the author
pays too much attention to proving evidence than articulating the
issue. A large percentage of the article comprises direct quotes and a
few statements from the author. While there is nothing wrong with
using supporting opinions, there is a need for an author to let the
audience know his or her position on the issue. Currently, Lowry’s
position can only be inferred from the few statements the many quotes
used. The use of first-hand experiences is also another key strength of
the article. However, social media is a subject that has been
scientifically studied and, therefore, it is recommended that the author
could use scientific facts to further support the arguments. The issue
of personal identity can be cognitive, social, or even behavioral. These
theoretical frameworks would help understand the underlying issues
affecting the users and their online interactions.
Social Media Judgment
The first claim made by the author is that social media is a place that a
person can be judged based on what they post or say on the platforms.
The expressions of an interviewee, Mariah Hanaike, reveal that an
individual fear being themselves because anything they do will
potentially be used in other sites where other people will view and
judge (Lowry). Hanaike simply summarizes the behavior of people on
social media and gives the authors a starting point in presenting her
position regarding the effects of social media on millennials. Lowry
used these insights to further highlight that many individuals can only
be themselves when they are alone. Lowry states that a previous study
concluded that one in four millennials agree to the opinion that their
true selves are only possible when they are alone (par. 4). Therefore, it
means that what people view online is different from what can be
observed offline.
Evaluation
An evaluation of the first claim can be used to answer some key
questions, including the evidence used and whether the claim supports
the thesis. First, it is important to acknowledge that Lowry only
mentions a recent study for which she does not provide details.
However, the quote for Hanaike’s opinions provided enough
justification for Lowry’s ideas. Second, it can be argued that the
problem of social media judgment is real and can be expressed by any
person who uses the technology. Lastly, current studies can support
the claim by presenting empirical evidence that social networking
sites can be used as a means to judge people based on what they post
and how they act.
The empirical evidence of people being judged on social media covers
such key aspects as personality. For example, a study by Tadesse et al.
expresses that such social networking sites as Twitter, Weibo, and
Facebook are increasingly used by individuals to learn about others
(61959). The focus of their study is on how people’s personalities can
be predicted by examining online performances and behaviors. Even
though Tadesse et al. mean to illustrate how researchers and experts
can use social media, it is important to understand that the same
mechanisms apply when other users want to learn about individuals.
The same sentiments can be found in a study by Peters et al. who find
that teens are particularly sensitive to social evaluation (2). In other
words, adolescents tend to worry about how other people perceive
them, which illustrates that social media is used to judge. All
mentioned evidence supports the claim by Lowry that using social
media can cause judgement. However, no opposing views are
presented, but this does not affect the fact that the claim supports the
thesis.
Employment Scrutiny
One of the areas where the millennials express their fears regarding
the use of social media is employment. Lowry’s article explains the
employers are increasingly using social media to scrutinize candidates
(par. 23). The situation has become so common that many of the
individuals interviewed in the article fear that the companies are
already aware of the candidate even before the interview is convened.
Therefore, the millennials are having to ensure that whatever they post
on social networking sites is intended to sell themselves to the world
and, most importantly, the recruiters. Individuals without adequate
social media presence could risk missing the opportunities as their
peers exploit them fully. Lowry finds that, by quoting an individual
named Lake, paper resumes are no longer necessary. The key point is
that sending applications for jobs is now not a good route to success,
an opinion that Lowry backs with the views of a New York Times
editor, Phyllis Korkki. However, the major claim is that recruiters tend
to scrutinize candidates using their social media profiles, which leaves
some in a disadvantaged position.
Evaluation
While the author’s claim focuses on employment scrutiny, it is
important to understand that everybody and every firm seeks to take
advantage of the opportunities presented by social media. Lowry’s
argument is backed by real-life experiences of the individuals whose
opinions are expressed in the article. While there are no opposing
arguments, it can be understood that factual statements may not need a
refuting argument. Additionally, the article does not seek to be
argumentative, rather the author focuses on explaining and providing
evidence for her position regarding the subject. The claim also
supports the author’s thesis, especially because the millennials have to
develop online profiles customized for potential employers. The
online profiles create an identity that will differ from the offline one,
further supporting the author’s arguments.
The main support for the author’s claim regarding employment
scrutiny can be made by considering the scholarly work and scientific
evidence. According to Vitelar, personal branding has become a
critical aspect for Generation Z, in which case social media becomes a
crucial tool to serve this purpose (257). The need for personal
branding is to create an identity that represents an individual in the
networking sites, either for job-seeking, blogging, entrepreneurship, or
other personal development and promotion initiatives. Additionally,
the fact that all information that employers need regarding a person
can be found on social media means that employers find an easier
scrutiny mechanism than arranging for interviews and reviewing
resumes.
An argument can be made that the article fails to present the other side
of the story in that the candidates also scrutinize businesses on the
internet to determine whether they can be good employers. Firms,
therefore, also behave in the same way as the millennials on social
media (Mičík and Mičudová 171). In other words, entities create
online profiles, which are intended to attract new employees,
especially millennials.
Identity Crisis
The title of the article hints at the main claim made by the author,
which is the fact that millennials are having to keep switching
identities. Such a scenario can be described as an identity crisis, which
implies that the youth no longer understand what their real identity is.
Lowry used first-hand experiences of individuals and a published
book by Van den Bergh to support the argument that online identities
are different from offline ones. The main cause for such a scenario is
that the millennials have been pre-wired to create and achieve success
stories. Such critical requirements mean that their daily strife is geared
towards finding means to represent themselves online. Those that do
not find real or genuine stories to tell have no option but to create fake
stories. Identities created out of such strategies are not real, which
explains why many explain that they can only be themselves when
they are alone.
Evaluation
The claim of identity crisis is connected with the argument of
authenticity as will be discussed in the following section. However,
the article succeeds in supporting the fact that online and offline
identities are different and having to constantly switch between the
two creates the phenomenon of an identity crisis. What Lowry
represents as a behavioral problem could be perceived by scholars as a
cognitive issue affecting all social media users. The identity crisis is
described by researchers as the condition where individuals cannot
establish how to view, create, and define their identity. According to
Arfini et al., personal identity is contextually framed, which means
that the networking sites have created a context in which people’s
identities have to adjust (193). The keyword in this statement is
‘adjust’, which reflects a scenario where a change in context causes a
change in identity. Therefore, Lowry’s ideas of stranding between
online and offline profiles are supported by scientific literature.
The identity crisis could also be the result of a globalized social sphere
created by influencers. Alishahi, et al. explain that social media
creates an identity crisis because the globalization of communicates
creates a scenario where individuals do not know their identity
elements, including religion, race, language, culture, and ethnicity (2).
The role of influencers has been reviewed by scholars who reveal that
hybrid identities have been created in an attempt to adjust to the online
communities (Ayish and AlNajjar 27). The concept of identity denotes
a sense of belonging to a group. Therefore, what the article by Lowry
fails to mention is that social media has created a global online
community that is culturally diverse. The result of diversification is
that the influencers have a chance to determine the norm, meaning all
those who need to be part have to adjust to new norms and form a new
identity. The challenge comes when such online identities do not work
in the real world where the media users have to adopt new identities
for the context of the physical world. However, the article supports the
thesis and uses real-life experience as evidence to support the claim of
an identity crisis.
Authenticity of Identity
As mentioned earlier, the claim of identity crisis is related to the
problem of authenticity. The argument is that the crisis results in a
situation where people have to switch between identities as they move
across different contexts. People with more than one identity can be
seen as having fake identities, which is the basis of the claim by
Lowry that social media undermines the authenticity of personal
identities. The root cause of the problem is the fact that the millennials
are having to constantly worry about missing opportunities, especially
employment. The need to create success stories leads to the
development of fake profiles, stories, and identities. The millennials
are aware that they will be scrutinized by potential employers through
what they post on social media. Therefore, there emerges the need to
market oneself, even if it means creating misleading profiles.
Evaluation
The problem of authenticity is real and has even attracted the attention
of scholars. For example, Salisbury and Pooley define authenticity as
the situation where the users’ online profiles match their real-world
(2). The scholarly work on the issue of identity authenticity means that
Lowry’s claim that social media undermines the genuineness of users
is justified. Therefore, employers can no longer trust that the social
media posts reflect the true identities of potential candidates. As in all
other claims, the evidence can be deemed adequate to support the
argument. Additionally, the claim supports the thesis because it shows
one key problem of changing personal identities across contexts.
Lastly, there are no opposing arguments for this claim because the
author focuses more on presenting evidence than on creating an
argument. As mentioned earlier, the article by Lowry is majorly a
collection of opinions and evidence to explain the situation. Therefore,
the author cannot be criticized for not creating alternative arguments
regarding the issue.
Recommendation
The arguments in the article have all been supported by quoting
expressions and opinions from various people. However, the author
pays too much attention to proving evidence than articulating the
issue. A large percentage of the article comprises direct quotes and a
few statements from the author. While there is nothing wrong with
using supporting opinions, there is a need for an author to let the
audience know his or her position on the issue. Currently, Lowry’s
position can only be inferred from the few statements the many quotes
used. The use of first-hand experiences is also another key strength of
the article. However, social media is a subject that has been
scientifically studied and, therefore, it is recommended that the author
could use scientific facts to further support the arguments. The issue
of personal identity can be cognitive, social, or even behavioral. These
theoretical frameworks would help understand the underlying issues
affecting the users and their online interactions.
Social Media Judgment
The first claim made by the author is that social media is a place that a
person can be judged based on what they post or say on the platforms.
The expressions of an interviewee, Mariah Hanaike, reveal that an
individual fear being themselves because anything they do will
potentially be used in other sites where other people will view and
judge (Lowry). Hanaike simply summarizes the behavior of people on
social media and gives the authors a starting point in presenting her
position regarding the effects of social media on millennials. Lowry
used these insights to further highlight that many individuals can only
be themselves when they are alone. Lowry states that a previous study
concluded that one in four millennials agree to the opinion that their
true selves are only possible when they are alone (par. 4). Therefore, it
means that what people view online is different from what can be
observed offline.
Evaluation
An evaluation of the first claim can be used to answer some key
questions, including the evidence used and whether the claim supports
the thesis. First, it is important to acknowledge that Lowry only
mentions a recent study for which she does not provide details.
However, the quote for Hanaike’s opinions provided enough
justification for Lowry’s ideas. Second, it can be argued that the
problem of social media judgment is real and can be expressed by any
person who uses the technology. Lastly, current studies can support
the claim by presenting empirical evidence that social networking
sites can be used as a means to judge people based on what they post
and how they act.
The empirical evidence of people being judged on social media covers
such key aspects as personality. For example, a study by Tadesse et al.
expresses that such social networking sites as Twitter, Weibo, and
Facebook are increasingly used by individuals to learn about others
(61959). The focus of their study is on how people’s personalities can
be predicted by examining online performances and behaviors. Even
though Tadesse et al. mean to illustrate how researchers and experts
can use social media, it is important to understand that the same
mechanisms apply when other users want to learn about individuals.
The same sentiments can be found in a study by Peters et al. who find
that teens are particularly sensitive to social evaluation (2). In other
words, adolescents tend to worry about how other people perceive
them, which illustrates that social media is used to judge. All
mentioned evidence supports the claim by Lowry that using social
media can cause judgement. However, no opposing views are
presented, but this does not affect the fact that the claim supports the
thesis.
Employment Scrutiny
One of the areas where the millennials express their fears regarding
the use of social media is employment. Lowry’s article explains the
employers are increasingly using social media to scrutinize candidates
(par. 23). The situation has become so common that many of the
individuals interviewed in the article fear that the companies are
already aware of the candidate even before the interview is convened.
Therefore, the millennials are having to ensure that whatever they post
on social networking sites is intended to sell themselves to the world
and, most importantly, the recruiters. Individuals without adequate
social media presence could risk missing the opportunities as their
peers exploit them fully. Lowry finds that, by quoting an individual
named Lake, paper resumes are no longer necessary. The key point is
that sending applications for jobs is now not a good route to success,
an opinion that Lowry backs with the views of a New York Times
editor, Phyllis Korkki. However, the major claim is that recruiters tend
to scrutinize candidates using their social media profiles, which leaves
some in a disadvantaged position.
Evaluation
While the author’s claim focuses on employment scrutiny, it is
important to understand that everybody and every firm seeks to take
advantage of the opportunities presented by social media. Lowry’s
argument is backed by real-life experiences of the individuals whose
opinions are expressed in the article. While there are no opposing
arguments, it can be understood that factual statements may not need a
refuting argument. Additionally, the article does not seek to be
argumentative, rather the author focuses on explaining and providing
evidence for her position regarding the subject. The claim also
supports the author’s thesis, especially because the millennials have to
develop online profiles customized for potential employers. The
online profiles create an identity that will differ from the offline one,
further supporting the author’s arguments.
The main support for the author’s claim regarding employment
scrutiny can be made by considering the scholarly work and scientific
evidence. According to Vitelar, personal branding has become a
critical aspect for Generation Z, in which case social media becomes a
crucial tool to serve this purpose (257). The need for personal
branding is to create an identity that represents an individual in the
networking sites, either for job-seeking, blogging, entrepreneurship, or
other personal development and promotion initiatives. Additionally,
the fact that all information that employers need regarding a person
can be found on social media means that employers find an easier
scrutiny mechanism than arranging for interviews and reviewing
resumes.
An argument can be made that the article fails to present the other side
of the story in that the candidates also scrutinize businesses on the
internet to determine whether they can be good employers. Firms,
therefore, also behave in the same way as the millennials on social
media (Mičík and Mičudová 171). In other words, entities create
online profiles, which are intended to attract new employees,
especially millennials.
Identity Crisis
The title of the article hints at the main claim made by the author,
which is the fact that millennials are having to keep switching
identities. Such a scenario can be described as an identity crisis, which
implies that the youth no longer understand what their real identity is.
Lowry used first-hand experiences of individuals and a published
book by Van den Bergh to support the argument that online identities
are different from offline ones. The main cause for such a scenario is
that the millennials have been pre-wired to create and achieve success
stories. Such critical requirements mean that their daily strife is geared
towards finding means to represent themselves online. Those that do
not find real or genuine stories to tell have no option but to create fake
stories. Identities created out of such strategies are not real, which
explains why many explain that they can only be themselves when
they are alone.
Evaluation
The claim of identity crisis is connected with the argument of
authenticity as will be discussed in the following section. However,
the article succeeds in supporting the fact that online and offline
identities are different and having to constantly switch between the
two creates the phenomenon of an identity crisis. What Lowry
represents as a behavioral problem could be perceived by scholars as a
cognitive issue affecting all social media users. The identity crisis is
described by researchers as the condition where individuals cannot
establish how to view, create, and define their identity. According to
Arfini et al., personal identity is contextually framed, which means
that the networking sites have created a context in which people’s
identities have to adjust (193). The keyword in this statement is
‘adjust’, which reflects a scenario where a change in context causes a
change in identity. Therefore, Lowry’s ideas of stranding between
online and offline profiles are supported by scientific literature.
The identity crisis could also be the result of a globalized social sphere
created by influencers. Alishahi, et al. explain that social media
creates an identity crisis because the globalization of communicates
creates a scenario where individuals do not know their identity
elements, including religion, race, language, culture, and ethnicity (2).
The role of influencers has been reviewed by scholars who reveal that
hybrid identities have been created in an attempt to adjust to the online
communities (Ayish and AlNajjar 27). The concept of identity denotes
a sense of belonging to a group. Therefore, what the article by Lowry
fails to mention is that social media has created a global online
community that is culturally diverse. The result of diversification is
that the influencers have a chance to determine the norm, meaning all
those who need to be part have to adjust to new norms and form a new
identity. The challenge comes when such online identities do not work
in the real world where the media users have to adopt new identities
for the context of the physical world. However, the article supports the
thesis and uses real-life experience as evidence to support the claim of
an identity crisis.
Authenticity of Identity
As mentioned earlier, the claim of identity crisis is related to the
problem of authenticity. The argument is that the crisis results in a
situation where people have to switch between identities as they move
across different contexts. People with more than one identity can be
seen as having fake identities, which is the basis of the claim by
Lowry that social media undermines the authenticity of personal
identities. The root cause of the problem is the fact that the millennials
are having to constantly worry about missing opportunities, especially
employment. The need to create success stories leads to the
development of fake profiles, stories, and identities. The millennials
are aware that they will be scrutinized by potential employers through
what they post on social media. Therefore, there emerges the need to
market oneself, even if it means creating misleading profiles.
Evaluation
The problem of authenticity is real and has even attracted the attention
of scholars. For example, Salisbury and Pooley define authenticity as
the situation where the users’ online profiles match their real-world
(2). The scholarly work on the issue of identity authenticity means that
Lowry’s claim that social media undermines the genuineness of users
is justified. Therefore, employers can no longer trust that the social
media posts reflect the true identities of potential candidates. As in all
other claims, the evidence can be deemed adequate to support the
argument. Additionally, the claim supports the thesis because it shows
one key problem of changing personal identities across contexts.
Lastly, there are no opposing arguments for this claim because the
author focuses more on presenting evidence than on creating an
argument. As mentioned earlier, the article by Lowry is majorly a
collection of opinions and evidence to explain the situation. Therefore,
the author cannot be criticized for not creating alternative arguments
regarding the issue.
Recommendation
The arguments in the article have all been supported by quoting
expressions and opinions from various people. However, the author
pays too much attention to proving evidence than articulating the
issue. A large percentage of the article comprises direct quotes and a
few statements from the author. While there is nothing wrong with
using supporting opinions, there is a need for an author to let the
audience know his or her position on the issue. Currently, Lowry’s
position can only be inferred from the few statements the many quotes
used. The use of first-hand experiences is also another key strength of
the article. However, social media is a subject that has been
scientifically studied and, therefore, it is recommended that the author
could use scientific facts to further support the arguments. The issue
of personal identity can be cognitive, social, or even behavioral. These
theoretical frameworks would help understand the underlying issues
affecting the users and their online interactions.
Social Media Judgment
The first claim made by the author is that social media is a place that a
person can be judged based on what they post or say on the platforms.
The expressions of an interviewee, Mariah Hanaike, reveal that an
individual fear being themselves because anything they do will
potentially be used in other sites where other people will view and
judge (Lowry). Hanaike simply summarizes the behavior of people on
social media and gives the authors a starting point in presenting her
position regarding the effects of social media on millennials. Lowry
used these insights to further highlight that many individuals can only
be themselves when they are alone. Lowry states that a previous study
concluded that one in four millennials agree to the opinion that their
true selves are only possible when they are alone (par. 4). Therefore, it
means that what people view online is different from what can be
observed offline.
Evaluation
An evaluation of the first claim can be used to answer some key
questions, including the evidence used and whether the claim supports
the thesis. First, it is important to acknowledge that Lowry only
mentions a recent study for which she does not provide details.
However, the quote for Hanaike’s opinions provided enough
justification for Lowry’s ideas. Second, it can be argued that the
problem of social media judgment is real and can be expressed by any
person who uses the technology. Lastly, current studies can support
the claim by presenting empirical evidence that social networking
sites can be used as a means to judge people based on what they post
and how they act.
The empirical evidence of people being judged on social media covers
such key aspects as personality. For example, a study by Tadesse et al.
expresses that such social networking sites as Twitter, Weibo, and
Facebook are increasingly used by individuals to learn about others
(61959). The focus of their study is on how people’s personalities can
be predicted by examining online performances and behaviors. Even
though Tadesse et al. mean to illustrate how researchers and experts
can use social media, it is important to understand that the same
mechanisms apply when other users want to learn about individuals.
The same sentiments can be found in a study by Peters et al. who find
that teens are particularly sensitive to social evaluation (2). In other
words, adolescents tend to worry about how other people perceive
them, which illustrates that social media is used to judge. All
mentioned evidence supports the claim by Lowry that using social
media can cause judgement. However, no opposing views are
presented, but this does not affect the fact that the claim supports the
thesis.
Employment Scrutiny
One of the areas where the millennials express their fears regarding
the use of social media is employment. Lowry’s article explains the
employers are increasingly using social media to scrutinize candidates
(par. 23). The situation has become so common that many of the
individuals interviewed in the article fear that the companies are
already aware of the candidate even before the interview is convened.
Therefore, the millennials are having to ensure that whatever they post
on social networking sites is intended to sell themselves to the world
and, most importantly, the recruiters. Individuals without adequate
social media presence could risk missing the opportunities as their
peers exploit them fully. Lowry finds that, by quoting an individual
named Lake, paper resumes are no longer necessary. The key point is
that sending applications for jobs is now not a good route to success,
an opinion that Lowry backs with the views of a New York Times
editor, Phyllis Korkki. However, the major claim is that recruiters tend
to scrutinize candidates using their social media profiles, which leaves
some in a disadvantaged position.
Evaluation
While the author’s claim focuses on employment scrutiny, it is
important to understand that everybody and every firm seeks to take
advantage of the opportunities presented by social media. Lowry’s
argument is backed by real-life experiences of the individuals whose
opinions are expressed in the article. While there are no opposing
arguments, it can be understood that factual statements may not need a
refuting argument. Additionally, the article does not seek to be
argumentative, rather the author focuses on explaining and providing
evidence for her position regarding the subject. The claim also
supports the author’s thesis, especially because the millennials have to
develop online profiles customized for potential employers. The
online profiles create an identity that will differ from the offline one,
further supporting the author’s arguments.
The main support for the author’s claim regarding employment
scrutiny can be made by considering the scholarly work and scientific
evidence. According to Vitelar, personal branding has become a
critical aspect for Generation Z, in which case social media becomes a
crucial tool to serve this purpose (257). The need for personal
branding is to create an identity that represents an individual in the
networking sites, either for job-seeking, blogging, entrepreneurship, or
other personal development and promotion initiatives. Additionally,
the fact that all information that employers need regarding a person
can be found on social media means that employers find an easier
scrutiny mechanism than arranging for interviews and reviewing
resumes.
An argument can be made that the article fails to present the other side
of the story in that the candidates also scrutinize businesses on the
internet to determine whether they can be good employers. Firms,
therefore, also behave in the same way as the millennials on social
media (Mičík and Mičudová 171). In other words, entities create
online profiles, which are intended to attract new employees,
especially millennials.
Identity Crisis
The title of the article hints at the main claim made by the author,
which is the fact that millennials are having to keep switching
identities. Such a scenario can be described as an identity crisis, which
implies that the youth no longer understand what their real identity is.
Lowry used first-hand experiences of individuals and a published
book by Van den Bergh to support the argument that online identities
are different from offline ones. The main cause for such a scenario is
that the millennials have been pre-wired to create and achieve success
stories. Such critical requirements mean that their daily strife is geared
towards finding means to represent themselves online. Those that do
not find real or genuine stories to tell have no option but to create fake
stories. Identities created out of such strategies are not real, which
explains why many explain that they can only be themselves when
they are alone.
Evaluation
The claim of identity crisis is connected with the argument of
authenticity as will be discussed in the following section. However,
the article succeeds in supporting the fact that online and offline
identities are different and having to constantly switch between the
two creates the phenomenon of an identity crisis. What Lowry
represents as a behavioral problem could be perceived by scholars as a
cognitive issue affecting all social media users. The identity crisis is
described by researchers as the condition where individuals cannot
establish how to view, create, and define their identity. According to
Arfini et al., personal identity is contextually framed, which means
that the networking sites have created a context in which people’s
identities have to adjust (193). The keyword in this statement is
‘adjust’, which reflects a scenario where a change in context causes a
change in identity. Therefore, Lowry’s ideas of stranding between
online and offline profiles are supported by scientific literature.
The identity crisis could also be the result of a globalized social sphere
created by influencers. Alishahi, et al. explain that social media
creates an identity crisis because the globalization of communicates
creates a scenario where individuals do not know their identity
elements, including religion, race, language, culture, and ethnicity (2).
