Layden 1

Luke Layden

Professor Toy

ENC 1102

11th September 2020

Research Proposal

What is the Rhetorical Conversation Around the Use of Technology and Social Media and

How Does it Affect the Way We Read, Write, Learn and Process?

Luke Layden

University of Central Florida (UCF)

For this research study, I plan on using the genre theory to do a rhetorical analysis

on the effects that both social media and technology have on the way we learn and our attention

spans. Rhetorical analysis is the study of how writers and speakers use language to influence the

audience, and this will allow me to analyze the strategies that that authors use in order to come to

their conclusion. I chose the academic genre because I want to show how similar situations

generate specific responses. I think it will be the best and most clear way to make my intentions

known in my research paper. My goal for this research is to find out and show whether social

media and technology help or hurt the way we read, write or communicate by analyzing

preexisting academic articles. I plan to use scholarly articles to draw my own conclusions and

see the positive and negative effects of social media and technology.

The way people learn, and their attention spans can have a huge impact on their lives.

That’s why it’s so important to know how social media and technology could be affecting the

way we learn and communicate with others. With the introduction of spell check, for example,
 Layden 2

we might rely too much on technology to fix our mistakes. We have to be careful about where

we search for information online because we might not know that we are getting false

information. Email has reduced in-person conversations, lessening face-to-face interactions.

With the introduction of social media apps, such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok,

we might waste too much time looking at what others are doing, instead of reading a book or

learning something new through experimentation.

Overall, we might become lazy and impatient because we think everything should happen

instantly with so much technology at our hands, making our lives easier in so many ways. We

might rely on technology for an easy source of entertainment, instead of going outdoors to

explore nature or going to check out a new restaurant or entertainment venue in town. On the

internet we’ve gotten used to looking at pictures and reading captions or watching short videos

on the best moments of an event, instead of reading more in-depth articles about important

happenings. As we spend more time on the internet and social media, it might limit our life

experiences and our socialization with others. We might become more isolated, which isn’t

healthy.

The instant gratification from social media and the internet might have caused people to

have shorter attention spans because they can skip to the best parts of a video or TV show,

missing what might be really important. For example, if you are watching something on

YouTube and you find a part that’s boring, you could just fast forward to get to the part you like,

but then maybe you won’t understand the full story. Technology has also allowed people to find

information quicker and more efficiently. Before if you wanted to find the definition of a word

you would have to use a dictionary and now with the invention of search engines, such as

Google, you just have to hit a few keys to find what you want. Likewise, you can find an article
 Layden 3

of your choice almost instantly. This has probably made people impatient and in turn they get

bored or frustrated easily because things seem slow if they aren’t instantaneous.

For my research paper, I plan to do a rhetorical analysis to see if the use of technology

and social media have an effect on the way that we read, write, communicate and process

information. My goals for the research study are to find the negative and positive impacts in our

lives. More specifically I want to look at the effects on people’s attention spans. I believe that

this study is necessary because we spend too much time using screens and technology, missing

out on things that are more important.

In recent years, there has been an increase in the use of technology by all ages, and it has

become a norm in society. I want to understand and share the effects on our everyday lives.

According to The Pew Charitable Trust, in 2019, 9 out of 10 US adults said that they go online,

81% said that they own a smartphone and 72% said they use social media. This means that

technology could have negative or positive effects on a large part of the population and the

research could allow the world to have a better understanding of the impacts.

For the research, I will be doing surveys to ask people how they feel about using social

media and other technology to communicate and to gather information on how they have

affected the way they think and the way they learn. I hope to find out whether technology has

helped or hurt people’s learning and attention spans. I will also be doing a textual analysis, which

will allow me to learn more about my topic. The goal is to find patterns and relationships

between the use of social media and technology and learning. I would also hope to give an

ethnography, which would allow me to share my experiences with social media and technology

and how they have affected my own life. The sources I have selected include information about

technology and social media and how they could impact people’s lives, such as their attention
 Layden 4

spans or learning abilities. I will be able to compare the articles and any data they may contain

and see correlations.

Here’s a look at my timeline for my research paper:

Week 5/6: Research articles

-Find and review relevant articles

-Look for positive and negative impacts

-Draw conclusions

Data Preparation

-Create surveys

-Create questions that are meaningful

Week 7/8: Collect Data

-Go through those responses to make sure that none of the surveys are messed up

-Consider my own answers to the survey and experiences

Week 9: Review My Findings

Add the data and my findings to the paper to show if: The Use of Technology and Social Media

Have an Effect on the Way That We Learn, and Does it Shorten our Attention Spans?
 Layden 5

Work Cited:

Amirault, RJ., et al. Computer-Based Technology and Student Engagement: A Critical Review of
the Literature. 1 Jan. 1970,
https://educationaltechnologyjournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s41239-017-0063-
0

Egan, Timothy. “The Eight-Second Attention Span.” The New York Times, Jan. 22, 2016,
www.nytimes.com/2016/01/22/opinion/the-eight-second-attention-span.html.

Horvath, Andi. “How Does Technology Affect Our Brains?” Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and
Health Sciences, Aug. 3, 2015, https://mdhs.unimelb.edu.au/news-and-events/news-
archive/how-does-technology-affect-our-brains.

Firth, Joseph, et al. “The ‘Online Brain’: How the Internet May Be Changing Our Cognition.”
World Psychiatry: Official Journal of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA), John
Wiley & Sons, Inc., June 2019, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6502424/.

Allen, Summer. “Social Media's Growing Impact on Our Lives.” American Psychological
Association, Sept. 20, 2019, https://www.apa.org/members/content/social-media-research

Bonilla Gaby. “How the U.S. Changed Over the Past Decade,” The Pew Charitable Trusts
Magazine, May 2020. Pages 62-63.
 Layden 6

Appendix A
List of questions I plan to ask for my survey:

1. How old are you?

2. How many hours do you use social media on a daily basis?

3. How many hours do you use your phone or computer per day?

4. Do you think that social media affects your attention span?

5. What social media app do you use most often?

6. Why do you find yourself using this app more than others?

7. Do you think that the use of technology has positively or negatively affected your

learning?

8. Do you think spellcheck makes you rely less on spelling words by yourself?

9. How often do you read a physical book or go to the library?

10. How much time do you spend outdoors or away from technology per week?