We can all agree that social media and the constructs built around it caused a multitude of irreversible damage. Gen Z college students are the first generation to feel it to its full extent. Twitter memes, TikTok trends, and popular Instagram aesthetics are all things we constantly scroll through. We then adapt our following posts, and sometimes personalities, to fit the modern, trendy user. It’s true that writing is a prerequisite for a successful TikTok trend. Yet, social media is something I perceive as completely abstract from college writing. Never in my wildest dreams would I see social media as the root of the methods I’d use while writing a process theory essay.
In “Four Things Social Media Can Teach You about College Writing—and One Thing It Can’t,” Amicucci found an intricate way to demonstrate that social media can, in fact, teach you things about college writing.
In two of her four methods, she talks about knowing your hashtag audiences and picking your filter. I found these the most interesting because, in a way, they complicate writing more. She uses the social media analogy of picking a physical filter, the angle of the camera, the background, etc. You curate these filters as well as the hashtags you use in your college writing. By using these methods, you have the power to cultivate a specific or broad audience. Yes, it complicates things! Instead of writing for a specific person, you have to do a little more reflecting on who exactly you can reach.
How can I make these research essays reach more discourse communities?
Although I fully believe in the effectiveness of Amicucci’s methods. I do believe taking the four pieces of advice into consideration while writing may become a convoluted process for many. If writers aren’t familiar with organized writing with a low severity of overlapping, it may produce a need for multitasking. In Travis Bradberry’s, “Multitasking Damages Your Brain and Career, New Studies Suggest”, he expands on the negative effects of multitasking. Many believe in its effectiveness. getting things done faster is always a good idea, right? And it is even better if you can do it efficiently. Wrong.
The University of London found that people who multitask during cognitive tasks physically lower their IQ. Crazily enough, they lowered their average IQ scores to meet those of an eight-year-old child. This is why curating an organized writing method has deemed itself so crucial. Having constant overlap is detrimental to yourself. Fitting Amicucci’s methods into specific parts of your writing process is crucial for proper progression.
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