The role of influencers has been reviewed by scholars who reveal that
hybrid identities have been created in an attempt to adjust to the online
communities (Ayish and AlNajjar 27). The concept of identity denotes
a sense of belonging to a group. Therefore, what the article by Lowry
fails to mention is that social media has created a global online
community that is culturally diverse. The result of diversification is
that the influencers have a chance to determine the norm, meaning all
those who need to be part have to adjust to new norms and form a new
identity. The challenge comes when such online identities do not work
in the real world where the media users have to adopt new identities
for the context of the physical world. However, the article supports the
thesis and uses real-life experience as evidence to support the claim of
an identity crisis.
Authenticity of Identity
As mentioned earlier, the claim of identity crisis is related to the
problem of authenticity. The argument is that the crisis results in a
situation where people have to switch between identities as they move
across different contexts. People with more than one identity can be
seen as having fake identities, which is the basis of the claim by
Lowry that social media undermines the authenticity of personal
identities. The root cause of the problem is the fact that the millennials
are having to constantly worry about missing opportunities, especially
employment. The need to create success stories leads to the
development of fake profiles, stories, and identities. The millennials
are aware that they will be scrutinized by potential employers through
what they post on social media. Therefore, there emerges the need to
market oneself, even if it means creating misleading profiles.
Evaluation
The problem of authenticity is real and has even attracted the attention
of scholars. For example, Salisbury and Pooley define authenticity as
the situation where the users’ online profiles match their real-world
(2). The scholarly work on the issue of identity authenticity means that
Lowry’s claim that social media undermines the genuineness of users
is justified. Therefore, employers can no longer trust that the social
media posts reflect the true identities of potential candidates. As in all
other claims, the evidence can be deemed adequate to support the
argument. Additionally, the claim supports the thesis because it shows
one key problem of changing personal identities across contexts.
Lastly, there are no opposing arguments for this claim because the
author focuses more on presenting evidence than on creating an
argument. As mentioned earlier, the article by Lowry is majorly a
collection of opinions and evidence to explain the situation. Therefore,
the author cannot be criticized for not creating alternative arguments
regarding the issue.
Recommendation
The arguments in the article have all been supported by quoting
expressions and opinions from various people. However, the author
pays too much attention to proving evidence than articulating the
issue. A large percentage of the article comprises direct quotes and a
few statements from the author. While there is nothing wrong with
using supporting opinions, there is a need for an author to let the
audience know his or her position on the issue. Currently, Lowry’s
position can only be inferred from the few statements the many quotes
used. The use of first-hand experiences is also another key strength of
the article. However, social media is a subject that has been
scientifically studied and, therefore, it is recommended that the author
could use scientific facts to further support the arguments. The issue
of personal identity can be cognitive, social, or even behavioral. These
theoretical frameworks would help understand the underlying issues
affecting the users and their online interactions.
Social Media Judgment
The first claim made by the author is that social media is a place that a
person can be judged based on what they post or say on the platforms.
The expressions of an interviewee, Mariah Hanaike, reveal that an
individual fear being themselves because anything they do will
potentially be used in other sites where other people will view and
judge (Lowry). Hanaike simply summarizes the behavior of people on
social media and gives the authors a starting point in presenting her
position regarding the effects of social media on millennials. Lowry
used these insights to further highlight that many individuals can only
be themselves when they are alone. Lowry states that a previous study
concluded that one in four millennials agree to the opinion that their
true selves are only possible when they are alone (par. 4). Therefore, it
means that what people view online is different from what can be
observed offline.
Evaluation
An evaluation of the first claim can be used to answer some key
questions, including the evidence used and whether the claim supports
the thesis. First, it is important to acknowledge that Lowry only
mentions a recent study for which she does not provide details.
However, the quote for Hanaike’s opinions provided enough
justification for Lowry’s ideas. Second, it can be argued that the
problem of social media judgment is real and can be expressed by any
person who uses the technology. Lastly, current studies can support
the claim by presenting empirical evidence that social networking
sites can be used as a means to judge people based on what they post
and how they act.
The empirical evidence of people being judged on social media covers
such key aspects as personality. For example, a study by Tadesse et al.
expresses that such social networking sites as Twitter, Weibo, and
Facebook are increasingly used by individuals to learn about others
(61959). The focus of their study is on how people’s personalities can
be predicted by examining online performances and behaviors. Even
though Tadesse et al. mean to illustrate how researchers and experts
can use social media, it is important to understand that the same
mechanisms apply when other users want to learn about individuals.
The same sentiments can be found in a study by Peters et al. who find
that teens are particularly sensitive to social evaluation (2). In other
words, adolescents tend to worry about how other people perceive
them, which illustrates that social media is used to judge. All
mentioned evidence supports the claim by Lowry that using social
media can cause judgement. However, no opposing views are
presented, but this does not affect the fact that the claim supports the
thesis.
Employment Scrutiny
One of the areas where the millennials express their fears regarding
the use of social media is employment. Lowry’s article explains the
employers are increasingly using social media to scrutinize candidates
(par. 23). The situation has become so common that many of the
individuals interviewed in the article fear that the companies are
already aware of the candidate even before the interview is convened.
Therefore, the millennials are having to ensure that whatever they post
on social networking sites is intended to sell themselves to the world
and, most importantly, the recruiters. Individuals without adequate
social media presence could risk missing the opportunities as their
peers exploit them fully. Lowry finds that, by quoting an individual
named Lake, paper resumes are no longer necessary. The key point is
that sending applications for jobs is now not a good route to success,
an opinion that Lowry backs with the views of a New York Times
editor, Phyllis Korkki. However, the major claim is that recruiters tend
to scrutinize candidates using their social media profiles, which leaves
some in a disadvantaged position.
Evaluation
While the author’s claim focuses on employment scrutiny, it is
important to understand that everybody and every firm seeks to take
advantage of the opportunities presented by social media. Lowry’s
argument is backed by real-life experiences of the individuals whose
opinions are expressed in the article. While there are no opposing
arguments, it can be understood that factual statements may not need a
refuting argument. Additionally, the article does not seek to be
argumentative, rather the author focuses on explaining and providing
evidence for her position regarding the subject. The claim also
supports the author’s thesis, especially because the millennials have to
develop online profiles customized for potential employers. The
online profiles create an identity that will differ from the offline one,
further supporting the author’s arguments.
The main support for the author’s claim regarding employment
scrutiny can be made by considering the scholarly work and scientific
evidence. According to Vitelar, personal branding has become a
critical aspect for Generation Z, in which case social media becomes a
crucial tool to serve this purpose (257). The need for personal
branding is to create an identity that represents an individual in the
networking sites, either for job-seeking, blogging, entrepreneurship, or
other personal development and promotion initiatives. Additionally,
the fact that all information that employers need regarding a person
can be found on social media means that employers find an easier
scrutiny mechanism than arranging for interviews and reviewing
resumes.
An argument can be made that the article fails to present the other side
of the story in that the candidates also scrutinize businesses on the
internet to determine whether they can be good employers. Firms,
therefore, also behave in the same way as the millennials on social
media (Mičík and Mičudová 171). In other words, entities create
online profiles, which are intended to attract new employees,
especially millennials.
Identity Crisis
The title of the article hints at the main claim made by the author,
which is the fact that millennials are having to keep switching
identities. Such a scenario can be described as an identity crisis, which
implies that the youth no longer understand what their real identity is.
Lowry used first-hand experiences of individuals and a published
book by Van den Bergh to support the argument that online identities
are different from offline ones. The main cause for such a scenario is
that the millennials have been pre-wired to create and achieve success
stories. Such critical requirements mean that their daily strife is geared
towards finding means to represent themselves online. Those that do
not find real or genuine stories to tell have no option but to create fake
stories. Identities created out of such strategies are not real, which
explains why many explain that they can only be themselves when
they are alone.
Evaluation
The claim of identity crisis is connected with the argument of
authenticity as will be discussed in the following section. However,
the article succeeds in supporting the fact that online and offline
identities are different and having to constantly switch between the
two creates the phenomenon of an identity crisis. What Lowry
represents as a behavioral problem could be perceived by scholars as a
cognitive issue affecting all social media users. The identity crisis is
described by researchers as the condition where individuals cannot
establish how to view, create, and define their identity. According to
Arfini et al., personal identity is contextually framed, which means
that the networking sites have created a context in which people’s
identities have to adjust (193). The keyword in this statement is
‘adjust’, which reflects a scenario where a change in context causes a
change in identity. Therefore, Lowry’s ideas of stranding between
online and offline profiles are supported by scientific literature.
The identity crisis could also be the result of a globalized social sphere
created by influencers. Alishahi, et al. explain that social media
creates an identity crisis because the globalization of communicates
creates a scenario where individuals do not know their identity
elements, including religion, race, language, culture, and ethnicity (2).
The role of influencers has been reviewed by scholars who reveal that
hybrid identities have been created in an attempt to adjust to the online
communities (Ayish and AlNajjar 27). The concept of identity denotes
a sense of belonging to a group. Therefore, what the article by Lowry
fails to mention is that social media has created a global online
community that is culturally diverse. The result of diversification is
that the influencers have a chance to determine the norm, meaning all
those who need to be part have to adjust to new norms and form a new
identity. The challenge comes when such online identities do not work
in the real world where the media users have to adopt new identities
for the context of the physical world. However, the article supports the
thesis and uses real-life experience as evidence to support the claim of
an identity crisis.
Authenticity of Identity
As mentioned earlier, the claim of identity crisis is related to the
problem of authenticity. The argument is that the crisis results in a
situation where people have to switch between identities as they move
across different contexts. People with more than one identity can be
seen as having fake identities, which is the basis of the claim by
Lowry that social media undermines the authenticity of personal
identities. The root cause of the problem is the fact that the millennials
are having to constantly worry about missing opportunities, especially
employment. The need to create success stories leads to the
development of fake profiles, stories, and identities. The millennials
are aware that they will be scrutinized by potential employers through
what they post on social media. Therefore, there emerges the need to
market oneself, even if it means creating misleading profiles.
Evaluation
The problem of authenticity is real and has even attracted the attention
of scholars. For example, Salisbury and Pooley define authenticity as
the situation where the users’ online profiles match their real-world
(2). The scholarly work on the issue of identity authenticity means that
Lowry’s claim that social media undermines the genuineness of users
is justified. Therefore, employers can no longer trust that the social
media posts reflect the true identities of potential candidates. As in all
other claims, the evidence can be deemed adequate to support the
argument. Additionally, the claim supports the thesis because it shows
one key problem of changing personal identities across contexts.
Lastly, there are no opposing arguments for this claim because the
author focuses more on presenting evidence than on creating an
argument. As mentioned earlier, the article by Lowry is majorly a
collection of opinions and evidence to explain the situation. Therefore,
the author cannot be criticized for not creating alternative arguments
regarding the issue.
Recommendation
The arguments in the article have all been supported by quoting
expressions and opinions from various people. However, the author
pays too much attention to proving evidence than articulating the
issue. A large percentage of the article comprises direct quotes and a
few statements from the author. While there is nothing wrong with
using supporting opinions, there is a need for an author to let the
audience know his or her position on the issue. Currently, Lowry’s
position can only be inferred from the few statements the many quotes
used. The use of first-hand experiences is also another key strength of
the article. However, social media is a subject that has been
scientifically studied and, therefore, it is recommended that the author
could use scientific facts to further support the arguments. The issue
of personal identity can be cognitive, social, or even behavioral. These
theoretical frameworks would help understand the underlying issues
affecting the users and their online interactions.
Social Media Judgment
The first claim made by the author is that social media is a place that a
person can be judged based on what they post or say on the platforms.
The expressions of an interviewee, Mariah Hanaike, reveal that an
individual fear being themselves because anything they do will
potentially be used in other sites where other people will view and
judge (Lowry). Hanaike simply summarizes the behavior of people on
social media and gives the authors a starting point in presenting her
position regarding the effects of social media on millennials. Lowry
used these insights to further highlight that many individuals can only
be themselves when they are alone. Lowry states that a previous study
concluded that one in four millennials agree to the opinion that their
true selves are only possible when they are alone (par. 4). Therefore, it
means that what people view online is different from what can be
observed offline.
Evaluation
An evaluation of the first claim can be used to answer some key
questions, including the evidence used and whether the claim supports
the thesis. First, it is important to acknowledge that Lowry only
mentions a recent study for which she does not provide details.
However, the quote for Hanaike’s opinions provided enough
justification for Lowry’s ideas. Second, it can be argued that the
problem of social media judgment is real and can be expressed by any
person who uses the technology. Lastly, current studies can support
the claim by presenting empirical evidence that social networking
sites can be used as a means to judge people based on what they post
and how they act.
The empirical evidence of people being judged on social media covers
such key aspects as personality. For example, a study by Tadesse et al.
expresses that such social networking sites as Twitter, Weibo, and
Facebook are increasingly used by individuals to learn about others
(61959). The focus of their study is on how people’s personalities can
be predicted by examining online performances and behaviors. Even
though Tadesse et al. mean to illustrate how researchers and experts
can use social media, it is important to understand that the same
mechanisms apply when other users want to learn about individuals.
The same sentiments can be found in a study by Peters et al. who find
that teens are particularly sensitive to social evaluation (2). In other
words, adolescents tend to worry about how other people perceive
them, which illustrates that social media is used to judge. All
mentioned evidence supports the claim by Lowry that using social
media can cause judgement. However, no opposing views are
presented, but this does not affect the fact that the claim supports the
thesis.
Employment Scrutiny
One of the areas where the millennials express their fears regarding
the use of social media is employment. Lowry’s article explains the
employers are increasingly using social media to scrutinize candidates
(par. 23). The situation has become so common that many of the
individuals interviewed in the article fear that the companies are
already aware of the candidate even before the interview is convened.
Therefore, the millennials are having to ensure that whatever they post
on social networking sites is intended to sell themselves to the world
and, most importantly, the recruiters. Individuals without adequate
social media presence could risk missing the opportunities as their
peers exploit them fully. Lowry finds that, by quoting an individual
named Lake, paper resumes are no longer necessary. The key point is
that sending applications for jobs is now not a good route to success,
an opinion that Lowry backs with the views of a New York Times
editor, Phyllis Korkki. However, the major claim is that recruiters tend
to scrutinize candidates using their social media profiles, which leaves
some in a disadvantaged position.
Evaluation
While the author’s claim focuses on employment scrutiny, it is
important to understand that everybody and every firm seeks to take
advantage of the opportunities presented by social media. Lowry’s
argument is backed by real-life experiences of the individuals whose
opinions are expressed in the article. While there are no opposing
arguments, it can be understood that factual statements may not need a
refuting argument. Additionally, the article does not seek to be
argumentative, rather the author focuses on explaining and providing
evidence for her position regarding the subject. The claim also
supports the author’s thesis, especially because the millennials have to
develop online profiles customized for potential employers. The
online profiles create an identity that will differ from the offline one,
further supporting the author’s arguments.
The main support for the author’s claim regarding employment
scrutiny can be made by considering the scholarly work and scientific
evidence. According to Vitelar, personal branding has become a
critical aspect for Generation Z, in which case social media becomes a
crucial tool to serve this purpose (257). The need for personal
branding is to create an identity that represents an individual in the
networking sites, either for job-seeking, blogging, entrepreneurship, or
other personal development and promotion initiatives. Additionally,
the fact that all information that employers need regarding a person
can be found on social media means that employers find an easier
scrutiny mechanism than arranging for interviews and reviewing
resumes.
An argument can be made that the article fails to present the other side
of the story in that the candidates also scrutinize businesses on the
internet to determine whether they can be good employers. Firms,
therefore, also behave in the same way as the millennials on social
media (Mičík and Mičudová 171). In other words, entities create
online profiles, which are intended to attract new employees,
especially millennials.
Identity Crisis
The title of the article hints at the main claim made by the author,
which is the fact that millennials are having to keep switching
identities. Such a scenario can be described as an identity crisis, which
implies that the youth no longer understand what their real identity is.
Lowry used first-hand experiences of individuals and a published
book by Van den Bergh to support the argument that online identities
are different from offline ones. The main cause for such a scenario is
that the millennials have been pre-wired to create and achieve success
stories. Such critical requirements mean that their daily strife is geared
towards finding means to represent themselves online. Those that do
not find real or genuine stories to tell have no option but to create fake
stories. Identities created out of such strategies are not real, which
explains why many explain that they can only be themselves when
they are alone.
Evaluation
The claim of identity crisis is connected with the argument of
authenticity as will be discussed in the following section. However,
the article succeeds in supporting the fact that online and offline
identities are different and having to constantly switch between the
two creates the phenomenon of an identity crisis. What Lowry
represents as a behavioral problem could be perceived by scholars as a
cognitive issue affecting all social media users. The identity crisis is
described by researchers as the condition where individuals cannot
establish how to view, create, and define their identity. According to
Arfini et al., personal identity is contextually framed, which means
that the networking sites have created a context in which people’s
identities have to adjust (193). The keyword in this statement is
‘adjust’, which reflects a scenario where a change in context causes a
change in identity. Therefore, Lowry’s ideas of stranding between
online and offline profiles are supported by scientific literature.
The identity crisis could also be the result of a globalized social sphere
created by influencers. Alishahi, et al. explain that social media
creates an identity crisis because the globalization of communicates
creates a scenario where individuals do not know their identity
elements, including religion, race, language, culture, and ethnicity (2).
The role of influencers has been reviewed by scholars who reveal that
hybrid identities have been created in an attempt to adjust to the online
communities (Ayish and AlNajjar 27). The concept of identity denotes
a sense of belonging to a group. Therefore, what the article by Lowry
fails to mention is that social media has created a global online
community that is culturally diverse. The result of diversification is
that the influencers have a chance to determine the norm, meaning all
those who need to be part have to adjust to new norms and form a new
identity. The challenge comes when such online identities do not work
in the real world where the media users have to adopt new identities
for the context of the physical world. However, the article supports the
thesis and uses real-life experience as evidence to support the claim of
an identity crisis.
Authenticity of Identity
As mentioned earlier, the claim of identity crisis is related to the
problem of authenticity. The argument is that the crisis results in a
situation where people have to switch between identities as they move
across different contexts. People with more than one identity can be
seen as having fake identities, which is the basis of the claim by
Lowry that social media undermines the authenticity of personal
identities. The root cause of the problem is the fact that the millennials
are having to constantly worry about missing opportunities, especially
employment. The need to create success stories leads to the
development of fake profiles, stories, and identities. The millennials
are aware that they will be scrutinized by potential employers through
what they post on social media. Therefore, there emerges the need to
market oneself, even if it means creating misleading profiles.
Evaluation
The problem of authenticity is real and has even attracted the attention
of scholars. For example, Salisbury and Pooley define authenticity as
the situation where the users’ online profiles match their real-world
(2). The scholarly work on the issue of identity authenticity means that
Lowry’s claim that social media undermines the genuineness of users
is justified. Therefore, employers can no longer trust that the social
media posts reflect the true identities of potential candidates. As in all
other claims, the evidence can be deemed adequate to support the
argument. Additionally, the claim supports the thesis because it shows
one key problem of changing personal identities across contexts.
Lastly, there are no opposing arguments for this claim because the
author focuses more on presenting evidence than on creating an
argument. As mentioned earlier, the article by Lowry is majorly a
collection of opinions and evidence to explain the situation. Therefore,
the author cannot be criticized for not creating alternative arguments
regarding the issue.
Recommendation
The arguments in the article have all been supported by quoting
expressions and opinions from various people. However, the author
pays too much attention to proving evidence than articulating the
issue. A large percentage of the article comprises direct quotes and a
few statements from the author. While there is nothing wrong with
using supporting opinions, there is a need for an author to let the
audience know his or her position on the issue. Currently, Lowry’s
position can only be inferred from the few statements the many quotes
used. The use of first-hand experiences is also another key strength of
the article. However, social media is a subject that has been
scientifically studied and, therefore, it is recommended that the author
could use scientific facts to further support the arguments. The issue
of personal identity can be cognitive, social, or even behavioral. These
theoretical frameworks would help understand the underlying issues
affecting the users and their online interactions.
Social Media Judgment
The first claim made by the author is that social media is a place that a
person can be judged based on what they post or say on the platforms.
The expressions of an interviewee, Mariah Hanaike, reveal that an
individual fear being themselves because anything they do will
potentially be used in other sites where other people will view and
judge (Lowry). Hanaike simply summarizes the behavior of people on
social media and gives the authors a starting point in presenting her
position regarding the effects of social media on millennials. Lowry
used these insights to further highlight that many individuals can only
be themselves when they are alone. Lowry states that a previous study
concluded that one in four millennials agree to the opinion that their
true selves are only possible when they are alone (par. 4). Therefore, it
means that what people view online is different from what can be
observed offline.
Evaluation
An evaluation of the first claim can be used to answer some key
questions, including the evidence used and whether the claim supports
the thesis. First, it is important to acknowledge that Lowry only
mentions a recent study for which she does not provide details.
However, the quote for Hanaike’s opinions provided enough
justification for Lowry’s ideas. Second, it can be argued that the
problem of social media judgment is real and can be expressed by any
person who uses the technology. Lastly, current studies can support
the claim by presenting empirical evidence that social networking
sites can be used as a means to judge people based on what they post
and how they act.
The empirical evidence of people being judged on social media covers
such key aspects as personality. For example, a study by Tadesse et al.
expresses that such social networking sites as Twitter, Weibo, and
Facebook are increasingly used by individuals to learn about others
(61959). The focus of their study is on how people’s personalities can
be predicted by examining online performances and behaviors. Even
though Tadesse et al. mean to illustrate how researchers and experts
can use social media, it is important to understand that the same
mechanisms apply when other users want to learn about individuals.
The same sentiments can be found in a study by Peters et al. who find
that teens are particularly sensitive to social evaluation (2). In other
words, adolescents tend to worry about how other people perceive
them, which illustrates that social media is used to judge. All
mentioned evidence supports the claim by Lowry that using social
media can cause judgement. However, no opposing views are
presented, but this does not affect the fact that the claim supports the
thesis.
Employment Scrutiny
One of the areas where the millennials express their fears regarding
the use of social media is employment. Lowry’s article explains the
employers are increasingly using social media to scrutinize candidates
(par. 23). The situation has become so common that many of the
individuals interviewed in the article fear that the companies are
already aware of the candidate even before the interview is convened.
Therefore, the millennials are having to ensure that whatever they post
on social networking sites is intended to sell themselves to the world
and, most importantly, the recruiters. Individuals without adequate
social media presence could risk missing the opportunities as their
peers exploit them fully. Lowry finds that, by quoting an individual
named Lake, paper resumes are no longer necessary. The key point is
that sending applications for jobs is now not a good route to success,
an opinion that Lowry backs with the views of a New York Times
editor, Phyllis Korkki. However, the major claim is that recruiters tend
to scrutinize candidates using their social media profiles, which leaves
some in a disadvantaged position.
Evaluation
While the author’s claim focuses on employment scrutiny, it is
important to understand that everybody and every firm seeks to take
advantage of the opportunities presented by social media. Lowry’s
argument is backed by real-life experiences of the individuals whose
opinions are expressed in the article. While there are no opposing
arguments, it can be understood that factual statements may not need a
refuting argument. Additionally, the article does not seek to be
argumentative, rather the author focuses on explaining and providing
evidence for her position regarding the subject. The claim also
supports the author’s thesis, especially because the millennials have to
develop online profiles customized for potential employers. The
online profiles create an identity that will differ from the offline one,
further supporting the author’s arguments.
The main support for the author’s claim regarding employment
scrutiny can be made by considering the scholarly work and scientific
evidence. According to Vitelar, personal branding has become a
critical aspect for Generation Z, in which case social media becomes a
crucial tool to serve this purpose (257). The need for personal
branding is to create an identity that represents an individual in the
networking sites, either for job-seeking, blogging, entrepreneurship, or
other personal development and promotion initiatives. Additionally,
the fact that all information that employers need regarding a person
can be found on social media means that employers find an easier
scrutiny mechanism than arranging for interviews and reviewing
resumes.
