Running head: EFFECTS OF TECHNOLOGY

Effects of Technology on Children and Teenagers: Genre analysis of a video and a blog. Roberto Martinez University of Texas at El Paso

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Introduction Technology has existed since before com !ter and cell hones a eared in the late "#$$%s& it has been aro!nd since the creation of fire and stone 'ea ons. Technology can have both( ositive and negative effects on society and can es ecially affect the yo!nger generations in the 'ay that they learn( and the means that they !se to interact 'ith the rest of the 'orld and other individ!als. Technology is something that it is evolving at an ex onential rate and something that has become art of almost everyone%s ersonal life. This a er 'ill foc!s on t'o different genres incl!ding a )o!t!be video( made by Taylor *ofstrand called +,egative effects of technology on -ids.( 'hich informs its a!dience abo!t the vario!s negative effects that technology may ca!se on children( and ho' they can revent these effects. The second genre examined is a blog( +/m acts of Media Technology on Teenagers.( created by three 0shton College st!dents( 1anielle( 2anny( and 3halid( 'hich !r ose is to inform abo!t the many im acts that technology has on today%s teenagers and 'ays the a!dience co!ld avoid some of them. 4oth of these genres% !r ose is to inform their a!diences of the vario!s 'ays that technology may affect today%s children and teenagers and ho' these negative im acts can be revented or addressed. Audience and Purpose The )o!t!be video aims for a s ecific a!dience( c!rrent and f!t!re arents. This genre%s !r ose is not only to raise a'areness to its a!dience( b!t to also inform arents of ho' technology is negatively affecting their children in their early develo ment. The a!dience is already a'are of technology%s great im act on society( and some of the negative effects it can carry 'ith it. *o'ever( the a!dience 'ants to -no' more( s ecifically the direct im act of technology on someone%s child& ho' it can affect the 'ay the child 'ill develo ( and ho' he or

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she 'ill interact 'ith the rest of the -ids of the same age. 0ll this genre needs is a roximately seven min!tes to inform its a!dience of the vario!s negative effects that technology can have on their children. The lang!age that this genre !ses to a ro riate for the video%s resent its information is formal and

!r ose beca!se it gives its a!dience more insight that the

information that they are loo-ing at is coming from someone 'ho has ta-en the time to research the roblem and 'ho -no's 'hat they are tal-ing abo!t. Unli-e the video( 'hose a!dience 'as directed to arents 'ith yo!ng children( the blog%s a!dience is intended for arents 'ith teenagers. This genre%s !r ose is to raise a'areness and to inform its a!dience of the vario!s negative and ositive im acts that technology brings to the c!rrent and f!t!re generations of teenagers and yo!ng ad!lts. The a!dience already -no's that 'ith the /nternet being able to be carried aro!nd almost every'here their -id goes( arents need to be a'are of the dangers that the /nternet might bring along 'ith it. The a!dience 'ants to -no' and learn ho' they can limit the !se of technology aro!nd their -ids and to -ee themselves ! dated of the different !ses that today%s teenagers !se technology for. The blog co!ld ta-e a little bit more of time than the video since the information needs to be read. The lang!age the blog !ses in order to resent its information and deliver its !r ose it is formal as 'ell. 0ltho!gh the a!dience for each of these genres is directed for t'o different ty es of arents( one of them being arents 'ith very yo!ng children( and the other one for arents 'ith teenagers( both of these genres have the intent of informing technology might have on their -ids. Rhetorical Issues arents of the im acts that

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The video%s credibility comes from vario!s s!rveys and different st!dies erformed by !niversities s!ch as 5tanford and other fo!ndations. *ofstrand states in her video( +6 a gro! of fo!r to six year olds 'ere as-ed to choose bet'een 'atching T7 and s ending 8!ality time 'ith their fathers( 9:; of them 'o!ld rather 'atch T76the average -id s ends over < = !sing technology gadgets e8!aling > = ho!rs of m!sic( almost 9 ho!rs of T7 and movies( three ho!rs of internet and videogames( and only ?@ min!tes of old fashioned reading.. A,egative effects of technology on -ids( >$">B. The addition of real n!mbers and ercentages s!ch as these greatly hel delivering the message and !r ose to its a!dience. The video ma-es very good !se of logos by also incl!ding ict!res from -ids laying videogames( 'atching T7( and of a family 'here all family members are !sing a hone or tablet( incl!ding the family%s dog. These exam les 'hich the a!dience co!ld relate to( allo' eo le to tr!st the information that it is being resented before them. The genre also rovo-es in its a!dience a feeling of a'areness and a sense of fear of ho' m!ch can technology affect a arent%s child& these sensations s! ort the genre%s obCective of

raising a'areness and delivering the information s!ccessf!lly to its a!dience beca!se of the good !se of logos and athos. 0s far as ethos is concerned( the only ty e of information that is offered by the video relating to this rhetorical analysis is ho' !nethical it may be for a child to limit their social interaction 'ith other eo le( incl!ding their o'n family( beca!se of an addiction to technology. The blog contains credible information( 'hich almost every teen co!ld relate to( b!t also information from other so!rces( 'hich s! ort the information that they are resenting for their

a!dience. This genre raises a'areness and confidence on the information that is being read( as 'ell as a need to ma-e several changes as far as ho' eo le !se technology and the /nternet according to 'hat their needs are. These feelings effectively s! ort this genre and s!ccessf!lly

