Ethos, Pathos, And Logos In Terms Of Service By Jacob Silverman

Many individuals participate on a social media site such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, or Twitter. Without participating on social media sites a person feels as if they are being isolated from the world. Social media user’s refuse to realize how such sites effect their daily lives and will affect their lives negatively in the future. Some individuals realize how social media is effecting our society, but continues to follow the trend. Terms of Service by Jacob Silverman is a book that explores how social media has a “price” by constantly being connected. Jacob Silverman presents an argument by using ethos, pathos, and logos stating that being connected to social media constantly will greatly affect our lives in the future because users …show more content…
Pathos are defined as a “strategy in which a writer tries to generate specific emotions in an audience to dispose it to accept a claim” (Lunsford 507). Throughout the book, there are instances you will find Silverman using humor or sarcasm as a strategy to put his readers at ease. In Terms of Service, Silverman gives his readers a statement by Eric Schmidt that demonstrates Silverman’s sarcasm. “It’s a future where you don’t forget anything…In this new future you’re never lost… We will know your position down to the foot and down to the inch over time…Your car will drive itself, it’s a bug that cars were invented before computers…you’re never lonely…you’re never bored…you’re never out of ideas” (Silverman ix). This quote demonstrates the sarcasm Silverman used in his book to make his readers more open to his argument. The ideas for the future sound good, but it is all very questionable. It provokes a smirk or a little chuckle from his readers. Silverman also uses pathos, or emotions to sustain an argument, by using other’s experiences to generate feelings from his audience. Silverman goes into detail on how a man sent a video resume in and it made its way online for others to view besides the man intended audience. The man received death threats and was ridiculed for his video that had sincere meaning to him. In January of 2013, a friend of this man made a post on his wall on Facebook. The post warned users on social media to not give or sell pills to his friend. The next day, the friend took an overdose of pills and died. (Silverman 74). It is hard to believe that this situation could not provoke any memorable emotion from Silverman’s readers. Unfortunately, situations like this happen more today on social media than individuals are aware, which in turn provokes strong