An argument can be made that the article fails to present the other side
of the story in that the candidates also scrutinize businesses on the
internet to determine whether they can be good employers. Firms,
therefore, also behave in the same way as the millennials on social
media (Mičík and Mičudová 171). In other words, entities create
online profiles, which are intended to attract new employees,
especially millennials.
Identity Crisis
The title of the article hints at the main claim made by the author,
which is the fact that millennials are having to keep switching
identities. Such a scenario can be described as an identity crisis, which
implies that the youth no longer understand what their real identity is.
Lowry used first-hand experiences of individuals and a published
book by Van den Bergh to support the argument that online identities
are different from offline ones. The main cause for such a scenario is
that the millennials have been pre-wired to create and achieve success
stories. Such critical requirements mean that their daily strife is geared
towards finding means to represent themselves online. Those that do
not find real or genuine stories to tell have no option but to create fake
stories. Identities created out of such strategies are not real, which
explains why many explain that they can only be themselves when
they are alone.
Evaluation
The claim of identity crisis is connected with the argument of
authenticity as will be discussed in the following section. However,
the article succeeds in supporting the fact that online and offline
identities are different and having to constantly switch between the
two creates the phenomenon of an identity crisis. What Lowry
represents as a behavioral problem could be perceived by scholars as a
cognitive issue affecting all social media users. The identity crisis is
described by researchers as the condition where individuals cannot
establish how to view, create, and define their identity. According to
Arfini et al., personal identity is contextually framed, which means
that the networking sites have created a context in which people’s
identities have to adjust (193). The keyword in this statement is
‘adjust’, which reflects a scenario where a change in context causes a
change in identity. Therefore, Lowry’s ideas of stranding between
online and offline profiles are supported by scientific literature.
The identity crisis could also be the result of a globalized social sphere
created by influencers. Alishahi, et al. explain that social media
creates an identity crisis because the globalization of communicates
creates a scenario where individuals do not know their identity
elements, including religion, race, language, culture, and ethnicity (2).
The role of influencers has been reviewed by scholars who reveal that
hybrid identities have been created in an attempt to adjust to the online
communities (Ayish and AlNajjar 27). The concept of identity denotes
a sense of belonging to a group. Therefore, what the article by Lowry
fails to mention is that social media has created a global online
community that is culturally diverse. The result of diversification is
that the influencers have a chance to determine the norm, meaning all
those who need to be part have to adjust to new norms and form a new
identity. The challenge comes when such online identities do not work
in the real world where the media users have to adopt new identities
for the context of the physical world. However, the article supports the
thesis and uses real-life experience as evidence to support the claim of
an identity crisis.
Authenticity of Identity
As mentioned earlier, the claim of identity crisis is related to the
problem of authenticity. The argument is that the crisis results in a
situation where people have to switch between identities as they move
across different contexts. People with more than one identity can be
seen as having fake identities, which is the basis of the claim by
Lowry that social media undermines the authenticity of personal
identities. The root cause of the problem is the fact that the millennials
are having to constantly worry about missing opportunities, especially
employment. The need to create success stories leads to the
development of fake profiles, stories, and identities. The millennials
are aware that they will be scrutinized by potential employers through
what they post on social media. Therefore, there emerges the need to
market oneself, even if it means creating misleading profiles.
Evaluation
The problem of authenticity is real and has even attracted the attention
of scholars. For example, Salisbury and Pooley define authenticity as
the situation where the users’ online profiles match their real-world
(2). The scholarly work on the issue of identity authenticity means that
Lowry’s claim that social media undermines the genuineness of users
is justified. Therefore, employers can no longer trust that the social
media posts reflect the true identities of potential candidates. As in all
other claims, the evidence can be deemed adequate to support the
argument. Additionally, the claim supports the thesis because it shows
one key problem of changing personal identities across contexts.
Lastly, there are no opposing arguments for this claim because the
author focuses more on presenting evidence than on creating an
argument. As mentioned earlier, the article by Lowry is majorly a
collection of opinions and evidence to explain the situation. Therefore,
the author cannot be criticized for not creating alternative arguments
regarding the issue.
Recommendation
The arguments in the article have all been supported by quoting
expressions and opinions from various people. However, the author
pays too much attention to proving evidence than articulating the
issue. A large percentage of the article comprises direct quotes and a
few statements from the author. While there is nothing wrong with
using supporting opinions, there is a need for an author to let the
audience know his or her position on the issue. Currently, Lowry’s
position can only be inferred from the few statements the many quotes
used. The use of first-hand experiences is also another key strength of
the article. However, social media is a subject that has been
scientifically studied and, therefore, it is recommended that the author
could use scientific facts to further support the arguments. The issue
of personal identity can be cognitive, social, or even behavioral. These
theoretical frameworks would help understand the underlying issues
affecting the users and their online interactions.
Social Media Judgment
The first claim made by the author is that social media is a place that a
person can be judged based on what they post or say on the platforms.
The expressions of an interviewee, Mariah Hanaike, reveal that an
individual fear being themselves because anything they do will
potentially be used in other sites where other people will view and
judge (Lowry). Hanaike simply summarizes the behavior of people on
social media and gives the authors a starting point in presenting her
position regarding the effects of social media on millennials. Lowry
used these insights to further highlight that many individuals can only
be themselves when they are alone. Lowry states that a previous study
concluded that one in four millennials agree to the opinion that their
true selves are only possible when they are alone (par. 4). Therefore, it
means that what people view online is different from what can be
observed offline.
Evaluation
An evaluation of the first claim can be used to answer some key
questions, including the evidence used and whether the claim supports
the thesis. First, it is important to acknowledge that Lowry only
mentions a recent study for which she does not provide details.
However, the quote for Hanaike’s opinions provided enough
justification for Lowry’s ideas. Second, it can be argued that the
problem of social media judgment is real and can be expressed by any
person who uses the technology. Lastly, current studies can support
the claim by presenting empirical evidence that social networking
sites can be used as a means to judge people based on what they post
and how they act.
The empirical evidence of people being judged on social media covers
such key aspects as personality. For example, a study by Tadesse et al.
expresses that such social networking sites as Twitter, Weibo, and
Facebook are increasingly used by individuals to learn about others
(61959). The focus of their study is on how people’s personalities can
be predicted by examining online performances and behaviors. Even
though Tadesse et al. mean to illustrate how researchers and experts
can use social media, it is important to understand that the same
mechanisms apply when other users want to learn about individuals.
The same sentiments can be found in a study by Peters et al. who find
that teens are particularly sensitive to social evaluation (2). In other
words, adolescents tend to worry about how other people perceive
them, which illustrates that social media is used to judge. All
mentioned evidence supports the claim by Lowry that using social
media can cause judgement. However, no opposing views are
presented, but this does not affect the fact that the claim supports the
thesis.
Employment Scrutiny
One of the areas where the millennials express their fears regarding
the use of social media is employment. Lowry’s article explains the
employers are increasingly using social media to scrutinize candidates
(par. 23). The situation has become so common that many of the
individuals interviewed in the article fear that the companies are
already aware of the candidate even before the interview is convened.
Therefore, the millennials are having to ensure that whatever they post
on social networking sites is intended to sell themselves to the world
and, most importantly, the recruiters. Individuals without adequate
social media presence could risk missing the opportunities as their
peers exploit them fully. Lowry finds that, by quoting an individual
named Lake, paper resumes are no longer necessary. The key point is
that sending applications for jobs is now not a good route to success,
an opinion that Lowry backs with the views of a New York Times
editor, Phyllis Korkki. However, the major claim is that recruiters tend
to scrutinize candidates using their social media profiles, which leaves
some in a disadvantaged position.
Evaluation
While the author’s claim focuses on employment scrutiny, it is
important to understand that everybody and every firm seeks to take
advantage of the opportunities presented by social media. Lowry’s
argument is backed by real-life experiences of the individuals whose
opinions are expressed in the article. While there are no opposing
arguments, it can be understood that factual statements may not need a
refuting argument. Additionally, the article does not seek to be
argumentative, rather the author focuses on explaining and providing
evidence for her position regarding the subject. The claim also
supports the author’s thesis, especially because the millennials have to
develop online profiles customized for potential employers. The
online profiles create an identity that will differ from the offline one,
further supporting the author’s arguments.
The main support for the author’s claim regarding employment
scrutiny can be made by considering the scholarly work and scientific
evidence. According to Vitelar, personal branding has become a
critical aspect for Generation Z, in which case social media becomes a
crucial tool to serve this purpose (257). The need for personal
branding is to create an identity that represents an individual in the
networking sites, either for job-seeking, blogging, entrepreneurship, or
other personal development and promotion initiatives. Additionally,
the fact that all information that employers need regarding a person
can be found on social media means that employers find an easier
scrutiny mechanism than arranging for interviews and reviewing
resumes.
An argument can be made that the article fails to present the other side
of the story in that the candidates also scrutinize businesses on the
internet to determine whether they can be good employers. Firms,
therefore, also behave in the same way as the millennials on social
media (Mičík and Mičudová 171). In other words, entities create
online profiles, which are intended to attract new employees,
especially millennials.
Identity Crisis
The title of the article hints at the main claim made by the author,
which is the fact that millennials are having to keep switching
identities. Such a scenario can be described as an identity crisis, which
implies that the youth no longer understand what their real identity is.
Lowry used first-hand experiences of individuals and a published
book by Van den Bergh to support the argument that online identities
are different from offline ones. The main cause for such a scenario is
that the millennials have been pre-wired to create and achieve success
stories. Such critical requirements mean that their daily strife is geared
towards finding means to represent themselves online. Those that do
not find real or genuine stories to tell have no option but to create fake
stories. Identities created out of such strategies are not real, which
explains why many explain that they can only be themselves when
they are alone.
Evaluation
The claim of identity crisis is connected with the argument of
authenticity as will be discussed in the following section. However,
the article succeeds in supporting the fact that online and offline
identities are different and having to constantly switch between the
two creates the phenomenon of an identity crisis. What Lowry
represents as a behavioral problem could be perceived by scholars as a
cognitive issue affecting all social media users. The identity crisis is
described by researchers as the condition where individuals cannot
establish how to view, create, and define their identity. According to
Arfini et al., personal identity is contextually framed, which means
that the networking sites have created a context in which people’s
identities have to adjust (193). The keyword in this statement is
‘adjust’, which reflects a scenario where a change in context causes a
change in identity. Therefore, Lowry’s ideas of stranding between
online and offline profiles are supported by scientific literature.
The identity crisis could also be the result of a globalized social sphere
created by influencers. Alishahi, et al. explain that social media
creates an identity crisis because the globalization of communicates
creates a scenario where individuals do not know their identity
elements, including religion, race, language, culture, and ethnicity (2).
The role of influencers has been reviewed by scholars who reveal that
hybrid identities have been created in an attempt to adjust to the online
communities (Ayish and AlNajjar 27). The concept of identity denotes
a sense of belonging to a group. Therefore, what the article by Lowry
fails to mention is that social media has created a global online
community that is culturally diverse. The result of diversification is
that the influencers have a chance to determine the norm, meaning all
those who need to be part have to adjust to new norms and form a new
identity. The challenge comes when such online identities do not work
in the real world where the media users have to adopt new identities
for the context of the physical world. However, the article supports the
thesis and uses real-life experience as evidence to support the claim of
an identity crisis.
Authenticity of Identity
As mentioned earlier, the claim of identity crisis is related to the
problem of authenticity. The argument is that the crisis results in a
situation where people have to switch between identities as they move
across different contexts. People with more than one identity can be
seen as having fake identities, which is the basis of the claim by
Lowry that social media undermines the authenticity of personal
identities. The root cause of the problem is the fact that the millennials
are having to constantly worry about missing opportunities, especially
employment. The need to create success stories leads to the
development of fake profiles, stories, and identities. The millennials
are aware that they will be scrutinized by potential employers through
what they post on social media. Therefore, there emerges the need to
market oneself, even if it means creating misleading profiles.
Evaluation
The problem of authenticity is real and has even attracted the attention
of scholars. For example, Salisbury and Pooley define authenticity as
the situation where the users’ online profiles match their real-world
(2). The scholarly work on the issue of identity authenticity means that
Lowry’s claim that social media undermines the genuineness of users
is justified. Therefore, employers can no longer trust that the social
media posts reflect the true identities of potential candidates. As in all
other claims, the evidence can be deemed adequate to support the
argument. Additionally, the claim supports the thesis because it shows
one key problem of changing personal identities across contexts.
Lastly, there are no opposing arguments for this claim because the
author focuses more on presenting evidence than on creating an
argument. As mentioned earlier, the article by Lowry is majorly a
collection of opinions and evidence to explain the situation. Therefore,
the author cannot be criticized for not creating alternative arguments
regarding the issue.
Recommendation
The arguments in the article have all been supported by quoting
expressions and opinions from various people. However, the author
pays too much attention to proving evidence than articulating the
issue. A large percentage of the article comprises direct quotes and a
few statements from the author. While there is nothing wrong with
using supporting opinions, there is a need for an author to let the
audience know his or her position on the issue. Currently, Lowry’s
position can only be inferred from the few statements the many quotes
used. The use of first-hand experiences is also another key strength of
the article. However, social media is a subject that has been
scientifically studied and, therefore, it is recommended that the author
could use scientific facts to further support the arguments. The issue
of personal identity can be cognitive, social, or even behavioral. These
theoretical frameworks would help understand the underlying issues
affecting the users and their online interactions.
Social Media Judgment
The first claim made by the author is that social media is a place that a
person can be judged based on what they post or say on the platforms.
The expressions of an interviewee, Mariah Hanaike, reveal that an
individual fear being themselves because anything they do will
potentially be used in other sites where other people will view and
judge (Lowry). Hanaike simply summarizes the behavior of people on
social media and gives the authors a starting point in presenting her
position regarding the effects of social media on millennials. Lowry
used these insights to further highlight that many individuals can only
be themselves when they are alone. Lowry states that a previous study
concluded that one in four millennials agree to the opinion that their
true selves are only possible when they are alone (par. 4). Therefore, it
means that what people view online is different from what can be
observed offline.
Evaluation
An evaluation of the first claim can be used to answer some key
questions, including the evidence used and whether the claim supports
the thesis. First, it is important to acknowledge that Lowry only
mentions a recent study for which she does not provide details.
However, the quote for Hanaike’s opinions provided enough
justification for Lowry’s ideas. Second, it can be argued that the
problem of social media judgment is real and can be expressed by any
person who uses the technology. Lastly, current studies can support
the claim by presenting empirical evidence that social networking
sites can be used as a means to judge people based on what they post
and how they act.
The empirical evidence of people being judged on social media covers
such key aspects as personality. For example, a study by Tadesse et al.
expresses that such social networking sites as Twitter, Weibo, and
Facebook are increasingly used by individuals to learn about others
(61959). The focus of their study is on how people’s personalities can
be predicted by examining online performances and behaviors. Even
though Tadesse et al. mean to illustrate how researchers and experts
can use social media, it is important to understand that the same
mechanisms apply when other users want to learn about individuals.
The same sentiments can be found in a study by Peters et al. who find
that teens are particularly sensitive to social evaluation (2). In other
words, adolescents tend to worry about how other people perceive
them, which illustrates that social media is used to judge. All
mentioned evidence supports the claim by Lowry that using social
media can cause judgement. However, no opposing views are
presented, but this does not affect the fact that the claim supports the
thesis.
Employment Scrutiny
One of the areas where the millennials express their fears regarding
the use of social media is employment. Lowry’s article explains the
employers are increasingly using social media to scrutinize candidates
(par. 23). The situation has become so common that many of the
individuals interviewed in the article fear that the companies are
already aware of the candidate even before the interview is convened.
Therefore, the millennials are having to ensure that whatever they post
on social networking sites is intended to sell themselves to the world
and, most importantly, the recruiters. Individuals without adequate
social media presence could risk missing the opportunities as their
peers exploit them fully. Lowry finds that, by quoting an individual
named Lake, paper resumes are no longer necessary. The key point is
that sending applications for jobs is now not a good route to success,
an opinion that Lowry backs with the views of a New York Times
editor, Phyllis Korkki. However, the major claim is that recruiters tend
to scrutinize candidates using their social media profiles, which leaves
some in a disadvantaged position.
Evaluation
While the author’s claim focuses on employment scrutiny, it is
important to understand that everybody and every firm seeks to take
advantage of the opportunities presented by social media. Lowry’s
argument is backed by real-life experiences of the individuals whose
opinions are expressed in the article. While there are no opposing
arguments, it can be understood that factual statements may not need a
refuting argument. Additionally, the article does not seek to be
argumentative, rather the author focuses on explaining and providing
evidence for her position regarding the subject. The claim also
supports the author’s thesis, especially because the millennials have to
develop online profiles customized for potential employers. The
online profiles create an identity that will differ from the offline one,
further supporting the author’s arguments.
The main support for the author’s claim regarding employment
scrutiny can be made by considering the scholarly work and scientific
evidence. According to Vitelar, personal branding has become a
critical aspect for Generation Z, in which case social media becomes a
crucial tool to serve this purpose (257). The need for personal
branding is to create an identity that represents an individual in the
networking sites, either for job-seeking, blogging, entrepreneurship, or
other personal development and promotion initiatives. Additionally,
the fact that all information that employers need regarding a person
can be found on social media means that employers find an easier
scrutiny mechanism than arranging for interviews and reviewing
resumes.
An argument can be made that the article fails to present the other side
of the story in that the candidates also scrutinize businesses on the
internet to determine whether they can be good employers. Firms,
therefore, also behave in the same way as the millennials on social
media (Mičík and Mičudová 171). In other words, entities create
online profiles, which are intended to attract new employees,
especially millennials.
Identity Crisis
The title of the article hints at the main claim made by the author,
which is the fact that millennials are having to keep switching
identities. Such a scenario can be described as an identity crisis, which
implies that the youth no longer understand what their real identity is.
Lowry used first-hand experiences of individuals and a published
book by Van den Bergh to support the argument that online identities
are different from offline ones. The main cause for such a scenario is
that the millennials have been pre-wired to create and achieve success
stories. Such critical requirements mean that their daily strife is geared
towards finding means to represent themselves online. Those that do
not find real or genuine stories to tell have no option but to create fake
stories. Identities created out of such strategies are not real, which
explains why many explain that they can only be themselves when
they are alone.
Evaluation
The claim of identity crisis is connected with the argument of
authenticity as will be discussed in the following section. However,
the article succeeds in supporting the fact that online and offline
identities are different and having to constantly switch between the
two creates the phenomenon of an identity crisis. What Lowry
represents as a behavioral problem could be perceived by scholars as a
cognitive issue affecting all social media users. The identity crisis is
described by researchers as the condition where individuals cannot
establish how to view, create, and define their identity. According to
Arfini et al., personal identity is contextually framed, which means
that the networking sites have created a context in which people’s
identities have to adjust (193). The keyword in this statement is
‘adjust’, which reflects a scenario where a change in context causes a
change in identity. Therefore, Lowry’s ideas of stranding between
online and offline profiles are supported by scientific literature.
The identity crisis could also be the result of a globalized social sphere
created by influencers. Alishahi, et al. explain that social media
creates an identity crisis because the globalization of communicates
creates a scenario where individuals do not know their identity
elements, including religion, race, language, culture, and ethnicity (2).
The role of influencers has been reviewed by scholars who reveal that
hybrid identities have been created in an attempt to adjust to the online
communities (Ayish and AlNajjar 27). The concept of identity denotes
a sense of belonging to a group. Therefore, what the article by Lowry
fails to mention is that social media has created a global online
community that is culturally diverse. The result of diversification is
that the influencers have a chance to determine the norm, meaning all
those who need to be part have to adjust to new norms and form a new
identity. The challenge comes when such online identities do not work
in the real world where the media users have to adopt new identities
for the context of the physical world. However, the article supports the
thesis and uses real-life experience as evidence to support the claim of
an identity crisis.
Authenticity of Identity
As mentioned earlier, the claim of identity crisis is related to the
problem of authenticity. The argument is that the crisis results in a
situation where people have to switch between identities as they move
across different contexts. People with more than one identity can be
seen as having fake identities, which is the basis of the claim by
Lowry that social media undermines the authenticity of personal
identities. The root cause of the problem is the fact that the millennials
are having to constantly worry about missing opportunities, especially
employment. The need to create success stories leads to the
development of fake profiles, stories, and identities. The millennials
are aware that they will be scrutinized by potential employers through
what they post on social media. Therefore, there emerges the need to
market oneself, even if it means creating misleading profiles.
Evaluation
The problem of authenticity is real and has even attracted the attention
of scholars. For example, Salisbury and Pooley define authenticity as
the situation where the users’ online profiles match their real-world
(2). The scholarly work on the issue of identity authenticity means that
Lowry’s claim that social media undermines the genuineness of users
is justified. Therefore, employers can no longer trust that the social
media posts reflect the true identities of potential candidates. As in all
other claims, the evidence can be deemed adequate to support the
argument. Additionally, the claim supports the thesis because it shows
one key problem of changing personal identities across contexts.
Lastly, there are no opposing arguments for this claim because the
author focuses more on presenting evidence than on creating an
argument. As mentioned earlier, the article by Lowry is majorly a
collection of opinions and evidence to explain the situation. Therefore,
the author cannot be criticized for not creating alternative arguments
regarding the issue.
Recommendation
The arguments in the article have all been supported by quoting
expressions and opinions from various people. However, the author
pays too much attention to proving evidence than articulating the
issue. A large percentage of the article comprises direct quotes and a
few statements from the author. While there is nothing wrong with
using supporting opinions, there is a need for an author to let the
audience know his or her position on the issue. Currently, Lowry’s
position can only be inferred from the few statements the many quotes
used. The use of first-hand experiences is also another key strength of
the article. However, social media is a subject that has been
scientifically studied and, therefore, it is recommended that the author
could use scientific facts to further support the arguments. The issue
of personal identity can be cognitive, social, or even behavioral. These
theoretical frameworks would help understand the underlying issues
affecting the users and their online interactions.
Social Media Judgment
The first claim made by the author is that social media is a place that a
person can be judged based on what they post or say on the platforms.
The expressions of an interviewee, Mariah Hanaike, reveal that an
individual fear being themselves because anything they do will
potentially be used in other sites where other people will view and
judge (Lowry). Hanaike simply summarizes the behavior of people on
social media and gives the authors a starting point in presenting her
position regarding the effects of social media on millennials. Lowry
used these insights to further highlight that many individuals can only
be themselves when they are alone. Lowry states that a previous study
concluded that one in four millennials agree to the opinion that their
true selves are only possible when they are alone (par. 4). Therefore, it
means that what people view online is different from what can be
observed offline.
Evaluation
An evaluation of the first claim can be used to answer some key
questions, including the evidence used and whether the claim supports
the thesis. First, it is important to acknowledge that Lowry only
mentions a recent study for which she does not provide details.
However, the quote for Hanaike’s opinions provided enough
justification for Lowry’s ideas. Second, it can be argued that the
problem of social media judgment is real and can be expressed by any
person who uses the technology. Lastly, current studies can support
the claim by presenting empirical evidence that social networking
sites can be used as a means to judge people based on what they post
and how they act.
The empirical evidence of people being judged on social media covers
such key aspects as personality. For example, a study by Tadesse et al.
expresses that such social networking sites as Twitter, Weibo, and
Facebook are increasingly used by individuals to learn about others
(61959). The focus of their study is on how people’s personalities can
be predicted by examining online performances and behaviors. Even
though Tadesse et al. mean to illustrate how researchers and experts
can use social media, it is important to understand that the same
mechanisms apply when other users want to learn about individuals.