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deliver the message to arents of the different ositive and negative im acts that technology might have on their teenagers. 5tating 1r. 4rian 4rodie( the bloggers 'rite( D1riving 'hile !sing a cell hone increases the chances of an accident. /n fact( a recent st!dy has sho'n that distracted drivers can be more li-ely than im aired drivers to ca!se an accident.D A/m acts of media technology on teenagers( >$"$B The addition of evidence from other so!rces s!ch as( st!dies and other research from different fo!ndations andEor organizations( highly s! that this genre is resenting to its !blic. Fith the good !se of ethos( logos( and athos( both of these genres generate the ort the !r ose of each ort the information

a ro riate feelings on their res ective a!dience( 'hich s!ccessf!lly s!

one of these genres. 0ltho!gh they are different 'hen it comes to the ty es of information that they have to offer( they both have evidence from different st!dies that s! ma-ing it highly credible. Structure and Delivery The video is very 'ell organized and resented. /ts organization highly hel s the video to deliver its message to its a!dience and to ma-e the contained information more !nderstandable. This genre is limited 'ith ho' m!ch information can be resented at once in each layo!t. 2or this reason( it is very im ortant that the a!dience is aying attention since information is at some oint resented in text and at some other in a!dio 'hile sho'ing a ict!re. /n order to -ee the a!dience foc!sed on the video( it sho's different ict!res that relate to 'hat the s ea-er is tal-ing abo!t 'hich enhances the !nderstanding of the resented information. The genre also contains different font and bac-gro!nd colors that -ee the a!dience from getting bored of C!st loo-ing at one same ty e of layo!t or resentation. Fith the !se of these different vis!als and colors the genre s!ccessf!lly -ee s its a!dience foc!sed and a'are of its intended !r ose. ort their information

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The blog is very 'ell organized as 'ell. The blog has very fe'( if no limitations at all 'hen resenting its information to its a!dience. 4eca!se the blog has more information to deliver to its a!dience in the form of text( its str!ct!re and organization is very im ortant in order to hel the a!dience to get thro!gh the information easily and smoothly. The blog ma-es good !se of vis!als and its str!ct!re by having all of the text on the left side of the screen 'hile having ict!res that relate to the information on the right side. The blog resents the main title in gold color and a bigger font size for it to stando!t at the very to of the age. /n addition to this( the blog also gives every main to ic a bl!e color and a bold design to every s!bGto ic in order to hel the a!dience identify that they 'ill -no' be reading abo!t a different category or s!bCect. 4oth of the genres have a very good str!ct!re and organization that hel s the a!dience get thro!gh the information. The organization and the !se of different vis!als and font colors also hel 'ith -ee ing the a!dience foc!sed on the information that is being resented to them. 0s far as differences( both of the genres ma-e !se of a different organization and the !se of different vis!als in order to s!ccessf!lly deliver their message to their res ective a!diences. Conclusion /n concl!sion( both genres s!ccessf!lly deliver credible and im ortant information to their res ective a!dience of the vario!s negative effects and different im acts that technology may bring to their -ids. Fhile the vis!al genre foc!ses mostly on the negative effects of technology on children( the ty ogra hical genre is more foc!sed on the im act that technology has on today%s teenagers. 5till( both genres are centered inside the same ty e of idea and clearly address the conflicts that technology might bring along 'ith it. 4oth of these genres% !r ose is to inform their a!dience of the vario!s im acts that technology may bring along. The video is more effective( since the so!rces that are incl!ded in the video are more reliable than the blog%s&

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the video also ma-es better !se of logos 'hich ma-es the a!dience feel more confidence abo!t the information that they are loo-ing at( 'hich in the end ma-es the video a better genre than the blog is. Technology in the end is something that if ab!sed( may be the ca!se of vario!s addictions( as 'ell as emotional and social roblems. /t is beca!se of these reasons that it is very im ortant that in today%s 'orld( 'here technology lays a big art of society and the 'ay eo le comm!nicate bet'een each other( that those 'ho are arents contrib!te to the nat!ral learning and the develo ment of good comm!nications s-ills of their -ids.

References 1anille( 2anny and 3ahlid. A>$"$( H!lyB. /m acts of media technology on teenagers. I'eb log commentJ. Retrieved from htt :EEtechnologyandteenagers.blogs ot.comE

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*ofstrand( T. A>$">( March "?B. ,egative effects of technology on -ids. Retrieved from htt :EE'''.yo!t!be.comE'atchKvL8UM:4sv@t)0