The same sentiments can be found in a study by Peters et al. who find
that teens are particularly sensitive to social evaluation (2). In other
words, adolescents tend to worry about how other people perceive
them, which illustrates that social media is used to judge. All
mentioned evidence supports the claim by Lowry that using social
media can cause judgement. However, no opposing views are
presented, but this does not affect the fact that the claim supports the
thesis.
Employment Scrutiny
One of the areas where the millennials express their fears regarding
the use of social media is employment. Lowry’s article explains the
employers are increasingly using social media to scrutinize candidates
(par. 23). The situation has become so common that many of the
individuals interviewed in the article fear that the companies are
already aware of the candidate even before the interview is convened.
Therefore, the millennials are having to ensure that whatever they post
on social networking sites is intended to sell themselves to the world
and, most importantly, the recruiters. Individuals without adequate
social media presence could risk missing the opportunities as their
peers exploit them fully. Lowry finds that, by quoting an individual
named Lake, paper resumes are no longer necessary. The key point is
that sending applications for jobs is now not a good route to success,
an opinion that Lowry backs with the views of a New York Times
editor, Phyllis Korkki. However, the major claim is that recruiters tend
to scrutinize candidates using their social media profiles, which leaves
some in a disadvantaged position.
Evaluation
While the author’s claim focuses on employment scrutiny, it is
important to understand that everybody and every firm seeks to take
advantage of the opportunities presented by social media. Lowry’s
argument is backed by real-life experiences of the individuals whose
opinions are expressed in the article. While there are no opposing
arguments, it can be understood that factual statements may not need a
refuting argument. Additionally, the article does not seek to be
argumentative, rather the author focuses on explaining and providing
evidence for her position regarding the subject. The claim also
supports the author’s thesis, especially because the millennials have to
develop online profiles customized for potential employers. The
online profiles create an identity that will differ from the offline one,
further supporting the author’s arguments.
The main support for the author’s claim regarding employment
scrutiny can be made by considering the scholarly work and scientific
evidence. According to Vitelar, personal branding has become a
critical aspect for Generation Z, in which case social media becomes a
crucial tool to serve this purpose (257). The need for personal
branding is to create an identity that represents an individual in the
networking sites, either for job-seeking, blogging, entrepreneurship, or
other personal development and promotion initiatives. Additionally,
the fact that all information that employers need regarding a person
can be found on social media means that employers find an easier
scrutiny mechanism than arranging for interviews and reviewing
resumes.
An argument can be made that the article fails to present the other side
of the story in that the candidates also scrutinize businesses on the
internet to determine whether they can be good employers. Firms,
therefore, also behave in the same way as the millennials on social
media (Mičík and Mičudová 171). In other words, entities create
online profiles, which are intended to attract new employees,
especially millennials.
Identity Crisis
The title of the article hints at the main claim made by the author,
which is the fact that millennials are having to keep switching
identities. Such a scenario can be described as an identity crisis, which
implies that the youth no longer understand what their real identity is.
Lowry used first-hand experiences of individuals and a published
book by Van den Bergh to support the argument that online identities
are different from offline ones. The main cause for such a scenario is
that the millennials have been pre-wired to create and achieve success
stories. Such critical requirements mean that their daily strife is geared
towards finding means to represent themselves online. Those that do
not find real or genuine stories to tell have no option but to create fake
stories. Identities created out of such strategies are not real, which
explains why many explain that they can only be themselves when
they are alone.
Evaluation
The claim of identity crisis is connected with the argument of
authenticity as will be discussed in the following section. However,
the article succeeds in supporting the fact that online and offline
identities are different and having to constantly switch between the
two creates the phenomenon of an identity crisis. What Lowry
represents as a behavioral problem could be perceived by scholars as a
cognitive issue affecting all social media users. The identity crisis is
described by researchers as the condition where individuals cannot
establish how to view, create, and define their identity. According to
Arfini et al., personal identity is contextually framed, which means
that the networking sites have created a context in which people’s
identities have to adjust (193). The keyword in this statement is
‘adjust’, which reflects a scenario where a change in context causes a
change in identity. Therefore, Lowry’s ideas of stranding between
online and offline profiles are supported by scientific literature.
The identity crisis could also be the result of a globalized social sphere
created by influencers. Alishahi, et al. explain that social media
creates an identity crisis because the globalization of communicates
creates a scenario where individuals do not know their identity
elements, including religion, race, language, culture, and ethnicity (2).
The role of influencers has been reviewed by scholars who reveal that
hybrid identities have been created in an attempt to adjust to the online
communities (Ayish and AlNajjar 27). The concept of identity denotes
a sense of belonging to a group. Therefore, what the article by Lowry
fails to mention is that social media has created a global online
community that is culturally diverse. The result of diversification is
that the influencers have a chance to determine the norm, meaning all
those who need to be part have to adjust to new norms and form a new
identity. The challenge comes when such online identities do not work
in the real world where the media users have to adopt new identities
for the context of the physical world. However, the article supports the
thesis and uses real-life experience as evidence to support the claim of
an identity crisis.
Authenticity of Identity
As mentioned earlier, the claim of identity crisis is related to the
problem of authenticity. The argument is that the crisis results in a
situation where people have to switch between identities as they move
across different contexts. People with more than one identity can be
seen as having fake identities, which is the basis of the claim by
Lowry that social media undermines the authenticity of personal
identities. The root cause of the problem is the fact that the millennials
are having to constantly worry about missing opportunities, especially
employment. The need to create success stories leads to the
development of fake profiles, stories, and identities. The millennials
are aware that they will be scrutinized by potential employers through
what they post on social media. Therefore, there emerges the need to
market oneself, even if it means creating misleading profiles.
Evaluation
The problem of authenticity is real and has even attracted the attention
of scholars. For example, Salisbury and Pooley define authenticity as
the situation where the users’ online profiles match their real-world
(2). The scholarly work on the issue of identity authenticity means that
Lowry’s claim that social media undermines the genuineness of users
is justified. Therefore, employers can no longer trust that the social
media posts reflect the true identities of potential candidates. As in all
other claims, the evidence can be deemed adequate to support the
argument. Additionally, the claim supports the thesis because it shows
one key problem of changing personal identities across contexts.
Lastly, there are no opposing arguments for this claim because the
author focuses more on presenting evidence than on creating an
argument. As mentioned earlier, the article by Lowry is majorly a
collection of opinions and evidence to explain the situation. Therefore,
the author cannot be criticized for not creating alternative arguments
regarding the issue.
Recommendation
The arguments in the article have all been supported by quoting
expressions and opinions from various people. However, the author
pays too much attention to proving evidence than articulating the
issue. A large percentage of the article comprises direct quotes and a
few statements from the author. While there is nothing wrong with
using supporting opinions, there is a need for an author to let the
audience know his or her position on the issue. Currently, Lowry’s
position can only be inferred from the few statements the many quotes
used. The use of first-hand experiences is also another key strength of
the article. However, social media is a subject that has been
scientifically studied and, therefore, it is recommended that the author
could use scientific facts to further support the arguments. The issue
of personal identity can be cognitive, social, or even behavioral. These
theoretical frameworks would help understand the underlying issues
affecting the users and their online interactions.
Social Media Judgment
The first claim made by the author is that social media is a place that a
person can be judged based on what they post or say on the platforms.
The expressions of an interviewee, Mariah Hanaike, reveal that an
individual fear being themselves because anything they do will
potentially be used in other sites where other people will view and
judge (Lowry). Hanaike simply summarizes the behavior of people on
social media and gives the authors a starting point in presenting her
position regarding the effects of social media on millennials. Lowry
used these insights to further highlight that many individuals can only
be themselves when they are alone. Lowry states that a previous study
concluded that one in four millennials agree to the opinion that their
true selves are only possible when they are alone (par. 4). Therefore, it
means that what people view online is different from what can be
observed offline.
Evaluation
An evaluation of the first claim can be used to answer some key
questions, including the evidence used and whether the claim supports
the thesis. First, it is important to acknowledge that Lowry only
mentions a recent study for which she does not provide details.
However, the quote for Hanaike’s opinions provided enough
justification for Lowry’s ideas. Second, it can be argued that the
problem of social media judgment is real and can be expressed by any
person who uses the technology. Lastly, current studies can support
the claim by presenting empirical evidence that social networking
sites can be used as a means to judge people based on what they post
and how they act.
The empirical evidence of people being judged on social media covers
such key aspects as personality. For example, a study by Tadesse et al.
expresses that such social networking sites as Twitter, Weibo, and
Facebook are increasingly used by individuals to learn about others
(61959). The focus of their study is on how people’s personalities can
be predicted by examining online performances and behaviors. Even
though Tadesse et al. mean to illustrate how researchers and experts
can use social media, it is important to understand that the same
mechanisms apply when other users want to learn about individuals.
The same sentiments can be found in a study by Peters et al. who find
that teens are particularly sensitive to social evaluation (2). In other
words, adolescents tend to worry about how other people perceive
them, which illustrates that social media is used to judge. All
mentioned evidence supports the claim by Lowry that using social
media can cause judgement. However, no opposing views are
presented, but this does not affect the fact that the claim supports the
thesis.
Employment Scrutiny
One of the areas where the millennials express their fears regarding
the use of social media is employment. Lowry’s article explains the
employers are increasingly using social media to scrutinize candidates
(par. 23). The situation has become so common that many of the
individuals interviewed in the article fear that the companies are
already aware of the candidate even before the interview is convened.
Therefore, the millennials are having to ensure that whatever they post
on social networking sites is intended to sell themselves to the world
and, most importantly, the recruiters. Individuals without adequate
social media presence could risk missing the opportunities as their
peers exploit them fully. Lowry finds that, by quoting an individual
named Lake, paper resumes are no longer necessary. The key point is
that sending applications for jobs is now not a good route to success,
an opinion that Lowry backs with the views of a New York Times
editor, Phyllis Korkki. However, the major claim is that recruiters tend
to scrutinize candidates using their social media profiles, which leaves
some in a disadvantaged position.
Evaluation
While the author’s claim focuses on employment scrutiny, it is
important to understand that everybody and every firm seeks to take
advantage of the opportunities presented by social media. Lowry’s
argument is backed by real-life experiences of the individuals whose
opinions are expressed in the article. While there are no opposing
arguments, it can be understood that factual statements may not need a
refuting argument. Additionally, the article does not seek to be
argumentative, rather the author focuses on explaining and providing
evidence for her position regarding the subject. The claim also
supports the author’s thesis, especially because the millennials have to
develop online profiles customized for potential employers. The
online profiles create an identity that will differ from the offline one,
further supporting the author’s arguments.
The main support for the author’s claim regarding employment
scrutiny can be made by considering the scholarly work and scientific
evidence. According to Vitelar, personal branding has become a
critical aspect for Generation Z, in which case social media becomes a
crucial tool to serve this purpose (257). The need for personal
branding is to create an identity that represents an individual in the
networking sites, either for job-seeking, blogging, entrepreneurship, or
other personal development and promotion initiatives. Additionally,
the fact that all information that employers need regarding a person
can be found on social media means that employers find an easier
scrutiny mechanism than arranging for interviews and reviewing
resumes.
An argument can be made that the article fails to present the other side
of the story in that the candidates also scrutinize businesses on the
internet to determine whether they can be good employers. Firms,
therefore, also behave in the same way as the millennials on social
media (Mičík and Mičudová 171). In other words, entities create
online profiles, which are intended to attract new employees,
especially millennials.
Identity Crisis
The title of the article hints at the main claim made by the author,
which is the fact that millennials are having to keep switching
identities. Such a scenario can be described as an identity crisis, which
implies that the youth no longer understand what their real identity is.
Lowry used first-hand experiences of individuals and a published
book by Van den Bergh to support the argument that online identities
are different from offline ones. The main cause for such a scenario is
that the millennials have been pre-wired to create and achieve success
stories. Such critical requirements mean that their daily strife is geared
towards finding means to represent themselves online. Those that do
not find real or genuine stories to tell have no option but to create fake
stories. Identities created out of such strategies are not real, which
explains why many explain that they can only be themselves when
they are alone.
Evaluation
The claim of identity crisis is connected with the argument of
authenticity as will be discussed in the following section. However,
the article succeeds in supporting the fact that online and offline
identities are different and having to constantly switch between the
two creates the phenomenon of an identity crisis. What Lowry
represents as a behavioral problem could be perceived by scholars as a
cognitive issue affecting all social media users. The identity crisis is
described by researchers as the condition where individuals cannot
establish how to view, create, and define their identity. According to
Arfini et al., personal identity is contextually framed, which means
that the networking sites have created a context in which people’s
identities have to adjust (193). The keyword in this statement is
‘adjust’, which reflects a scenario where a change in context causes a
change in identity. Therefore, Lowry’s ideas of stranding between
online and offline profiles are supported by scientific literature.
The identity crisis could also be the result of a globalized social sphere
created by influencers. Alishahi, et al. explain that social media
creates an identity crisis because the globalization of communicates
creates a scenario where individuals do not know their identity
elements, including religion, race, language, culture, and ethnicity (2).
The role of influencers has been reviewed by scholars who reveal that
hybrid identities have been created in an attempt to adjust to the online
communities (Ayish and AlNajjar 27). The concept of identity denotes
a sense of belonging to a group. Therefore, what the article by Lowry
fails to mention is that social media has created a global online
community that is culturally diverse. The result of diversification is
that the influencers have a chance to determine the norm, meaning all
those who need to be part have to adjust to new norms and form a new
identity. The challenge comes when such online identities do not work
in the real world where the media users have to adopt new identities
for the context of the physical world. However, the article supports the
thesis and uses real-life experience as evidence to support the claim of
an identity crisis.
Authenticity of Identity
As mentioned earlier, the claim of identity crisis is related to the
problem of authenticity. The argument is that the crisis results in a
situation where people have to switch between identities as they move
across different contexts. People with more than one identity can be
seen as having fake identities, which is the basis of the claim by
Lowry that social media undermines the authenticity of personal
identities. The root cause of the problem is the fact that the millennials
are having to constantly worry about missing opportunities, especially
employment. The need to create success stories leads to the
development of fake profiles, stories, and identities. The millennials
are aware that they will be scrutinized by potential employers through
what they post on social media. Therefore, there emerges the need to
market oneself, even if it means creating misleading profiles.
Evaluation
The problem of authenticity is real and has even attracted the attention
of scholars. For example, Salisbury and Pooley define authenticity as
the situation where the users’ online profiles match their real-world
(2). The scholarly work on the issue of identity authenticity means that
Lowry’s claim that social media undermines the genuineness of users
is justified. Therefore, employers can no longer trust that the social
media posts reflect the true identities of potential candidates. As in all
other claims, the evidence can be deemed adequate to support the
argument. Additionally, the claim supports the thesis because it shows
one key problem of changing personal identities across contexts.
Lastly, there are no opposing arguments for this claim because the
author focuses more on presenting evidence than on creating an
argument. As mentioned earlier, the article by Lowry is majorly a
collection of opinions and evidence to explain the situation. Therefore,
the author cannot be criticized for not creating alternative arguments
regarding the issue.
Recommendation
The arguments in the article have all been supported by quoting
expressions and opinions from various people. However, the author
pays too much attention to proving evidence than articulating the
issue. A large percentage of the article comprises direct quotes and a
few statements from the author. While there is nothing wrong with
using supporting opinions, there is a need for an author to let the
audience know his or her position on the issue. Currently, Lowry’s
position can only be inferred from the few statements the many quotes
used. The use of first-hand experiences is also another key strength of
the article. However, social media is a subject that has been
scientifically studied and, therefore, it is recommended that the author
could use scientific facts to further support the arguments. The issue
of personal identity can be cognitive, social, or even behavioral. These
theoretical frameworks would help understand the underlying issues
affecting the users and their online interactions.
Social Media Judgment
The first claim made by the author is that social media is a place that a
person can be judged based on what they post or say on the platforms.
The expressions of an interviewee, Mariah Hanaike, reveal that an
individual fear being themselves because anything they do will
potentially be used in other sites where other people will view and
judge (Lowry). Hanaike simply summarizes the behavior of people on
social media and gives the authors a starting point in presenting her
position regarding the effects of social media on millennials. Lowry
used these insights to further highlight that many individuals can only
be themselves when they are alone. Lowry states that a previous study
concluded that one in four millennials agree to the opinion that their
true selves are only possible when they are alone (par. 4). Therefore, it
means that what people view online is different from what can be
observed offline.
Evaluation
An evaluation of the first claim can be used to answer some key
questions, including the evidence used and whether the claim supports
the thesis. First, it is important to acknowledge that Lowry only
mentions a recent study for which she does not provide details.
However, the quote for Hanaike’s opinions provided enough
justification for Lowry’s ideas. Second, it can be argued that the
problem of social media judgment is real and can be expressed by any
person who uses the technology. Lastly, current studies can support
the claim by presenting empirical evidence that social networking
sites can be used as a means to judge people based on what they post
and how they act.
The empirical evidence of people being judged on social media covers
such key aspects as personality. For example, a study by Tadesse et al.
expresses that such social networking sites as Twitter, Weibo, and
Facebook are increasingly used by individuals to learn about others
(61959). The focus of their study is on how people’s personalities can
be predicted by examining online performances and behaviors. Even
though Tadesse et al. mean to illustrate how researchers and experts
can use social media, it is important to understand that the same
mechanisms apply when other users want to learn about individuals.
The same sentiments can be found in a study by Peters et al. who find
that teens are particularly sensitive to social evaluation (2). In other
words, adolescents tend to worry about how other people perceive
them, which illustrates that social media is used to judge. All
mentioned evidence supports the claim by Lowry that using social
media can cause judgement. However, no opposing views are
presented, but this does not affect the fact that the claim supports the
thesis.
Employment Scrutiny
One of the areas where the millennials express their fears regarding
the use of social media is employment. Lowry’s article explains the
employers are increasingly using social media to scrutinize candidates
(par. 23). The situation has become so common that many of the
individuals interviewed in the article fear that the companies are
already aware of the candidate even before the interview is convened.
Therefore, the millennials are having to ensure that whatever they post
on social networking sites is intended to sell themselves to the world
and, most importantly, the recruiters. Individuals without adequate
social media presence could risk missing the opportunities as their
peers exploit them fully. Lowry finds that, by quoting an individual
named Lake, paper resumes are no longer necessary. The key point is
that sending applications for jobs is now not a good route to success,
an opinion that Lowry backs with the views of a New York Times
editor, Phyllis Korkki. However, the major claim is that recruiters tend
to scrutinize candidates using their social media profiles, which leaves
some in a disadvantaged position.
Evaluation
While the author’s claim focuses on employment scrutiny, it is
important to understand that everybody and every firm seeks to take
advantage of the opportunities presented by social media. Lowry’s
argument is backed by real-life experiences of the individuals whose
opinions are expressed in the article. While there are no opposing
arguments, it can be understood that factual statements may not need a
refuting argument. Additionally, the article does not seek to be
argumentative, rather the author focuses on explaining and providing
evidence for her position regarding the subject. The claim also
supports the author’s thesis, especially because the millennials have to
develop online profiles customized for potential employers. The
online profiles create an identity that will differ from the offline one,
further supporting the author’s arguments.
The main support for the author’s claim regarding employment
scrutiny can be made by considering the scholarly work and scientific
evidence. According to Vitelar, personal branding has become a
critical aspect for Generation Z, in which case social media becomes a
crucial tool to serve this purpose (257). The need for personal
branding is to create an identity that represents an individual in the
networking sites, either for job-seeking, blogging, entrepreneurship, or
other personal development and promotion initiatives. Additionally,
the fact that all information that employers need regarding a person
can be found on social media means that employers find an easier
scrutiny mechanism than arranging for interviews and reviewing
resumes.
An argument can be made that the article fails to present the other side
of the story in that the candidates also scrutinize businesses on the
internet to determine whether they can be good employers. Firms,
therefore, also behave in the same way as the millennials on social
media (Mičík and Mičudová 171). In other words, entities create
online profiles, which are intended to attract new employees,
especially millennials.
Identity Crisis
The title of the article hints at the main claim made by the author,
which is the fact that millennials are having to keep switching
identities. Such a scenario can be described as an identity crisis, which
implies that the youth no longer understand what their real identity is.
Lowry used first-hand experiences of individuals and a published
book by Van den Bergh to support the argument that online identities
are different from offline ones. The main cause for such a scenario is
that the millennials have been pre-wired to create and achieve success
stories. Such critical requirements mean that their daily strife is geared
towards finding means to represent themselves online. Those that do
not find real or genuine stories to tell have no option but to create fake
stories. Identities created out of such strategies are not real, which
explains why many explain that they can only be themselves when
they are alone.
Evaluation
The claim of identity crisis is connected with the argument of
authenticity as will be discussed in the following section. However,
the article succeeds in supporting the fact that online and offline
identities are different and having to constantly switch between the
two creates the phenomenon of an identity crisis. What Lowry
represents as a behavioral problem could be perceived by scholars as a
cognitive issue affecting all social media users. The identity crisis is
described by researchers as the condition where individuals cannot
establish how to view, create, and define their identity. According to
Arfini et al., personal identity is contextually framed, which means
that the networking sites have created a context in which people’s
identities have to adjust (193). The keyword in this statement is
‘adjust’, which reflects a scenario where a change in context causes a
change in identity. Therefore, Lowry’s ideas of stranding between
online and offline profiles are supported by scientific literature.
The identity crisis could also be the result of a globalized social sphere
created by influencers. Alishahi, et al. explain that social media
creates an identity crisis because the globalization of communicates
creates a scenario where individuals do not know their identity
elements, including religion, race, language, culture, and ethnicity (2).
The role of influencers has been reviewed by scholars who reveal that
hybrid identities have been created in an attempt to adjust to the online
communities (Ayish and AlNajjar 27). The concept of identity denotes
a sense of belonging to a group. Therefore, what the article by Lowry
fails to mention is that social media has created a global online
community that is culturally diverse. The result of diversification is
that the influencers have a chance to determine the norm, meaning all
those who need to be part have to adjust to new norms and form a new
identity. The challenge comes when such online identities do not work
in the real world where the media users have to adopt new identities
for the context of the physical world. However, the article supports the
thesis and uses real-life experience as evidence to support the claim of
an identity crisis.
Authenticity of Identity
As mentioned earlier, the claim of identity crisis is related to the
problem of authenticity. The argument is that the crisis results in a
situation where people have to switch between identities as they move
across different contexts. People with more than one identity can be
seen as having fake identities, which is the basis of the claim by
Lowry that social media undermines the authenticity of personal
identities. The root cause of the problem is the fact that the millennials
are having to constantly worry about missing opportunities, especially
employment. The need to create success stories leads to the
development of fake profiles, stories, and identities. The millennials
are aware that they will be scrutinized by potential employers through
what they post on social media. Therefore, there emerges the need to
market oneself, even if it means creating misleading profiles.
Evaluation
The problem of authenticity is real and has even attracted the attention
of scholars. For example, Salisbury and Pooley define authenticity as
the situation where the users’ online profiles match their real-world
(2). The scholarly work on the issue of identity authenticity means that
Lowry’s claim that social media undermines the genuineness of users
is justified. Therefore, employers can no longer trust that the social
media posts reflect the true identities of potential candidates. As in all
other claims, the evidence can be deemed adequate to support the
argument. Additionally, the claim supports the thesis because it shows
one key problem of changing personal identities across contexts.
Lastly, there are no opposing arguments for this claim because the
author focuses more on presenting evidence than on creating an
argument. As mentioned earlier, the article by Lowry is majorly a
collection of opinions and evidence to explain the situation. Therefore,
the author cannot be criticized for not creating alternative arguments
regarding the issue.
Recommendation
The arguments in the article have all been supported by quoting
expressions and opinions from various people. However, the author
pays too much attention to proving evidence than articulating the
issue. A large percentage of the article comprises direct quotes and a
few statements from the author. While there is nothing wrong with
using supporting opinions, there is a need for an author to let the
audience know his or her position on the issue. Currently, Lowry’s
position can only be inferred from the few statements the many quotes
used. The use of first-hand experiences is also another key strength of
the article. However, social media is a subject that has been
scientifically studied and, therefore, it is recommended that the author
could use scientific facts to further support the arguments. The issue
of personal identity can be cognitive, social, or even behavioral. These
theoretical frameworks would help understand the underlying issues
affecting the users and their online interactions.
Social Media Judgment
The first claim made by the author is that social media is a place that a
person can be judged based on what they post or say on the platforms.
The expressions of an interviewee, Mariah Hanaike, reveal that an
individual fear being themselves because anything they do will
potentially be used in other sites where other people will view and
judge (Lowry). Hanaike simply summarizes the behavior of people on
social media and gives the authors a starting point in presenting her
position regarding the effects of social media on millennials. Lowry
used these insights to further highlight that many individuals can only
be themselves when they are alone. Lowry states that a previous study
concluded that one in four millennials agree to the opinion that their
true selves are only possible when they are alone (par. 4). Therefore, it
means that what people view online is different from what can be
observed offline.
Evaluation
An evaluation of the first claim can be used to answer some key
questions, including the evidence used and whether the claim supports
the thesis. First, it is important to acknowledge that Lowry only
mentions a recent study for which she does not provide details.
However, the quote for Hanaike’s opinions provided enough
justification for Lowry’s ideas. Second, it can be argued that the
problem of social media judgment is real and can be expressed by any
person who uses the technology. Lastly, current studies can support
the claim by presenting empirical evidence that social networking
sites can be used as a means to judge people based on what they post
and how they act.
The empirical evidence of people being judged on social media covers
such key aspects as personality. For example, a study by Tadesse et al.
expresses that such social networking sites as Twitter, Weibo, and
Facebook are increasingly used by individuals to learn about others
(61959). The focus of their study is on how people’s personalities can
be predicted by examining online performances and behaviors. Even
though Tadesse et al. mean to illustrate how researchers and experts
can use social media, it is important to understand that the same
mechanisms apply when other users want to learn about individuals.
The same sentiments can be found in a study by Peters et al. who find
that teens are particularly sensitive to social evaluation (2). In other
words, adolescents tend to worry about how other people perceive
them, which illustrates that social media is used to judge. All
mentioned evidence supports the claim by Lowry that using social
media can cause judgement. However, no opposing views are
presented, but this does not affect the fact that the claim supports the
thesis.
Employment Scrutiny
One of the areas where the millennials express their fears regarding
the use of social media is employment. Lowry’s article explains the
employers are increasingly using social media to scrutinize candidates
(par. 23). The situation has become so common that many of the
individuals interviewed in the article fear that the companies are
already aware of the candidate even before the interview is convened.
Therefore, the millennials are having to ensure that whatever they post
on social networking sites is intended to sell themselves to the world
and, most importantly, the recruiters. Individuals without adequate
social media presence could risk missing the opportunities as their
peers exploit them fully. Lowry finds that, by quoting an individual
named Lake, paper resumes are no longer necessary. The key point is
that sending applications for jobs is now not a good route to success,
an opinion that Lowry backs with the views of a New York Times
editor, Phyllis Korkki. However, the major claim is that recruiters tend
to scrutinize candidates using their social media profiles, which leaves
some in a disadvantaged position.
Evaluation
While the author’s claim focuses on employment scrutiny, it is
important to understand that everybody and every firm seeks to take
advantage of the opportunities presented by social media. Lowry’s
argument is backed by real-life experiences of the individuals whose
opinions are expressed in the article. While there are no opposing
arguments, it can be understood that factual statements may not need a
refuting argument. Additionally, the article does not seek to be
argumentative, rather the author focuses on explaining and providing
evidence for her position regarding the subject. The claim also
supports the author’s thesis, especially because the millennials have to
develop online profiles customized for potential employers. The
online profiles create an identity that will differ from the offline one,
further supporting the author’s arguments.
The main support for the author’s claim regarding employment
scrutiny can be made by considering the scholarly work and scientific
evidence. According to Vitelar, personal branding has become a
critical aspect for Generation Z, in which case social media becomes a
crucial tool to serve this purpose (257). The need for personal
branding is to create an identity that represents an individual in the
networking sites, either for job-seeking, blogging, entrepreneurship, or
other personal development and promotion initiatives. Additionally,
the fact that all information that employers need regarding a person
can be found on social media means that employers find an easier
scrutiny mechanism than arranging for interviews and reviewing
resumes.
An argument can be made that the article fails to present the other side
of the story in that the candidates also scrutinize businesses on the
internet to determine whether they can be good employers. Firms,
therefore, also behave in the same way as the millennials on social
media (Mičík and Mičudová 171). In other words, entities create
online profiles, which are intended to attract new employees,
especially millennials.
Identity Crisis
The title of the article hints at the main claim made by the author,
which is the fact that millennials are having to keep switching
identities. Such a scenario can be described as an identity crisis, which
implies that the youth no longer understand what their real identity is.
Lowry used first-hand experiences of individuals and a published
book by Van den Bergh to support the argument that online identities
are different from offline ones. The main cause for such a scenario is
that the millennials have been pre-wired to create and achieve success
stories. Such critical requirements mean that their daily strife is geared
towards finding means to represent themselves online. Those that do
not find real or genuine stories to tell have no option but to create fake
stories. Identities created out of such strategies are not real, which
explains why many explain that they can only be themselves when
they are alone.
Evaluation
The claim of identity crisis is connected with the argument of
authenticity as will be discussed in the following section. However,
the article succeeds in supporting the fact that online and offline
identities are different and having to constantly switch between the
two creates the phenomenon of an identity crisis. What Lowry
represents as a behavioral problem could be perceived by scholars as a
cognitive issue affecting all social media users. The identity crisis is
described by researchers as the condition where individuals cannot
establish how to view, create, and define their identity. According to
Arfini et al., personal identity is contextually framed, which means
that the networking sites have created a context in which people’s
identities have to adjust (193). The keyword in this statement is
‘adjust’, which reflects a scenario where a change in context causes a
change in identity. Therefore, Lowry’s ideas of stranding between
online and offline profiles are supported by scientific literature.
The identity crisis could also be the result of a globalized social sphere
created by influencers. Alishahi, et al. explain that social media
creates an identity crisis because the globalization of communicates
creates a scenario where individuals do not know their identity
elements, including religion, race, language, culture, and ethnicity (2).
The role of influencers has been reviewed by scholars who reveal that
hybrid identities have been created in an attempt to adjust to the online
communities (Ayish and AlNajjar 27). The concept of identity denotes
a sense of belonging to a group. Therefore, what the article by Lowry
fails to mention is that social media has created a global online
community that is culturally diverse. The result of diversification is
that the influencers have a chance to determine the norm, meaning all
those who need to be part have to adjust to new norms and form a new
identity. The challenge comes when such online identities do not work
in the real world where the media users have to adopt new identities
for the context of the physical world. However, the article supports the
thesis and uses real-life experience as evidence to support the claim of
an identity crisis.
Authenticity of Identity
As mentioned earlier, the claim of identity crisis is related to the
problem of authenticity. The argument is that the crisis results in a
situation where people have to switch between identities as they move
across different contexts. People with more than one identity can be
seen as having fake identities, which is the basis of the claim by
Lowry that social media undermines the authenticity of personal
identities. The root cause of the problem is the fact that the millennials
are having to constantly worry about missing opportunities, especially
employment. The need to create success stories leads to the
development of fake profiles, stories, and identities. The millennials
are aware that they will be scrutinized by potential employers through
what they post on social media. Therefore, there emerges the need to
market oneself, even if it means creating misleading profiles.
Evaluation
The problem of authenticity is real and has even attracted the attention
of scholars. For example, Salisbury and Pooley define authenticity as
the situation where the users’ online profiles match their real-world
(2). The scholarly work on the issue of identity authenticity means that
Lowry’s claim that social media undermines the genuineness of users
is justified. Therefore, employers can no longer trust that the social
media posts reflect the true identities of potential candidates. As in all
other claims, the evidence can be deemed adequate to support the
argument. Additionally, the claim supports the thesis because it shows
one key problem of changing personal identities across contexts.
Lastly, there are no opposing arguments for this claim because the
author focuses more on presenting evidence than on creating an
argument. As mentioned earlier, the article by Lowry is majorly a
collection of opinions and evidence to explain the situation. Therefore,
the author cannot be criticized for not creating alternative arguments
regarding the issue.
Recommendation
The arguments in the article have all been supported by quoting
expressions and opinions from various people. However, the author
pays too much attention to proving evidence than articulating the
issue. A large percentage of the article comprises direct quotes and a
few statements from the author. While there is nothing wrong with
using supporting opinions, there is a need for an author to let the
audience know his or her position on the issue. Currently, Lowry’s
position can only be inferred from the few statements the many quotes
used. The use of first-hand experiences is also another key strength of
the article. However, social media is a subject that has been
scientifically studied and, therefore, it is recommended that the author
could use scientific facts to further support the arguments. The issue
of personal identity can be cognitive, social, or even behavioral. These
theoretical frameworks would help understand the underlying issues
affecting the users and their online interactions.
Social Media Judgment
The first claim made by the author is that social media is a place that a
person can be judged based on what they post or say on the platforms.
The expressions of an interviewee, Mariah Hanaike, reveal that an
individual fear being themselves because anything they do will
potentially be used in other sites where other people will view and
judge (Lowry). Hanaike simply summarizes the behavior of people on
social media and gives the authors a starting point in presenting her
position regarding the effects of social media on millennials. Lowry
used these insights to further highlight that many individuals can only
be themselves when they are alone. Lowry states that a previous study
concluded that one in four millennials agree to the opinion that their
true selves are only possible when they are alone (par. 4). Therefore, it
means that what people view online is different from what can be
observed offline.
Evaluation
An evaluation of the first claim can be used to answer some key
questions, including the evidence used and whether the claim supports
the thesis. First, it is important to acknowledge that Lowry only
mentions a recent study for which she does not provide details.
However, the quote for Hanaike’s opinions provided enough
justification for Lowry’s ideas. Second, it can be argued that the
problem of social media judgment is real and can be expressed by any
person who uses the technology. Lastly, current studies can support
the claim by presenting empirical evidence that social networking
sites can be used as a means to judge people based on what they post
and how they act.
The empirical evidence of people being judged on social media covers
such key aspects as personality. For example, a study by Tadesse et al.
expresses that such social networking sites as Twitter, Weibo, and
Facebook are increasingly used by individuals to learn about others
(61959). The focus of their study is on how people’s personalities can
be predicted by examining online performances and behaviors. Even
though Tadesse et al. mean to illustrate how researchers and experts
can use social media, it is important to understand that the same
mechanisms apply when other users want to learn about individuals.
The same sentiments can be found in a study by Peters et al. who find
that teens are particularly sensitive to social evaluation (2). In other
words, adolescents tend to worry about how other people perceive
them, which illustrates that social media is used to judge. All
mentioned evidence supports the claim by Lowry that using social
media can cause judgement. However, no opposing views are
presented, but this does not affect the fact that the claim supports the
thesis.
Employment Scrutiny
One of the areas where the millennials express their fears regarding
the use of social media is employment. Lowry’s article explains the
employers are increasingly using social media to scrutinize candidates
(par. 23). The situation has become so common that many of the
individuals interviewed in the article fear that the companies are
already aware of the candidate even before the interview is convened.
Therefore, the millennials are having to ensure that whatever they post
on social networking sites is intended to sell themselves to the world
and, most importantly, the recruiters. Individuals without adequate
social media presence could risk missing the opportunities as their
peers exploit them fully. Lowry finds that, by quoting an individual
named Lake, paper resumes are no longer necessary. The key point is
that sending applications for jobs is now not a good route to success,
an opinion that Lowry backs with the views of a New York Times
editor, Phyllis Korkki. However, the major claim is that recruiters tend
to scrutinize candidates using their social media profiles, which leaves
some in a disadvantaged position.
Evaluation
While the author’s claim focuses on employment scrutiny, it is
important to understand that everybody and every firm seeks to take
advantage of the opportunities presented by social media. Lowry’s
argument is backed by real-life experiences of the individuals whose
opinions are expressed in the article. While there are no opposing
arguments, it can be understood that factual statements may not need a
refuting argument. Additionally, the article does not seek to be
argumentative, rather the author focuses on explaining and providing
evidence for her position regarding the subject. The claim also
supports the author’s thesis, especially because the millennials have to
develop online profiles customized for potential employers. The
online profiles create an identity that will differ from the offline one,
further supporting the author’s arguments.
The main support for the author’s claim regarding employment
scrutiny can be made by considering the scholarly work and scientific
evidence. According to Vitelar, personal branding has become a
critical aspect for Generation Z, in which case social media becomes a
crucial tool to serve this purpose (257). The need for personal
branding is to create an identity that represents an individual in the
networking sites, either for job-seeking, blogging, entrepreneurship, or
other personal development and promotion initiatives. Additionally,
the fact that all information that employers need regarding a person
can be found on social media means that employers find an easier
scrutiny mechanism than arranging for interviews and reviewing
resumes.
An argument can be made that the article fails to present the other side
of the story in that the candidates also scrutinize businesses on the
internet to determine whether they can be good employers. Firms,
therefore, also behave in the same way as the millennials on social
media (Mičík and Mičudová 171). In other words, entities create
online profiles, which are intended to attract new employees,
especially millennials.
Identity Crisis
The title of the article hints at the main claim made by the author,
which is the fact that millennials are having to keep switching
identities. Such a scenario can be described as an identity crisis, which
implies that the youth no longer understand what their real identity is.
Lowry used first-hand experiences of individuals and a published
book by Van den Bergh to support the argument that online identities
are different from offline ones. The main cause for such a scenario is
that the millennials have been pre-wired to create and achieve success
stories. Such critical requirements mean that their daily strife is geared
towards finding means to represent themselves online. Those that do
not find real or genuine stories to tell have no option but to create fake
stories. Identities created out of such strategies are not real, which
explains why many explain that they can only be themselves when
they are alone.
Evaluation
The claim of identity crisis is connected with the argument of
authenticity as will be discussed in the following section. However,
the article succeeds in supporting the fact that online and offline
identities are different and having to constantly switch between the
two creates the phenomenon of an identity crisis. What Lowry
represents as a behavioral problem could be perceived by scholars as a
cognitive issue affecting all social media users. The identity crisis is
described by researchers as the condition where individuals cannot
establish how to view, create, and define their identity. According to
Arfini et al., personal identity is contextually framed, which means
that the networking sites have created a context in which people’s
identities have to adjust (193). The keyword in this statement is
‘adjust’, which reflects a scenario where a change in context causes a
change in identity. Therefore, Lowry’s ideas of stranding between
online and offline profiles are supported by scientific literature.
The identity crisis could also be the result of a globalized social sphere
created by influencers. Alishahi, et al. explain that social media
creates an identity crisis because the globalization of communicates
creates a scenario where individuals do not know their identity
elements, including religion, race, language, culture, and ethnicity (2).
The role of influencers has been reviewed by scholars who reveal that
hybrid identities have been created in an attempt to adjust to the online
communities (Ayish and AlNajjar 27). The concept of identity denotes
a sense of belonging to a group. Therefore, what the article by Lowry
fails to mention is that social media has created a global online
community that is culturally diverse. The result of diversification is
that the influencers have a chance to determine the norm, meaning all
those who need to be part have to adjust to new norms and form a new
identity. The challenge comes when such online identities do not work
in the real world where the media users have to adopt new identities
for the context of the physical world. However, the article supports the
thesis and uses real-life experience as evidence to support the claim of
an identity crisis.
Authenticity of Identity
As mentioned earlier, the claim of identity crisis is related to the
problem of authenticity. The argument is that the crisis results in a
situation where people have to switch between identities as they move
across different contexts. People with more than one identity can be
seen as having fake identities, which is the basis of the claim by
Lowry that social media undermines the authenticity of personal
identities. The root cause of the problem is the fact that the millennials
are having to constantly worry about missing opportunities, especially
employment. The need to create success stories leads to the
development of fake profiles, stories, and identities. The millennials
are aware that they will be scrutinized by potential employers through
what they post on social media. Therefore, there emerges the need to
market oneself, even if it means creating misleading profiles.
Evaluation
The problem of authenticity is real and has even attracted the attention
of scholars. For example, Salisbury and Pooley define authenticity as
the situation where the users’ online profiles match their real-world
(2). The scholarly work on the issue of identity authenticity means that
Lowry’s claim that social media undermines the genuineness of users
is justified. Therefore, employers can no longer trust that the social
media posts reflect the true identities of potential candidates. As in all
other claims, the evidence can be deemed adequate to support the
argument. Additionally, the claim supports the thesis because it shows
one key problem of changing personal identities across contexts.
Lastly, there are no opposing arguments for this claim because the
author focuses more on presenting evidence than on creating an
argument. As mentioned earlier, the article by Lowry is majorly a
collection of opinions and evidence to explain the situation. Therefore,
the author cannot be criticized for not creating alternative arguments
regarding the issue.
Recommendation
The arguments in the article have all been supported by quoting
expressions and opinions from various people. However, the author
pays too much attention to proving evidence than articulating the
issue. A large percentage of the article comprises direct quotes and a
few statements from the author. While there is nothing wrong with
using supporting opinions, there is a need for an author to let the
audience know his or her position on the issue. Currently, Lowry’s
position can only be inferred from the few statements the many quotes
used. The use of first-hand experiences is also another key strength of
the article. However, social media is a subject that has been
scientifically studied and, therefore, it is recommended that the author
could use scientific facts to further support the arguments. The issue
of personal identity can be cognitive, social, or even behavioral. These
theoretical frameworks would help understand the underlying issues
affecting the users and their online interactions.
Social Media Judgment
The first claim made by the author is that social media is a place that a
person can be judged based on what they post or say on the platforms.
The expressions of an interviewee, Mariah Hanaike, reveal that an
individual fear being themselves because anything they do will
potentially be used in other sites where other people will view and
judge (Lowry). Hanaike simply summarizes the behavior of people on
social media and gives the authors a starting point in presenting her
position regarding the effects of social media on millennials. Lowry
used these insights to further highlight that many individuals can only
be themselves when they are alone. Lowry states that a previous study
concluded that one in four millennials agree to the opinion that their
true selves are only possible when they are alone (par. 4). Therefore, it
means that what people view online is different from what can be
observed offline.
Evaluation
An evaluation of the first claim can be used to answer some key
questions, including the evidence used and whether the claim supports
the thesis. First, it is important to acknowledge that Lowry only
mentions a recent study for which she does not provide details.
However, the quote for Hanaike’s opinions provided enough
justification for Lowry’s ideas. Second, it can be argued that the
problem of social media judgment is real and can be expressed by any
person who uses the technology. Lastly, current studies can support
the claim by presenting empirical evidence that social networking
sites can be used as a means to judge people based on what they post
and how they act.
The empirical evidence of people being judged on social media covers
such key aspects as personality. For example, a study by Tadesse et al.
expresses that such social networking sites as Twitter, Weibo, and
Facebook are increasingly used by individuals to learn about others
(61959). The focus of their study is on how people’s personalities can
be predicted by examining online performances and behaviors. Even
though Tadesse et al. mean to illustrate how researchers and experts
can use social media, it is important to understand that the same
mechanisms apply when other users want to learn about individuals.
The same sentiments can be found in a study by Peters et al. who find
that teens are particularly sensitive to social evaluation (2). In other
words, adolescents tend to worry about how other people perceive
them, which illustrates that social media is used to judge. All
mentioned evidence supports the claim by Lowry that using social
media can cause judgement. However, no opposing views are
presented, but this does not affect the fact that the claim supports the
thesis.
Employment Scrutiny
One of the areas where the millennials express their fears regarding
the use of social media is employment. Lowry’s article explains the
employers are increasingly using social media to scrutinize candidates
(par. 23). The situation has become so common that many of the
individuals interviewed in the article fear that the companies are
already aware of the candidate even before the interview is convened.
Therefore, the millennials are having to ensure that whatever they post
on social networking sites is intended to sell themselves to the world
and, most importantly, the recruiters. Individuals without adequate
social media presence could risk missing the opportunities as their
peers exploit them fully. Lowry finds that, by quoting an individual
named Lake, paper resumes are no longer necessary. The key point is
that sending applications for jobs is now not a good route to success,
an opinion that Lowry backs with the views of a New York Times
editor, Phyllis Korkki. However, the major claim is that recruiters tend
to scrutinize candidates using their social media profiles, which leaves
some in a disadvantaged position.
Evaluation
While the author’s claim focuses on employment scrutiny, it is
important to understand that everybody and every firm seeks to take
advantage of the opportunities presented by social media. Lowry’s
argument is backed by real-life experiences of the individuals whose
opinions are expressed in the article. While there are no opposing
arguments, it can be understood that factual statements may not need a
refuting argument. Additionally, the article does not seek to be
argumentative, rather the author focuses on explaining and providing
evidence for her position regarding the subject. The claim also
supports the author’s thesis, especially because the millennials have to
develop online profiles customized for potential employers. The
online profiles create an identity that will differ from the offline one,
further supporting the author’s arguments.
The main support for the author’s claim regarding employment
scrutiny can be made by considering the scholarly work and scientific
evidence. According to Vitelar, personal branding has become a
critical aspect for Generation Z, in which case social media becomes a
crucial tool to serve this purpose (257). The need for personal
branding is to create an identity that represents an individual in the
networking sites, either for job-seeking, blogging, entrepreneurship, or
other personal development and promotion initiatives. Additionally,
the fact that all information that employers need regarding a person
can be found on social media means that employers find an easier
scrutiny mechanism than arranging for interviews and reviewing
resumes.
An argument can be made that the article fails to present the other side
of the story in that the candidates also scrutinize businesses on the
internet to determine whether they can be good employers. Firms,
therefore, also behave in the same way as the millennials on social
media (Mičík and Mičudová 171). In other words, entities create
online profiles, which are intended to attract new employees,
especially millennials.
Identity Crisis
The title of the article hints at the main claim made by the author,
which is the fact that millennials are having to keep switching
identities. Such a scenario can be described as an identity crisis, which
implies that the youth no longer understand what their real identity is.
Lowry used first-hand experiences of individuals and a published
book by Van den Bergh to support the argument that online identities
are different from offline ones. The main cause for such a scenario is
that the millennials have been pre-wired to create and achieve success
stories. Such critical requirements mean that their daily strife is geared
towards finding means to represent themselves online. Those that do
not find real or genuine stories to tell have no option but to create fake
stories. Identities created out of such strategies are not real, which
explains why many explain that they can only be themselves when
they are alone.
Evaluation
The claim of identity crisis is connected with the argument of
authenticity as will be discussed in the following section. However,
the article succeeds in supporting the fact that online and offline
identities are different and having to constantly switch between the
two creates the phenomenon of an identity crisis. What Lowry
represents as a behavioral problem could be perceived by scholars as a
cognitive issue affecting all social media users. The identity crisis is
described by researchers as the condition where individuals cannot
establish how to view, create, and define their identity. According to
Arfini et al., personal identity is contextually framed, which means
that the networking sites have created a context in which people’s
identities have to adjust (193). The keyword in this statement is
‘adjust’, which reflects a scenario where a change in context causes a
change in identity. Therefore, Lowry’s ideas of stranding between
online and offline profiles are supported by scientific literature.
The identity crisis could also be the result of a globalized social sphere
created by influencers. Alishahi, et al. explain that social media
creates an identity crisis because the globalization of communicates
creates a scenario where individuals do not know their identity
elements, including religion, race, language, culture, and ethnicity (2).
The role of influencers has been reviewed by scholars who reveal that
hybrid identities have been created in an attempt to adjust to the online
communities (Ayish and AlNajjar 27). The concept of identity denotes
a sense of belonging to a group. Therefore, what the article by Lowry
fails to mention is that social media has created a global online
community that is culturally diverse. The result of diversification is
that the influencers have a chance to determine the norm, meaning all
those who need to be part have to adjust to new norms and form a new
identity. The challenge comes when such online identities do not work
in the real world where the media users have to adopt new identities
for the context of the physical world. However, the article supports the
thesis and uses real-life experience as evidence to support the claim of
an identity crisis.
Authenticity of Identity
As mentioned earlier, the claim of identity crisis is related to the
problem of authenticity. The argument is that the crisis results in a
situation where people have to switch between identities as they move
across different contexts. People with more than one identity can be
seen as having fake identities, which is the basis of the claim by
Lowry that social media undermines the authenticity of personal
identities. The root cause of the problem is the fact that the millennials
are having to constantly worry about missing opportunities, especially
employment. The need to create success stories leads to the
development of fake profiles, stories, and identities. The millennials
are aware that they will be scrutinized by potential employers through
what they post on social media. Therefore, there emerges the need to
market oneself, even if it means creating misleading profiles.
Evaluation
The problem of authenticity is real and has even attracted the attention
of scholars. For example, Salisbury and Pooley define authenticity as
the situation where the users’ online profiles match their real-world
(2). The scholarly work on the issue of identity authenticity means that
Lowry’s claim that social media undermines the genuineness of users
is justified. Therefore, employers can no longer trust that the social
media posts reflect the true identities of potential candidates. As in all
other claims, the evidence can be deemed adequate to support the
argument. Additionally, the claim supports the thesis because it shows
one key problem of changing personal identities across contexts.
Lastly, there are no opposing arguments for this claim because the
author focuses more on presenting evidence than on creating an
argument. As mentioned earlier, the article by Lowry is majorly a
collection of opinions and evidence to explain the situation. Therefore,
the author cannot be criticized for not creating alternative arguments
regarding the issue.
Recommendation
The arguments in the article have all been supported by quoting
expressions and opinions from various people. However, the author
pays too much attention to proving evidence than articulating the
issue. A large percentage of the article comprises direct quotes and a
few statements from the author. While there is nothing wrong with
using supporting opinions, there is a need for an author to let the
audience know his or her position on the issue. Currently, Lowry’s
position can only be inferred from the few statements the many quotes
used. The use of first-hand experiences is also another key strength of
the article. However, social media is a subject that has been
scientifically studied and, therefore, it is recommended that the author
could use scientific facts to further support the arguments. The issue
of personal identity can be cognitive, social, or even behavioral. These
theoretical frameworks would help understand the underlying issues
affecting the users and their online interactions.
Social Media Judgment
The first claim made by the author is that social media is a place that a
person can be judged based on what they post or say on the platforms.
The expressions of an interviewee, Mariah Hanaike, reveal that an
individual fear being themselves because anything they do will
potentially be used in other sites where other people will view and
judge (Lowry). Hanaike simply summarizes the behavior of people on
social media and gives the authors a starting point in presenting her
position regarding the effects of social media on millennials. Lowry
used these insights to further highlight that many individuals can only
be themselves when they are alone. Lowry states that a previous study
concluded that one in four millennials agree to the opinion that their
true selves are only possible when they are alone (par. 4). Therefore, it
means that what people view online is different from what can be
observed offline.
Evaluation
An evaluation of the first claim can be used to answer some key
questions, including the evidence used and whether the claim supports
the thesis. First, it is important to acknowledge that Lowry only
mentions a recent study for which she does not provide details.
However, the quote for Hanaike’s opinions provided enough
justification for Lowry’s ideas. Second, it can be argued that the
problem of social media judgment is real and can be expressed by any
person who uses the technology. Lastly, current studies can support
the claim by presenting empirical evidence that social networking
sites can be used as a means to judge people based on what they post
and how they act.
The empirical evidence of people being judged on social media covers
such key aspects as personality. For example, a study by Tadesse et al.
expresses that such social networking sites as Twitter, Weibo, and
Facebook are increasingly used by individuals to learn about others
(61959). The focus of their study is on how people’s personalities can
be predicted by examining online performances and behaviors. Even
though Tadesse et al. mean to illustrate how researchers and experts
can use social media, it is important to understand that the same
mechanisms apply when other users want to learn about individuals.
The same sentiments can be found in a study by Peters et al. who find
that teens are particularly sensitive to social evaluation (2). In other
words, adolescents tend to worry about how other people perceive
them, which illustrates that social media is used to judge. All
mentioned evidence supports the claim by Lowry that using social
media can cause judgement. However, no opposing views are
presented, but this does not affect the fact that the claim supports the
thesis.
Employment Scrutiny
One of the areas where the millennials express their fears regarding
the use of social media is employment. Lowry’s article explains the
employers are increasingly using social media to scrutinize candidates
(par. 23). The situation has become so common that many of the
individuals interviewed in the article fear that the companies are
already aware of the candidate even before the interview is convened.
Therefore, the millennials are having to ensure that whatever they post
on social networking sites is intended to sell themselves to the world
and, most importantly, the recruiters. Individuals without adequate
social media presence could risk missing the opportunities as their
peers exploit them fully. Lowry finds that, by quoting an individual
named Lake, paper resumes are no longer necessary. The key point is
that sending applications for jobs is now not a good route to success,
an opinion that Lowry backs with the views of a New York Times
editor, Phyllis Korkki. However, the major claim is that recruiters tend
to scrutinize candidates using their social media profiles, which leaves
some in a disadvantaged position.
Evaluation
While the author’s claim focuses on employment scrutiny, it is
important to understand that everybody and every firm seeks to take
advantage of the opportunities presented by social media. Lowry’s
argument is backed by real-life experiences of the individuals whose
opinions are expressed in the article. While there are no opposing
arguments, it can be understood that factual statements may not need a
refuting argument. Additionally, the article does not seek to be
argumentative, rather the author focuses on explaining and providing
evidence for her position regarding the subject. The claim also
supports the author’s thesis, especially because the millennials have to
develop online profiles customized for potential employers. The
online profiles create an identity that will differ from the offline one,
further supporting the author’s arguments.
The main support for the author’s claim regarding employment
scrutiny can be made by considering the scholarly work and scientific
evidence. According to Vitelar, personal branding has become a
critical aspect for Generation Z, in which case social media becomes a
crucial tool to serve this purpose (257). The need for personal
branding is to create an identity that represents an individual in the
networking sites, either for job-seeking, blogging, entrepreneurship, or
other personal development and promotion initiatives. Additionally,
the fact that all information that employers need regarding a person
can be found on social media means that employers find an easier
scrutiny mechanism than arranging for interviews and reviewing
resumes.
An argument can be made that the article fails to present the other side
of the story in that the candidates also scrutinize businesses on the
internet to determine whether they can be good employers. Firms,
therefore, also behave in the same way as the millennials on social
media (Mičík and Mičudová 171). In other words, entities create
online profiles, which are intended to attract new employees,
especially millennials.
Identity Crisis
The title of the article hints at the main claim made by the author,
which is the fact that millennials are having to keep switching
identities. Such a scenario can be described as an identity crisis, which
implies that the youth no longer understand what their real identity is.
Lowry used first-hand experiences of individuals and a published
book by Van den Bergh to support the argument that online identities
are different from offline ones. The main cause for such a scenario is
that the millennials have been pre-wired to create and achieve success
stories. Such critical requirements mean that their daily strife is geared
towards finding means to represent themselves online. Those that do
not find real or genuine stories to tell have no option but to create fake
stories. Identities created out of such strategies are not real, which
explains why many explain that they can only be themselves when
they are alone.
Evaluation
The claim of identity crisis is connected with the argument of
authenticity as will be discussed in the following section. However,
the article succeeds in supporting the fact that online and offline
identities are different and having to constantly switch between the
two creates the phenomenon of an identity crisis. What Lowry
represents as a behavioral problem could be perceived by scholars as a
cognitive issue affecting all social media users. The identity crisis is
described by researchers as the condition where individuals cannot
establish how to view, create, and define their identity. According to
Arfini et al., personal identity is contextually framed, which means
that the networking sites have created a context in which people’s
identities have to adjust (193). The keyword in this statement is
‘adjust’, which reflects a scenario where a change in context causes a
change in identity. Therefore, Lowry’s ideas of stranding between
online and offline profiles are supported by scientific literature.
The identity crisis could also be the result of a globalized social sphere
created by influencers. Alishahi, et al. explain that social media
creates an identity crisis because the globalization of communicates
creates a scenario where individuals do not know their identity
elements, including religion, race, language, culture, and ethnicity (2).
The role of influencers has been reviewed by scholars who reveal that
hybrid identities have been created in an attempt to adjust to the online
communities (Ayish and AlNajjar 27). The concept of identity denotes
a sense of belonging to a group. Therefore, what the article by Lowry
fails to mention is that social media has created a global online
community that is culturally diverse. The result of diversification is
that the influencers have a chance to determine the norm, meaning all
those who need to be part have to adjust to new norms and form a new
identity. The challenge comes when such online identities do not work
in the real world where the media users have to adopt new identities
for the context of the physical world. However, the article supports the
thesis and uses real-life experience as evidence to support the claim of
an identity crisis.
Authenticity of Identity
As mentioned earlier, the claim of identity crisis is related to the
problem of authenticity. The argument is that the crisis results in a
situation where people have to switch between identities as they move
across different contexts. People with more than one identity can be
seen as having fake identities, which is the basis of the claim by
Lowry that social media undermines the authenticity of personal
identities. The root cause of the problem is the fact that the millennials
are having to constantly worry about missing opportunities, especially
employment. The need to create success stories leads to the
development of fake profiles, stories, and identities. The millennials
are aware that they will be scrutinized by potential employers through
what they post on social media. Therefore, there emerges the need to
market oneself, even if it means creating misleading profiles.
Evaluation
The problem of authenticity is real and has even attracted the attention
of scholars. For example, Salisbury and Pooley define authenticity as
the situation where the users’ online profiles match their real-world
(2). The scholarly work on the issue of identity authenticity means that
Lowry’s claim that social media undermines the genuineness of users
is justified. Therefore, employers can no longer trust that the social
media posts reflect the true identities of potential candidates. As in all
other claims, the evidence can be deemed adequate to support the
argument. Additionally, the claim supports the thesis because it shows
one key problem of changing personal identities across contexts.
Lastly, there are no opposing arguments for this claim because the
author focuses more on presenting evidence than on creating an
argument. As mentioned earlier, the article by Lowry is majorly a
collection of opinions and evidence to explain the situation. Therefore,
the author cannot be criticized for not creating alternative arguments
regarding the issue.
Recommendation
The arguments in the article have all been supported by quoting
expressions and opinions from various people. However, the author
pays too much attention to proving evidence than articulating the
issue. A large percentage of the article comprises direct quotes and a
few statements from the author. While there is nothing wrong with
using supporting opinions, there is a need for an author to let the
audience know his or her position on the issue. Currently, Lowry’s
position can only be inferred from the few statements the many quotes
used. The use of first-hand experiences is also another key strength of
the article. However, social media is a subject that has been
scientifically studied and, therefore, it is recommended that the author
could use scientific facts to further support the arguments. The issue
of personal identity can be cognitive, social, or even behavioral. These
theoretical frameworks would help understand the underlying issues
affecting the users and their online interactions.
Social Media Judgment
The first claim made by the author is that social media is a place that a
person can be judged based on what they post or say on the platforms.
The expressions of an interviewee, Mariah Hanaike, reveal that an
individual fear being themselves because anything they do will
potentially be used in other sites where other people will view and
judge (Lowry). Hanaike simply summarizes the behavior of people on
social media and gives the authors a starting point in presenting her
position regarding the effects of social media on millennials. Lowry
used these insights to further highlight that many individuals can only
be themselves when they are alone. Lowry states that a previous study
concluded that one in four millennials agree to the opinion that their
true selves are only possible when they are alone (par. 4). Therefore, it
means that what people view online is different from what can be
observed offline.
Evaluation
An evaluation of the first claim can be used to answer some key
questions, including the evidence used and whether the claim supports
the thesis. First, it is important to acknowledge that Lowry only
mentions a recent study for which she does not provide details.
However, the quote for Hanaike’s opinions provided enough
justification for Lowry’s ideas. Second, it can be argued that the
problem of social media judgment is real and can be expressed by any
person who uses the technology. Lastly, current studies can support
the claim by presenting empirical evidence that social networking
sites can be used as a means to judge people based on what they post
and how they act.
The empirical evidence of people being judged on social media covers
such key aspects as personality. For example, a study by Tadesse et al.
expresses that such social networking sites as Twitter, Weibo, and
Facebook are increasingly used by individuals to learn about others
(61959). The focus of their study is on how people’s personalities can
be predicted by examining online performances and behaviors. Even
though Tadesse et al. mean to illustrate how researchers and experts
can use social media, it is important to understand that the same
mechanisms apply when other users want to learn about individuals.
The same sentiments can be found in a study by Peters et al. who find
that teens are particularly sensitive to social evaluation (2). In other
words, adolescents tend to worry about how other people perceive
them, which illustrates that social media is used to judge. All
mentioned evidence supports the claim by Lowry that using social
media can cause judgement. However, no opposing views are
presented, but this does not affect the fact that the claim supports the
thesis.
Employment Scrutiny
One of the areas where the millennials express their fears regarding
the use of social media is employment. Lowry’s article explains the
employers are increasingly using social media to scrutinize candidates
(par. 23). The situation has become so common that many of the
individuals interviewed in the article fear that the companies are
already aware of the candidate even before the interview is convened.
Therefore, the millennials are having to ensure that whatever they post
on social networking sites is intended to sell themselves to the world
and, most importantly, the recruiters. Individuals without adequate
social media presence could risk missing the opportunities as their
peers exploit them fully. Lowry finds that, by quoting an individual
named Lake, paper resumes are no longer necessary. The key point is
that sending applications for jobs is now not a good route to success,
an opinion that Lowry backs with the views of a New York Times
editor, Phyllis Korkki. However, the major claim is that recruiters tend
to scrutinize candidates using their social media profiles, which leaves
some in a disadvantaged position.
Evaluation
While the author’s claim focuses on employment scrutiny, it is
important to understand that everybody and every firm seeks to take
advantage of the opportunities presented by social media. Lowry’s
argument is backed by real-life experiences of the individuals whose
opinions are expressed in the article. While there are no opposing
arguments, it can be understood that factual statements may not need a
refuting argument. Additionally, the article does not seek to be
argumentative, rather the author focuses on explaining and providing
evidence for her position regarding the subject. The claim also
supports the author’s thesis, especially because the millennials have to
develop online profiles customized for potential employers. The
online profiles create an identity that will differ from the offline one,
further supporting the author’s arguments.
The main support for the author’s claim regarding employment
scrutiny can be made by considering the scholarly work and scientific
evidence. According to Vitelar, personal branding has become a
critical aspect for Generation Z, in which case social media becomes a
crucial tool to serve this purpose (257). The need for personal
branding is to create an identity that represents an individual in the
networking sites, either for job-seeking, blogging, entrepreneurship, or
other personal development and promotion initiatives. Additionally,
the fact that all information that employers need regarding a person
can be found on social media means that employers find an easier
scrutiny mechanism than arranging for interviews and reviewing
resumes.
An argument can be made that the article fails to present the other side
of the story in that the candidates also scrutinize businesses on the
internet to determine whether they can be good employers. Firms,
therefore, also behave in the same way as the millennials on social
media (Mičík and Mičudová 171). In other words, entities create
online profiles, which are intended to attract new employees,
especially millennials.
Identity Crisis
The title of the article hints at the main claim made by the author,
which is the fact that millennials are having to keep switching
identities. Such a scenario can be described as an identity crisis, which
implies that the youth no longer understand what their real identity is.
Lowry used first-hand experiences of individuals and a published
book by Van den Bergh to support the argument that online identities
are different from offline ones. The main cause for such a scenario is
that the millennials have been pre-wired to create and achieve success
stories. Such critical requirements mean that their daily strife is geared
towards finding means to represent themselves online. Those that do
not find real or genuine stories to tell have no option but to create fake
stories. Identities created out of such strategies are not real, which
explains why many explain that they can only be themselves when
they are alone.
Evaluation
The claim of identity crisis is connected with the argument of
authenticity as will be discussed in the following section. However,
the article succeeds in supporting the fact that online and offline
identities are different and having to constantly switch between the
two creates the phenomenon of an identity crisis. What Lowry
represents as a behavioral problem could be perceived by scholars as a
cognitive issue affecting all social media users. The identity crisis is
described by researchers as the condition where individuals cannot
establish how to view, create, and define their identity. According to
Arfini et al., personal identity is contextually framed, which means
that the networking sites have created a context in which people’s
identities have to adjust (193). The keyword in this statement is
‘adjust’, which reflects a scenario where a change in context causes a
change in identity. Therefore, Lowry’s ideas of stranding between
online and offline profiles are supported by scientific literature.
The identity crisis could also be the result of a globalized social sphere
created by influencers. Alishahi, et al. explain that social media
creates an identity crisis because the globalization of communicates
creates a scenario where individuals do not know their identity
elements, including religion, race, language, culture, and ethnicity (2).
The role of influencers has been reviewed by scholars who reveal that
hybrid identities have been created in an attempt to adjust to the online
communities (Ayish and AlNajjar 27). The concept of identity denotes
a sense of belonging to a group. Therefore, what the article by Lowry
fails to mention is that social media has created a global online
community that is culturally diverse. The result of diversification is
that the influencers have a chance to determine the norm, meaning all
those who need to be part have to adjust to new norms and form a new
identity. The challenge comes when such online identities do not work
in the real world where the media users have to adopt new identities
for the context of the physical world. However, the article supports the
thesis and uses real-life experience as evidence to support the claim of
an identity crisis.
Authenticity of Identity
As mentioned earlier, the claim of identity crisis is related to the
problem of authenticity. The argument is that the crisis results in a
situation where people have to switch between identities as they move
across different contexts. People with more than one identity can be
seen as having fake identities, which is the basis of the claim by
Lowry that social media undermines the authenticity of personal
identities. The root cause of the problem is the fact that the millennials
are having to constantly worry about missing opportunities, especially
employment. The need to create success stories leads to the
development of fake profiles, stories, and identities. The millennials
are aware that they will be scrutinized by potential employers through
what they post on social media. Therefore, there emerges the need to
market oneself, even if it means creating misleading profiles.
Evaluation
The problem of authenticity is real and has even attracted the attention
of scholars. For example, Salisbury and Pooley define authenticity as
the situation where the users’ online profiles match their real-world
(2). The scholarly work on the issue of identity authenticity means that
Lowry’s claim that social media undermines the genuineness of users
is justified. Therefore, employers can no longer trust that the social
media posts reflect the true identities of potential candidates. As in all
other claims, the evidence can be deemed adequate to support the
argument. Additionally, the claim supports the thesis because it shows
one key problem of changing personal identities across contexts.
Lastly, there are no opposing arguments for this claim because the
author focuses more on presenting evidence than on creating an
argument. As mentioned earlier, the article by Lowry is majorly a
collection of opinions and evidence to explain the situation. Therefore,
the author cannot be criticized for not creating alternative arguments
regarding the issue.
Recommendation
The arguments in the article have all been supported by quoting
expressions and opinions from various people. However, the author
pays too much attention to proving evidence than articulating the
issue. A large percentage of the article comprises direct quotes and a
few statements from the author. While there is nothing wrong with
using supporting opinions, there is a need for an author to let the
audience know his or her position on the issue. Currently, Lowry’s
position can only be inferred from the few statements the many quotes
used. The use of first-hand experiences is also another key strength of
the article. However, social media is a subject that has been
scientifically studied and, therefore, it is recommended that the author
could use scientific facts to further support the arguments. The issue
of personal identity can be cognitive, social, or even behavioral. These
theoretical frameworks would help understand the underlying issues
affecting the users and their online interactions.
Social Media Judgment
The first claim made by the author is that social media is a place that a
person can be judged based on what they post or say on the platforms.
The expressions of an interviewee, Mariah Hanaike, reveal that an
individual fear being themselves because anything they do will
potentially be used in other sites where other people will view and
judge (Lowry). Hanaike simply summarizes the behavior of people on
social media and gives the authors a starting point in presenting her
position regarding the effects of social media on millennials. Lowry
used these insights to further highlight that many individuals can only
be themselves when they are alone. Lowry states that a previous study
concluded that one in four millennials agree to the opinion that their
true selves are only possible when they are alone (par. 4). Therefore, it
means that what people view online is different from what can be
observed offline.
Evaluation
An evaluation of the first claim can be used to answer some key
questions, including the evidence used and whether the claim supports
the thesis. First, it is important to acknowledge that Lowry only
mentions a recent study for which she does not provide details.
However, the quote for Hanaike’s opinions provided enough
justification for Lowry’s ideas. Second, it can be argued that the
problem of social media judgment is real and can be expressed by any
person who uses the technology. Lastly, current studies can support
the claim by presenting empirical evidence that social networking
sites can be used as a means to judge people based on what they post
and how they act.
The empirical evidence of people being judged on social media covers
such key aspects as personality. For example, a study by Tadesse et al.
expresses that such social networking sites as Twitter, Weibo, and
Facebook are increasingly used by individuals to learn about others
(61959). The focus of their study is on how people’s personalities can
be predicted by examining online performances and behaviors. Even
though Tadesse et al. mean to illustrate how researchers and experts
can use social media, it is important to understand that the same
mechanisms apply when other users want to learn about individuals.
The same sentiments can be found in a study by Peters et al. who find
that teens are particularly sensitive to social evaluation (2). In other
words, adolescents tend to worry about how other people perceive
them, which illustrates that social media is used to judge. All
mentioned evidence supports the claim by Lowry that using social
media can cause judgement. However, no opposing views are
presented, but this does not affect the fact that the claim supports the
thesis.
Employment Scrutiny
One of the areas where the millennials express their fears regarding
the use of social media is employment. Lowry’s article explains the
employers are increasingly using social media to scrutinize candidates
(par. 23). The situation has become so common that many of the
individuals interviewed in the article fear that the companies are
already aware of the candidate even before the interview is convened.
Therefore, the millennials are having to ensure that whatever they post
on social networking sites is intended to sell themselves to the world
and, most importantly, the recruiters. Individuals without adequate
social media presence could risk missing the opportunities as their
peers exploit them fully. Lowry finds that, by quoting an individual
named Lake, paper resumes are no longer necessary. The key point is
that sending applications for jobs is now not a good route to success,
an opinion that Lowry backs with the views of a New York Times
editor, Phyllis Korkki. However, the major claim is that recruiters tend
to scrutinize candidates using their social media profiles, which leaves
some in a disadvantaged position.
Evaluation
While the author’s claim focuses on employment scrutiny, it is
important to understand that everybody and every firm seeks to take
advantage of the opportunities presented by social media. Lowry’s
argument is backed by real-life experiences of the individuals whose
opinions are expressed in the article. While there are no opposing
arguments, it can be understood that factual statements may not need a
refuting argument. Additionally, the article does not seek to be
argumentative, rather the author focuses on explaining and providing
evidence for her position regarding the subject. The claim also
supports the author’s thesis, especially because the millennials have to
develop online profiles customized for potential employers. The
online profiles create an identity that will differ from the offline one,
further supporting the author’s arguments.
The main support for the author’s claim regarding employment
scrutiny can be made by considering the scholarly work and scientific
evidence. According to Vitelar, personal branding has become a
critical aspect for Generation Z, in which case social media becomes a
crucial tool to serve this purpose (257). The need for personal
branding is to create an identity that represents an individual in the
networking sites, either for job-seeking, blogging, entrepreneurship, or
other personal development and promotion initiatives. Additionally,
the fact that all information that employers need regarding a person
can be found on social media means that employers find an easier
scrutiny mechanism than arranging for interviews and reviewing
resumes.
An argument can be made that the article fails to present the other side
of the story in that the candidates also scrutinize businesses on the
internet to determine whether they can be good employers. Firms,
therefore, also behave in the same way as the millennials on social
media (Mičík and Mičudová 171). In other words, entities create
online profiles, which are intended to attract new employees,
especially millennials.
Identity Crisis
The title of the article hints at the main claim made by the author,
which is the fact that millennials are having to keep switching
identities. Such a scenario can be described as an identity crisis, which
implies that the youth no longer understand what their real identity is.
Lowry used first-hand experiences of individuals and a published
book by Van den Bergh to support the argument that online identities
are different from offline ones. The main cause for such a scenario is
that the millennials have been pre-wired to create and achieve success
stories. Such critical requirements mean that their daily strife is geared
towards finding means to represent themselves online. Those that do
not find real or genuine stories to tell have no option but to create fake
stories. Identities created out of such strategies are not real, which
explains why many explain that they can only be themselves when
they are alone.
Evaluation
The claim of identity crisis is connected with the argument of
authenticity as will be discussed in the following section. However,
the article succeeds in supporting the fact that online and offline
identities are different and having to constantly switch between the
two creates the phenomenon of an identity crisis. What Lowry
represents as a behavioral problem could be perceived by scholars as a
cognitive issue affecting all social media users. The identity crisis is
described by researchers as the condition where individuals cannot
establish how to view, create, and define their identity. According to
Arfini et al., personal identity is contextually framed, which means
that the networking sites have created a context in which people’s
identities have to adjust (193). The keyword in this statement is
‘adjust’, which reflects a scenario where a change in context causes a
change in identity. Therefore, Lowry’s ideas of stranding between
online and offline profiles are supported by scientific literature.
The identity crisis could also be the result of a globalized social sphere
created by influencers. Alishahi, et al. explain that social media
creates an identity crisis because the globalization of communicates
creates a scenario where individuals do not know their identity
elements, including religion, race, language, culture, and ethnicity (2).
The role of influencers has been reviewed by scholars who reveal that
hybrid identities have been created in an attempt to adjust to the online
communities (Ayish and AlNajjar 27). The concept of identity denotes
a sense of belonging to a group. Therefore, what the article by Lowry
fails to mention is that social media has created a global online
community that is culturally diverse. The result of diversification is
that the influencers have a chance to determine the norm, meaning all
those who need to be part have to adjust to new norms and form a new
identity. The challenge comes when such online identities do not work
in the real world where the media users have to adopt new identities
for the context of the physical world. However, the article supports the
thesis and uses real-life experience as evidence to support the claim of
an identity crisis.
Authenticity of Identity
As mentioned earlier, the claim of identity crisis is related to the
problem of authenticity. The argument is that the crisis results in a
situation where people have to switch between identities as they move
across different contexts. People with more than one identity can be
seen as having fake identities, which is the basis of the claim by
Lowry that social media undermines the authenticity of personal
identities. The root cause of the problem is the fact that the millennials
are having to constantly worry about missing opportunities, especially
employment. The need to create success stories leads to the
development of fake profiles, stories, and identities. The millennials
are aware that they will be scrutinized by potential employers through
what they post on social media. Therefore, there emerges the need to
market oneself, even if it means creating misleading profiles.
Evaluation
The problem of authenticity is real and has even attracted the attention
of scholars. For example, Salisbury and Pooley define authenticity as
the situation where the users’ online profiles match their real-world
(2). The scholarly work on the issue of identity authenticity means that
Lowry’s claim that social media undermines the genuineness of users
is justified. Therefore, employers can no longer trust that the social
media posts reflect the true identities of potential candidates. As in all
other claims, the evidence can be deemed adequate to support the
argument. Additionally, the claim supports the thesis because it shows
one key problem of changing personal identities across contexts.
Lastly, there are no opposing arguments for this claim because the
author focuses more on presenting evidence than on creating an
argument. As mentioned earlier, the article by Lowry is majorly a
collection of opinions and evidence to explain the situation. Therefore,
the author cannot be criticized for not creating alternative arguments
regarding the issue.
Recommendation
The arguments in the article have all been supported by quoting
expressions and opinions from various people. However, the author
pays too much attention to proving evidence than articulating the
issue. A large percentage of the article comprises direct quotes and a
few statements from the author. While there is nothing wrong with
using supporting opinions, there is a need for an author to let the
audience know his or her position on the issue. Currently, Lowry’s
position can only be inferred from the few statements the many quotes
used. The use of first-hand experiences is also another key strength of
the article. However, social media is a subject that has been
scientifically studied and, therefore, it is recommended that the author
could use scientific facts to further support the arguments. The issue
of personal identity can be cognitive, social, or even behavioral. These
theoretical frameworks would help understand the underlying issues
affecting the users and their online interactions.
Social Media Judgment
The first claim made by the author is that social media is a place that a
person can be judged based on what they post or say on the platforms.
The expressions of an interviewee, Mariah Hanaike, reveal that an
individual fear being themselves because anything they do will
potentially be used in other sites where other people will view and
judge (Lowry). Hanaike simply summarizes the behavior of people on
social media and gives the authors a starting point in presenting her
position regarding the effects of social media on millennials. Lowry
used these insights to further highlight that many individuals can only
be themselves when they are alone. Lowry states that a previous study
concluded that one in four millennials agree to the opinion that their
true selves are only possible when they are alone (par. 4). Therefore, it
means that what people view online is different from what can be
observed offline.
Evaluation
An evaluation of the first claim can be used to answer some key
questions, including the evidence used and whether the claim supports
the thesis. First, it is important to acknowledge that Lowry only
mentions a recent study for which she does not provide details.
However, the quote for Hanaike’s opinions provided enough
justification for Lowry’s ideas. Second, it can be argued that the
problem of social media judgment is real and can be expressed by any
person who uses the technology. Lastly, current studies can support
the claim by presenting empirical evidence that social networking
sites can be used as a means to judge people based on what they post
and how they act.
The empirical evidence of people being judged on social media covers
such key aspects as personality. For example, a study by Tadesse et al.
expresses that such social networking sites as Twitter, Weibo, and
Facebook are increasingly used by individuals to learn about others
(61959). The focus of their study is on how people’s personalities can
be predicted by examining online performances and behaviors. Even
though Tadesse et al. mean to illustrate how researchers and experts
can use social media, it is important to understand that the same
mechanisms apply when other users want to learn about individuals.
The same sentiments can be found in a study by Peters et al. who find
that teens are particularly sensitive to social evaluation (2). In other
words, adolescents tend to worry about how other people perceive
them, which illustrates that social media is used to judge. All
mentioned evidence supports the claim by Lowry that using social
media can cause judgement. However, no opposing views are
presented, but this does not affect the fact that the claim supports the
thesis.
Employment Scrutiny
One of the areas where the millennials express their fears regarding
the use of social media is employment. Lowry’s article explains the
employers are increasingly using social media to scrutinize candidates
(par. 23). The situation has become so common that many of the
individuals interviewed in the article fear that the companies are
already aware of the candidate even before the interview is convened.
Therefore, the millennials are having to ensure that whatever they post
on social networking sites is intended to sell themselves to the world
and, most importantly, the recruiters. Individuals without adequate
social media presence could risk missing the opportunities as their
peers exploit them fully. Lowry finds that, by quoting an individual
named Lake, paper resumes are no longer necessary. The key point is
that sending applications for jobs is now not a good route to success,
an opinion that Lowry backs with the views of a New York Times
editor, Phyllis Korkki. However, the major claim is that recruiters tend
to scrutinize candidates using their social media profiles, which leaves
some in a disadvantaged position.
Evaluation
While the author’s claim focuses on employment scrutiny, it is
important to understand that everybody and every firm seeks to take
advantage of the opportunities presented by social media. Lowry’s
argument is backed by real-life experiences of the individuals whose
opinions are expressed in the article. While there are no opposing
arguments, it can be understood that factual statements may not need a
refuting argument. Additionally, the article does not seek to be
argumentative, rather the author focuses on explaining and providing
evidence for her position regarding the subject. The claim also
supports the author’s thesis, especially because the millennials have to
develop online profiles customized for potential employers. The
online profiles create an identity that will differ from the offline one,
further supporting the author’s arguments.
The main support for the author’s claim regarding employment
scrutiny can be made by considering the scholarly work and scientific
evidence. According to Vitelar, personal branding has become a
critical aspect for Generation Z, in which case social media becomes a
crucial tool to serve this purpose (257). The need for personal
branding is to create an identity that represents an individual in the
networking sites, either for job-seeking, blogging, entrepreneurship, or
other personal development and promotion initiatives. Additionally,
the fact that all information that employers need regarding a person
can be found on social media means that employers find an easier
scrutiny mechanism than arranging for interviews and reviewing
resumes.
An argument can be made that the article fails to present the other side
of the story in that the candidates also scrutinize businesses on the
internet to determine whether they can be good employers. Firms,
therefore, also behave in the same way as the millennials on social
media (Mičík and Mičudová 171). In other words, entities create
online profiles, which are intended to attract new employees,
especially millennials.
Identity Crisis
The title of the article hints at the main claim made by the author,
which is the fact that millennials are having to keep switching
identities. Such a scenario can be described as an identity crisis, which
implies that the youth no longer understand what their real identity is.
Lowry used first-hand experiences of individuals and a published
book by Van den Bergh to support the argument that online identities
are different from offline ones. The main cause for such a scenario is
that the millennials have been pre-wired to create and achieve success
stories. Such critical requirements mean that their daily strife is geared
towards finding means to represent themselves online. Those that do
not find real or genuine stories to tell have no option but to create fake
stories. Identities created out of such strategies are not real, which
explains why many explain that they can only be themselves when
they are alone.
Evaluation
The claim of identity crisis is connected with the argument of
authenticity as will be discussed in the following section. However,
the article succeeds in supporting the fact that online and offline
identities are different and having to constantly switch between the
two creates the phenomenon of an identity crisis. What Lowry
represents as a behavioral problem could be perceived by scholars as a
cognitive issue affecting all social media users. The identity crisis is
described by researchers as the condition where individuals cannot
establish how to view, create, and define their identity. According to
Arfini et al., personal identity is contextually framed, which means
that the networking sites have created a context in which people’s
identities have to adjust (193). The keyword in this statement is
‘adjust’, which reflects a scenario where a change in context causes a
change in identity. Therefore, Lowry’s ideas of stranding between
online and offline profiles are supported by scientific literature.
The identity crisis could also be the result of a globalized social sphere
created by influencers. Alishahi, et al. explain that social media
creates an identity crisis because the globalization of communicates
creates a scenario where individuals do not know their identity
elements, including religion, race, language, culture, and ethnicity (2).
The role of influencers has been reviewed by scholars who reveal that
hybrid identities have been created in an attempt to adjust to the online
communities (Ayish and AlNajjar 27). The concept of identity denotes
a sense of belonging to a group. Therefore, what the article by Lowry
fails to mention is that social media has created a global online
community that is culturally diverse. The result of diversification is
that the influencers have a chance to determine the norm, meaning all
those who need to be part have to adjust to new norms and form a new
identity. The challenge comes when such online identities do not work
in the real world where the media users have to adopt new identities
for the context of the physical world. However, the article supports the
thesis and uses real-life experience as evidence to support the claim of
an identity crisis.
Authenticity of Identity
As mentioned earlier, the claim of identity crisis is related to the
problem of authenticity. The argument is that the crisis results in a
situation where people have to switch between identities as they move
across different contexts. People with more than one identity can be
seen as having fake identities, which is the basis of the claim by
Lowry that social media undermines the authenticity of personal
identities. The root cause of the problem is the fact that the millennials
are having to constantly worry about missing opportunities, especially
employment. The need to create success stories leads to the
development of fake profiles, stories, and identities. The millennials
are aware that they will be scrutinized by potential employers through
what they post on social media. Therefore, there emerges the need to
market oneself, even if it means creating misleading profiles.
Evaluation
The problem of authenticity is real and has even attracted the attention
of scholars. For example, Salisbury and Pooley define authenticity as
the situation where the users’ online profiles match their real-world
(2). The scholarly work on the issue of identity authenticity means that
Lowry’s claim that social media undermines the genuineness of users
is justified. Therefore, employers can no longer trust that the social
media posts reflect the true identities of potential candidates. As in all
other claims, the evidence can be deemed adequate to support the
argument. Additionally, the claim supports the thesis because it shows
one key problem of changing personal identities across contexts.
Lastly, there are no opposing arguments for this claim because the
author focuses more on presenting evidence than on creating an
argument. As mentioned earlier, the article by Lowry is majorly a
collection of opinions and evidence to explain the situation. Therefore,
the author cannot be criticized for not creating alternative arguments
regarding the issue.
Recommendation
The arguments in the article have all been supported by quoting
expressions and opinions from various people. However, the author
pays too much attention to proving evidence than articulating the
issue. A large percentage of the article comprises direct quotes and a
few statements from the author. While there is nothing wrong with
using supporting opinions, there is a need for an author to let the
audience know his or her position on the issue. Currently, Lowry’s
position can only be inferred from the few statements the many quotes
used. The use of first-hand experiences is also another key strength of
the article. However, social media is a subject that has been
scientifically studied and, therefore, it is recommended that the author
could use scientific facts to further support the arguments. The issue
of personal identity can be cognitive, social, or even behavioral. These
theoretical frameworks would help understand the underlying issues
affecting the users and their online interactions.
Social Media Judgment
The first claim made by the author is that social media is a place that a
person can be judged based on what they post or say on the platforms.
The expressions of an interviewee, Mariah Hanaike, reveal that an
individual fear being themselves because anything they do will
potentially be used in other sites where other people will view and
judge (Lowry). Hanaike simply summarizes the behavior of people on
social media and gives the authors a starting point in presenting her
position regarding the effects of social media on millennials. Lowry
used these insights to further highlight that many individuals can only
be themselves when they are alone. Lowry states that a previous study
concluded that one in four millennials agree to the opinion that their
true selves are only possible when they are alone (par. 4). Therefore, it
means that what people view online is different from what can be
observed offline.
Evaluation
An evaluation of the first claim can be used to answer some key
questions, including the evidence used and whether the claim supports
the thesis. First, it is important to acknowledge that Lowry only
mentions a recent study for which she does not provide details.
However, the quote for Hanaike’s opinions provided enough
justification for Lowry’s ideas. Second, it can be argued that the
problem of social media judgment is real and can be expressed by any
person who uses the technology. Lastly, current studies can support
the claim by presenting empirical evidence that social networking
sites can be used as a means to judge people based on what they post
and how they act.
The empirical evidence of people being judged on social media covers
such key aspects as personality. For example, a study by Tadesse et al.
expresses that such social networking sites as Twitter, Weibo, and
Facebook are increasingly used by individuals to learn about others
(61959). The focus of their study is on how people’s personalities can
be predicted by examining online performances and behaviors. Even
though Tadesse et al. mean to illustrate how researchers and experts
can use social media, it is important to understand that the same
mechanisms apply when other users want to learn about individuals.
The same sentiments can be found in a study by Peters et al. who find
that teens are particularly sensitive to social evaluation (2). In other
words, adolescents tend to worry about how other people perceive
them, which illustrates that social media is used to judge. All
mentioned evidence supports the claim by Lowry that using social
media can cause judgement. However, no opposing views are
presented, but this does not affect the fact that the claim supports the
thesis.
Employment Scrutiny
One of the areas where the millennials express their fears regarding
the use of social media is employment. Lowry’s article explains the
employers are increasingly using social media to scrutinize candidates
(par. 23). The situation has become so common that many of the
individuals interviewed in the article fear that the companies are
already aware of the candidate even before the interview is convened.
Therefore, the millennials are having to ensure that whatever they post
on social networking sites is intended to sell themselves to the world
and, most importantly, the recruiters. Individuals without adequate
social media presence could risk missing the opportunities as their
peers exploit them fully. Lowry finds that, by quoting an individual
named Lake, paper resumes are no longer necessary. The key point is
that sending applications for jobs is now not a good route to success,
an opinion that Lowry backs with the views of a New York Times
editor, Phyllis Korkki. However, the major claim is that recruiters tend
to scrutinize candidates using their social media profiles, which leaves
some in a disadvantaged position.
Evaluation
While the author’s claim focuses on employment scrutiny, it is
important to understand that everybody and every firm seeks to take
advantage of the opportunities presented by social media. Lowry’s
argument is backed by real-life experiences of the individuals whose
opinions are expressed in the article. While there are no opposing
arguments, it can be understood that factual statements may not need a
refuting argument. Additionally, the article does not seek to be
argumentative, rather the author focuses on explaining and providing
evidence for her position regarding the subject. The claim also
supports the author’s thesis, especially because the millennials have to
develop online profiles customized for potential employers. The
online profiles create an identity that will differ from the offline one,
further supporting the author’s arguments.
The main support for the author’s claim regarding employment
scrutiny can be made by considering the scholarly work and scientific
evidence. According to Vitelar, personal branding has become a
critical aspect for Generation Z, in which case social media becomes a
crucial tool to serve this purpose (257). The need for personal
branding is to create an identity that represents an individual in the
networking sites, either for job-seeking, blogging, entrepreneurship, or
other personal development and promotion initiatives. Additionally,
the fact that all information that employers need regarding a person
can be found on social media means that employers find an easier
scrutiny mechanism than arranging for interviews and reviewing
resumes.
An argument can be made that the article fails to present the other side
of the story in that the candidates also scrutinize businesses on the
internet to determine whether they can be good employers. Firms,
therefore, also behave in the same way as the millennials on social
media (Mičík and Mičudová 171). In other words, entities create
online profiles, which are intended to attract new employees,
especially millennials.
Identity Crisis
The title of the article hints at the main claim made by the author,
which is the fact that millennials are having to keep switching
identities. Such a scenario can be described as an identity crisis, which
implies that the youth no longer understand what their real identity is.
Lowry used first-hand experiences of individuals and a published
book by Van den Bergh to support the argument that online identities
are different from offline ones. The main cause for such a scenario is
that the millennials have been pre-wired to create and achieve success
stories. Such critical requirements mean that their daily strife is geared
towards finding means to represent themselves online. Those that do
not find real or genuine stories to tell have no option but to create fake
stories. Identities created out of such strategies are not real, which
explains why many explain that they can only be themselves when
they are alone.
Evaluation
The claim of identity crisis is connected with the argument of
authenticity as will be discussed in the following section. However,
the article succeeds in supporting the fact that online and offline
identities are different and having to constantly switch between the
two creates the phenomenon of an identity crisis. What Lowry
represents as a behavioral problem could be perceived by scholars as a
cognitive issue affecting all social media users. The identity crisis is
described by researchers as the condition where individuals cannot
establish how to view, create, and define their identity. According to
Arfini et al., personal identity is contextually framed, which means
that the networking sites have created a context in which people’s
identities have to adjust (193). The keyword in this statement is
‘adjust’, which reflects a scenario where a change in context causes a
change in identity. Therefore, Lowry’s ideas of stranding between
online and offline profiles are supported by scientific literature.
The identity crisis could also be the result of a globalized social sphere
created by influencers. Alishahi, et al. explain that social media
creates an identity crisis because the globalization of communicates
creates a scenario where individuals do not know their identity
elements, including religion, race, language, culture, and ethnicity (2).
The role of influencers has been reviewed by scholars who reveal that
hybrid identities have been created in an attempt to adjust to the online
communities (Ayish and AlNajjar 27). The concept of identity denotes
a sense of belonging to a group. Therefore, what the article by Lowry
fails to mention is that social media has created a global online
community that is culturally diverse. The result of diversification is
that the influencers have a chance to determine the norm, meaning all
those who need to be part have to adjust to new norms and form a new
identity. The challenge comes when such online identities do not work
in the real world where the media users have to adopt new identities
for the context of the physical world. However, the article supports the
thesis and uses real-life experience as evidence to support the claim of
an identity crisis.
Authenticity of Identity
As mentioned earlier, the claim of identity crisis is related to the
problem of authenticity. The argument is that the crisis results in a
situation where people have to switch between identities as they move
across different contexts. People with more than one identity can be
seen as having fake identities, which is the basis of the claim by
Lowry that social media undermines the authenticity of personal
identities. The root cause of the problem is the fact that the millennials
are having to constantly worry about missing opportunities, especially
employment. The need to create success stories leads to the
development of fake profiles, stories, and identities. The millennials
are aware that they will be scrutinized by potential employers through
what they post on social media. Therefore, there emerges the need to
market oneself, even if it means creating misleading profiles.
Evaluation
The problem of authenticity is real and has even attracted the attention
of scholars. For example, Salisbury and Pooley define authenticity as
the situation where the users’ online profiles match their real-world
(2). The scholarly work on the issue of identity authenticity means that
Lowry’s claim that social media undermines the genuineness of users
is justified. Therefore, employers can no longer trust that the social
media posts reflect the true identities of potential candidates. As in all
other claims, the evidence can be deemed adequate to support the
argument. Additionally, the claim supports the thesis because it shows
one key problem of changing personal identities across contexts.
Lastly, there are no opposing arguments for this claim because the
author focuses more on presenting evidence than on creating an
argument. As mentioned earlier, the article by Lowry is majorly a
collection of opinions and evidence to explain the situation. Therefore,
the author cannot be criticized for not creating alternative arguments
regarding the issue.
Recommendation
The arguments in the article have all been supported by quoting
expressions and opinions from various people. However, the author
pays too much attention to proving evidence than articulating the
issue. A large percentage of the article comprises direct quotes and a
few statements from the author. While there is nothing wrong with
using supporting opinions, there is a need for an author to let the
audience know his or her position on the issue. Currently, Lowry’s
position can only be inferred from the few statements the many quotes
used. The use of first-hand experiences is also another key strength of
the article. However, social media is a subject that has been
scientifically studied and, therefore, it is recommended that the author
could use scientific facts to further support the arguments. The issue
of personal identity can be cognitive, social, or even behavioral. These
theoretical frameworks would help understand the underlying issues
affecting the users and their online interactions.
Social Media Judgment
The first claim made by the author is that social media is a place that a
person can be judged based on what they post or say on the platforms.
The expressions of an interviewee, Mariah Hanaike, reveal that an
individual fear being themselves because anything they do will
potentially be used in other sites where other people will view and
judge (Lowry). Hanaike simply summarizes the behavior of people on
social media and gives the authors a starting point in presenting her
position regarding the effects of social media on millennials. Lowry
used these insights to further highlight that many individuals can only
be themselves when they are alone. Lowry states that a previous study
concluded that one in four millennials agree to the opinion that their
true selves are only possible when they are alone (par. 4). Therefore, it
means that what people view online is different from what can be
observed offline.
Evaluation
An evaluation of the first claim can be used to answer some key
questions, including the evidence used and whether the claim supports
the thesis. First, it is important to acknowledge that Lowry only
mentions a recent study for which she does not provide details.
However, the quote for Hanaike’s opinions provided enough
justification for Lowry’s ideas. Second, it can be argued that the
problem of social media judgment is real and can be expressed by any
person who uses the technology. Lastly, current studies can support
the claim by presenting empirical evidence that social networking
sites can be used as a means to judge people based on what they post
and how they act.
The empirical evidence of people being judged on social media covers
such key aspects as personality. For example, a study by Tadesse et al.
expresses that such social networking sites as Twitter, Weibo, and
Facebook are increasingly used by individuals to learn about others
(61959). The focus of their study is on how people’s personalities can
be predicted by examining online performances and behaviors. Even
though Tadesse et al. mean to illustrate how researchers and experts
can use social media, it is important to understand that the same
mechanisms apply when other users want to learn about individuals.
The same sentiments can be found in a study by Peters et al. who find
that teens are particularly sensitive to social evaluation (2). In other
words, adolescents tend to worry about how other people perceive
them, which illustrates that social media is used to judge. All
mentioned evidence supports the claim by Lowry that using social
media can cause judgement. However, no opposing views are
presented, but this does not affect the fact that the claim supports the
thesis.
Employment Scrutiny
One of the areas where the millennials express their fears regarding
the use of social media is employment. Lowry’s article explains the
employers are increasingly using social media to scrutinize candidates
(par. 23). The situation has become so common that many of the
individuals interviewed in the article fear that the companies are
already aware of the candidate even before the interview is convened.
Therefore, the millennials are having to ensure that whatever they post
on social networking sites is intended to sell themselves to the world
and, most importantly, the recruiters. Individuals without adequate
social media presence could risk missing the opportunities as their
peers exploit them fully. Lowry finds that, by quoting an individual
named Lake, paper resumes are no longer necessary. The key point is
that sending applications for jobs is now not a good route to success,
an opinion that Lowry backs with the views of a New York Times
editor, Phyllis Korkki. However, the major claim is that recruiters tend
to scrutinize candidates using their social media profiles, which leaves
some in a disadvantaged position.
Evaluation
While the author’s claim focuses on employment scrutiny, it is
important to understand that everybody and every firm seeks to take
advantage of the opportunities presented by social media. Lowry’s
argument is backed by real-life experiences of the individuals whose
opinions are expressed in the article. While there are no opposing
arguments, it can be understood that factual statements may not need a
refuting argument. Additionally, the article does not seek to be
argumentative, rather the author focuses on explaining and providing
evidence for her position regarding the subject. The claim also
supports the author’s thesis, especially because the millennials have to
develop online profiles customized for potential employers. The
online profiles create an identity that will differ from the offline one,
further supporting the author’s arguments.
The main support for the author’s claim regarding employment
scrutiny can be made by considering the scholarly work and scientific
evidence. According to Vitelar, personal branding has become a
critical aspect for Generation Z, in which case social media becomes a
crucial tool to serve this purpose (257). The need for personal
branding is to create an identity that represents an individual in the
networking sites, either for job-seeking, blogging, entrepreneurship, or
other personal development and promotion initiatives. Additionally,
the fact that all information that employers need regarding a person
can be found on social media means that employers find an easier
scrutiny mechanism than arranging for interviews and reviewing
resumes.
An argument can be made that the article fails to present the other side
of the story in that the candidates also scrutinize businesses on the
internet to determine whether they can be good employers. Firms,
therefore, also behave in the same way as the millennials on social
media (Mičík and Mičudová 171). In other words, entities create
online profiles, which are intended to attract new employees,
especially millennials.
Identity Crisis
The title of the article hints at the main claim made by the author,
which is the fact that millennials are having to keep switching
identities. Such a scenario can be described as an identity crisis, which
implies that the youth no longer understand what their real identity is.
Lowry used first-hand experiences of individuals and a published
book by Van den Bergh to support the argument that online identities
are different from offline ones. The main cause for such a scenario is
that the millennials have been pre-wired to create and achieve success
stories. Such critical requirements mean that their daily strife is geared
towards finding means to represent themselves online. Those that do
not find real or genuine stories to tell have no option but to create fake
stories. Identities created out of such strategies are not real, which
explains why many explain that they can only be themselves when
they are alone.
Evaluation
The claim of identity crisis is connected with the argument of
authenticity as will be discussed in the following section. However,
the article succeeds in supporting the fact that online and offline
identities are different and having to constantly switch between the
two creates the phenomenon of an identity crisis. What Lowry
represents as a behavioral problem could be perceived by scholars as a
cognitive issue affecting all social media users. The identity crisis is
described by researchers as the condition where individuals cannot
establish how to view, create, and define their identity. According to
Arfini et al., personal identity is contextually framed, which means
that the networking sites have created a context in which people’s
identities have to adjust (193). The keyword in this statement is
‘adjust’, which reflects a scenario where a change in context causes a
change in identity. Therefore, Lowry’s ideas of stranding between
online and offline profiles are supported by scientific literature.
The identity crisis could also be the result of a globalized social sphere
created by influencers. Alishahi, et al. explain that social media
creates an identity crisis because the globalization of communicates
creates a scenario where individuals do not know their identity
elements, including religion, race, language, culture, and ethnicity (2).
The role of influencers has been reviewed by scholars who reveal that
hybrid identities have been created in an attempt to adjust to the online
communities (Ayish and AlNajjar 27). The concept of identity denotes
a sense of belonging to a group. Therefore, what the article by Lowry
fails to mention is that social media has created a global online
community that is culturally diverse. The result of diversification is
that the influencers have a chance to determine the norm, meaning all
those who need to be part have to adjust to new norms and form a new
identity. The challenge comes when such online identities do not work
in the real world where the media users have to adopt new identities
for the context of the physical world. However, the article supports the
thesis and uses real-life experience as evidence to support the claim of
an identity crisis.
Authenticity of Identity
As mentioned earlier, the claim of identity crisis is related to the
problem of authenticity. The argument is that the crisis results in a
situation where people have to switch between identities as they move
across different contexts. People with more than one identity can be
seen as having fake identities, which is the basis of the claim by
Lowry that social media undermines the authenticity of personal
identities. The root cause of the problem is the fact that the millennials
are having to constantly worry about missing opportunities, especially
employment. The need to create success stories leads to the
development of fake profiles, stories, and identities. The millennials
are aware that they will be scrutinized by potential employers through
what they post on social media. Therefore, there emerges the need to
market oneself, even if it means creating misleading profiles.
Evaluation
The problem of authenticity is real and has even attracted the attention
of scholars. For example, Salisbury and Pooley define authenticity as
the situation where the users’ online profiles match their real-world
(2). The scholarly work on the issue of identity authenticity means that
Lowry’s claim that social media undermines the genuineness of users
is justified. Therefore, employers can no longer trust that the social
media posts reflect the true identities of potential candidates. As in all
other claims, the evidence can be deemed adequate to support the
argument. Additionally, the claim supports the thesis because it shows
one key problem of changing personal identities across contexts.
Lastly, there are no opposing arguments for this claim because the
author focuses more on presenting evidence than on creating an
argument. As mentioned earlier, the article by Lowry is majorly a
collection of opinions and evidence to explain the situation. Therefore,
the author cannot be criticized for not creating alternative arguments
regarding the issue.
Recommendation
The arguments in the article have all been supported by quoting
expressions and opinions from various people. However, the author
pays too much attention to proving evidence than articulating the
issue. A large percentage of the article comprises direct quotes and a
few statements from the author. While there is nothing wrong with
using supporting opinions, there is a need for an author to let the
audience know his or her position on the issue. Currently, Lowry’s
position can only be inferred from the few statements the many quotes
used. The use of first-hand experiences is also another key strength of
the article. However, social media is a subject that has been
scientifically studied and, therefore, it is recommended that the author
could use scientific facts to further support the arguments. The issue
of personal identity can be cognitive, social, or even behavioral. These
theoretical frameworks would help understand the underlying issues
affecting the users and their online interactions.
Social Media Judgment
The first claim made by the author is that social media is a place that a
person can be judged based on what they post or say on the platforms.
The expressions of an interviewee, Mariah Hanaike, reveal that an
individual fear being themselves because anything they do will
potentially be used in other sites where other people will view and
judge (Lowry). Hanaike simply summarizes the behavior of people on
social media and gives the authors a starting point in presenting her
position regarding the effects of social media on millennials. Lowry
used these insights to further highlight that many individuals can only
be themselves when they are alone. Lowry states that a previous study
concluded that one in four millennials agree to the opinion that their
true selves are only possible when they are alone (par. 4). Therefore, it
means that what people view online is different from what can be
observed offline.
Evaluation
An evaluation of the first claim can be used to answer some key
questions, including the evidence used and whether the claim supports
the thesis. First, it is important to acknowledge that Lowry only
mentions a recent study for which she does not provide details.
However, the quote for Hanaike’s opinions provided enough
justification for Lowry’s ideas. Second, it can be argued that the
problem of social media judgment is real and can be expressed by any
person who uses the technology. Lastly, current studies can support
the claim by presenting empirical evidence that social networking
sites can be used as a means to judge people based on what they post
and how they act.
The empirical evidence of people being judged on social media covers
such key aspects as personality. For example, a study by Tadesse et al.
expresses that such social networking sites as Twitter, Weibo, and
Facebook are increasingly used by individuals to learn about others
(61959). The focus of their study is on how people’s personalities can
be predicted by examining online performances and behaviors. Even
though Tadesse et al. mean to illustrate how researchers and experts
can use social media, it is important to understand that the same
mechanisms apply when other users want to learn about individuals.
The same sentiments can be found in a study by Peters et al. who find
that teens are particularly sensitive to social evaluation (2). In other
words, adolescents tend to worry about how other people perceive
them, which illustrates that social media is used to judge. All
mentioned evidence supports the claim by Lowry that using social
media can cause judgement. However, no opposing views are
presented, but this does not affect the fact that the claim supports the
thesis.
Employment Scrutiny
One of the areas where the millennials express their fears regarding
the use of social media is employment. Lowry’s article explains the
employers are increasingly using social media to scrutinize candidates
(par. 23). The situation has become so common that many of the
individuals interviewed in the article fear that the companies are
already aware of the candidate even before the interview is convened.
Therefore, the millennials are having to ensure that whatever they post
on social networking sites is intended to sell themselves to the world
and, most importantly, the recruiters. Individuals without adequate
social media presence could risk missing the opportunities as their
peers exploit them fully. Lowry finds that, by quoting an individual
named Lake, paper resumes are no longer necessary. The key point is
that sending applications for jobs is now not a good route to success,
an opinion that Lowry backs with the views of a New York Times
editor, Phyllis Korkki. However, the major claim is that recruiters tend
to scrutinize candidates using their social media profiles, which leaves
some in a disadvantaged position.
Evaluation
While the author’s claim focuses on employment scrutiny, it is
important to understand that everybody and every firm seeks to take
advantage of the opportunities presented by social media. Lowry’s
argument is backed by real-life experiences of the individuals whose
opinions are expressed in the article. While there are no opposing
arguments, it can be understood that factual statements may not need a
refuting argument. Additionally, the article does not seek to be
argumentative, rather the author focuses on explaining and providing
evidence for her position regarding the subject. The claim also
supports the author’s thesis, especially because the millennials have to
develop online profiles customized for potential employers. The
online profiles create an identity that will differ from the offline one,
further supporting the author’s arguments.
The main support for the author’s claim regarding employment
scrutiny can be made by considering the scholarly work and scientific
evidence. According to Vitelar, personal branding has become a
critical aspect for Generation Z, in which case social media becomes a
crucial tool to serve this purpose (257). The need for personal
branding is to create an identity that represents an individual in the
networking sites, either for job-seeking, blogging, entrepreneurship, or
other personal development and promotion initiatives. Additionally,
the fact that all information that employers need regarding a person
can be found on social media means that employers find an easier
scrutiny mechanism than arranging for interviews and reviewing
resumes.
An argument can be made that the article fails to present the other side
of the story in that the candidates also scrutinize businesses on the
internet to determine whether they can be good employers. Firms,
therefore, also behave in the same way as the millennials on social
media (Mičík and Mičudová 171). In other words, entities create
online profiles, which are intended to attract new employees,
especially millennials.
Identity Crisis
The title of the article hints at the main claim made by the author,
which is the fact that millennials are having to keep switching
identities. Such a scenario can be described as an identity crisis, which
implies that the youth no longer understand what their real identity is.
Lowry used first-hand experiences of individuals and a published
book by Van den Bergh to support the argument that online identities
are different from offline ones. The main cause for such a scenario is
that the millennials have been pre-wired to create and achieve success
stories. Such critical requirements mean that their daily strife is geared
towards finding means to represent themselves online. Those that do
not find real or genuine stories to tell have no option but to create fake
stories. Identities created out of such strategies are not real, which
explains why many explain that they can only be themselves when
they are alone.
Evaluation
The claim of identity crisis is connected with the argument of
authenticity as will be discussed in the following section. However,
the article succeeds in supporting the fact that online and offline
identities are different and having to constantly switch between the
two creates the phenomenon of an identity crisis. What Lowry
represents as a behavioral problem could be perceived by scholars as a
cognitive issue affecting all social media users. The identity crisis is
described by researchers as the condition where individuals cannot
establish how to view, create, and define their identity. According to
Arfini et al., personal identity is contextually framed, which means
that the networking sites have created a context in which people’s
identities have to adjust (193). The keyword in this statement is
‘adjust’, which reflects a scenario where a change in context causes a
change in identity. Therefore, Lowry’s ideas of stranding between
online and offline profiles are supported by scientific literature.
The identity crisis could also be the result of a globalized social sphere
created by influencers. Alishahi, et al. explain that social media
creates an identity crisis because the globalization of communicates
creates a scenario where individuals do not know their identity
elements, including religion, race, language, culture, and ethnicity (2).
The role of influencers has been reviewed by scholars who reveal that
hybrid identities have been created in an attempt to adjust to the online
communities (Ayish and AlNajjar 27). The concept of identity denotes
a sense of belonging to a group. Therefore, what the article by Lowry
fails to mention is that social media has created a global online
community that is culturally diverse. The result of diversification is
that the influencers have a chance to determine the norm, meaning all
those who need to be part have to adjust to new norms and form a new
identity. The challenge comes when such online identities do not work
in the real world where the media users have to adopt new identities
for the context of the physical world. However, the article supports the
thesis and uses real-life experience as evidence to support the claim of
an identity crisis.
Authenticity of Identity
As mentioned earlier, the claim of identity crisis is related to the
problem of authenticity. The argument is that the crisis results in a
situation where people have to switch between identities as they move
across different contexts. People with more than one identity can be
seen as having fake identities, which is the basis of the claim by
Lowry that social media undermines the authenticity of personal
identities. The root cause of the problem is the fact that the millennials
are having to constantly worry about missing opportunities, especially
employment. The need to create success stories leads to the
development of fake profiles, stories, and identities. The millennials
are aware that they will be scrutinized by potential employers through
what they post on social media. Therefore, there emerges the need to
market oneself, even if it means creating misleading profiles.
Evaluation
The problem of authenticity is real and has even attracted the attention
of scholars. For example, Salisbury and Pooley define authenticity as
the situation where the users’ online profiles match their real-world
(2). The scholarly work on the issue of identity authenticity means that
Lowry’s claim that social media undermines the genuineness of users
is justified. Therefore, employers can no longer trust that the social
media posts reflect the true identities of potential candidates. As in all
other claims, the evidence can be deemed adequate to support the
argument. Additionally, the claim supports the thesis because it shows
one key problem of changing personal identities across contexts.
Lastly, there are no opposing arguments for this claim because the
author focuses more on presenting evidence than on creating an
argument. As mentioned earlier, the article by Lowry is majorly a
collection of opinions and evidence to explain the situation. Therefore,
the author cannot be criticized for not creating alternative arguments
regarding the issue.
Recommendation
The arguments in the article have all been supported by quoting
expressions and opinions from various people. However, the author
pays too much attention to proving evidence than articulating the
issue. A large percentage of the article comprises direct quotes and a
few statements from the author. While there is nothing wrong with
using supporting opinions, there is a need for an author to let the
audience know his or her position on the issue. Currently, Lowry’s
position can only be inferred from the few statements the many quotes
used. The use of first-hand experiences is also another key strength of
the article. However, social media is a subject that has been
scientifically studied and, therefore, it is recommended that the author
could use scientific facts to further support the arguments. The issue
of personal identity can be cognitive, social, or even behavioral. These
theoretical frameworks would help understand the underlying issues
affecting the users and their online interactions.
Social Media Judgment
The first claim made by the author is that social media is a place that a
person can be judged based on what they post or say on the platforms.
The expressions of an interviewee, Mariah Hanaike, reveal that an
individual fear being themselves because anything they do will
potentially be used in other sites where other people will view and
judge (Lowry). Hanaike simply summarizes the behavior of people on
social media and gives the authors a starting point in presenting her
position regarding the effects of social media on millennials. Lowry
used these insights to further highlight that many individuals can only
be themselves when they are alone. Lowry states that a previous study
concluded that one in four millennials agree to the opinion that their
true selves are only possible when they are alone (par. 4). Therefore, it
means that what people view online is different from what can be
observed offline.
Evaluation
An evaluation of the first claim can be used to answer some key
questions, including the evidence used and whether the claim supports
the thesis. First, it is important to acknowledge that Lowry only
mentions a recent study for which she does not provide details.
However, the quote for Hanaike’s opinions provided enough
justification for Lowry’s ideas. Second, it can be argued that the
problem of social media judgment is real and can be expressed by any
person who uses the technology. Lastly, current studies can support
the claim by presenting empirical evidence that social networking
sites can be used as a means to judge people based on what they post
and how they act.
The empirical evidence of people being judged on social media covers
such key aspects as personality. For example, a study by Tadesse et al.
expresses that such social networking sites as Twitter, Weibo, and
Facebook are increasingly used by individuals to learn about others
(61959). The focus of their study is on how people’s personalities can
be predicted by examining online performances and behaviors. Even
though Tadesse et al. mean to illustrate how researchers and experts
can use social media, it is important to understand that the same
mechanisms apply when other users want to learn about individuals.
The same sentiments can be found in a study by Peters et al. who find
that teens are particularly sensitive to social evaluation (2). In other
words, adolescents tend to worry about how other people perceive
them, which illustrates that social media is used to judge. All
mentioned evidence supports the claim by Lowry that using social
media can cause judgement. However, no opposing views are
presented, but this does not affect the fact that the claim supports the
thesis.
Employment Scrutiny
One of the areas where the millennials express their fears regarding
the use of social media is employment. Lowry’s article explains the
employers are increasingly using social media to scrutinize candidates
(par. 23). The situation has become so common that many of the
individuals interviewed in the article fear that the companies are
already aware of the candidate even before the interview is convened.
Therefore, the millennials are having to ensure that whatever they post
on social networking sites is intended to sell themselves to the world
and, most importantly, the recruiters. Individuals without adequate
social media presence could risk missing the opportunities as their
peers exploit them fully. Lowry finds that, by quoting an individual
named Lake, paper resumes are no longer necessary. The key point is
that sending applications for jobs is now not a good route to success,
an opinion that Lowry backs with the views of a New York Times
editor, Phyllis Korkki. However, the major claim is that recruiters tend
to scrutinize candidates using their social media profiles, which leaves
some in a disadvantaged position.
Evaluation
While the author’s claim focuses on employment scrutiny, it is
important to understand that everybody and every firm seeks to take
advantage of the opportunities presented by social media. Lowry’s
argument is backed by real-life experiences of the individuals whose
opinions are expressed in the article. While there are no opposing
arguments, it can be understood that factual statements may not need a
refuting argument. Additionally, the article does not seek to be
argumentative, rather the author focuses on explaining and providing
evidence for her position regarding the subject. The claim also
supports the author’s thesis, especially because the millennials have to
develop online profiles customized for potential employers. The
online profiles create an identity that will differ from the offline one,
further supporting the author’s arguments.
The main support for the author’s claim regarding employment
scrutiny can be made by considering the scholarly work and scientific
evidence. According to Vitelar, personal branding has become a
critical aspect for Generation Z, in which case social media becomes a
crucial tool to serve this purpose (257). The need for personal
branding is to create an identity that represents an individual in the
networking sites, either for job-seeking, blogging, entrepreneurship, or
other personal development and promotion initiatives. Additionally,
the fact that all information that employers need regarding a person
can be found on social media means that employers find an easier
scrutiny mechanism than arranging for interviews and reviewing
resumes.
An argument can be made that the article fails to present the other side
of the story in that the candidates also scrutinize businesses on the
internet to determine whether they can be good employers. Firms,
therefore, also behave in the same way as the millennials on social
media (Mičík and Mičudová 171). In other words, entities create
online profiles, which are intended to attract new employees,
especially millennials.
Identity Crisis
The title of the article hints at the main claim made by the author,
which is the fact that millennials are having to keep switching
identities. Such a scenario can be described as an identity crisis, which
implies that the youth no longer understand what their real identity is.
Lowry used first-hand experiences of individuals and a published
book by Van den Bergh to support the argument that online identities
are different from offline ones. The main cause for such a scenario is
that the millennials have been pre-wired to create and achieve success
stories. Such critical requirements mean that their daily strife is geared
towards finding means to represent themselves online. Those that do
not find real or genuine stories to tell have no option but to create fake
stories. Identities created out of such strategies are not real, which
explains why many explain that they can only be themselves when
they are alone.
Evaluation
The claim of identity crisis is connected with the argument of
authenticity as will be discussed in the following section. However,
the article succeeds in supporting the fact that online and offline
identities are different and having to constantly switch between the
two creates the phenomenon of an identity crisis. What Lowry
represents as a behavioral problem could be perceived by scholars as a
cognitive issue affecting all social media users. The identity crisis is
described by researchers as the condition where individuals cannot
establish how to view, create, and define their identity. According to
Arfini et al., personal identity is contextually framed, which means
that the networking sites have created a context in which people’s
identities have to adjust (193). The keyword in this statement is
‘adjust’, which reflects a scenario where a change in context causes a
change in identity. Therefore, Lowry’s ideas of stranding between
online and offline profiles are supported by scientific literature.
The identity crisis could also be the result of a globalized social sphere
created by influencers. Alishahi, et al. explain that social media
creates an identity crisis because the globalization of communicates
creates a scenario where individuals do not know their identity
elements, including religion, race, language, culture, and ethnicity (2).
The role of influencers has been reviewed by scholars who reveal that
hybrid identities have been created in an attempt to adjust to the online
communities (Ayish and AlNajjar 27). The concept of identity denotes
a sense of belonging to a group. Therefore, what the article by Lowry
fails to mention is that social media has created a global online
community that is culturally diverse. The result of diversification is
that the influencers have a chance to determine the norm, meaning all
those who need to be part have to adjust to new norms and form a new
identity. The challenge comes when such online identities do not work
in the real world where the media users have to adopt new identities
for the context of the physical world. However, the article supports the
thesis and uses real-life experience as evidence to support the claim of
an identity crisis.
Authenticity of Identity
As mentioned earlier, the claim of identity crisis is related to the
problem of authenticity. The argument is that the crisis results in a
situation where people have to switch between identities as they move
across different contexts. People with more than one identity can be
seen as having fake identities, which is the basis of the claim by
Lowry that social media undermines the authenticity of personal
identities. The root cause of the problem is the fact that the millennials
are having to constantly worry about missing opportunities, especially
employment. The need to create success stories leads to the
development of fake profiles, stories, and identities. The millennials
are aware that they will be scrutinized by potential employers through
what they post on social media. Therefore, there emerges the need to
market oneself, even if it means creating misleading profiles.
Evaluation
The problem of authenticity is real and has even attracted the attention
of scholars. For example, Salisbury and Pooley define authenticity as
the situation where the users’ online profiles match their real-world
(2). The scholarly work on the issue of identity authenticity means that
Lowry’s claim that social media undermines the genuineness of users
is justified. Therefore, employers can no longer trust that the social
media posts reflect the true identities of potential candidates. As in all
other claims, the evidence can be deemed adequate to support the
argument. Additionally, the claim supports the thesis because it shows
one key problem of changing personal identities across contexts.
Lastly, there are no opposing arguments for this claim because the
author focuses more on presenting evidence than on creating an
argument. As mentioned earlier, the article by Lowry is majorly a
collection of opinions and evidence to explain the situation. Therefore,
the author cannot be criticized for not creating alternative arguments
regarding the issue.
Recommendation
The arguments in the article have all been supported by quoting
expressions and opinions from various people. However, the author
pays too much attention to proving evidence than articulating the
issue. A large percentage of the article comprises direct quotes and a
few statements from the author. While there is nothing wrong with
using supporting opinions, there is a need for an author to let the
audience know his or her position on the issue. Currently, Lowry’s
position can only be inferred from the few statements the many quotes
used. The use of first-hand experiences is also another key strength of
the article. However, social media is a subject that has been
scientifically studied and, therefore, it is recommended that the author
could use scientific facts to further support the arguments. The issue
of personal identity can be cognitive, social, or even behavioral. These
theoretical frameworks would help understand the underlying issues
affecting the users and their online interactions.
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