MARCUS' FIQWS BOOK: My Journey As A Writer In FIQWS Psychology Of Social Media

Critical Analysis Reflection

     When I was first given the outline for the critical analysis paper I knew that this paper was going to be hard for me to write. Before picking my final topic, I was very indecisive on what I was going to write about. The prompt was too broad and I couldn’t come up with a topic that interested me, related to me, and satisfied the basic requirements. After writing a first draft and realizing that the paper did not have the outcome that I wanted I finally decided to write about how people become addicted to the internet because of the techniques that developers incorporate on their platforms. Even with my topic picked out I struggled with turning the essay into both a research and argumentative essay. However, in the end I was able to persevere and cover every aspect of the essay.

     The genre of the essay is broken down into multiple steps. In the introduction, I incorporated a personal anecdote with a question and the key arguments that I was going to state throughout my essay. After the introduction, I had talked about what internet addiction is and the goal that social media developers have in mind by incorporating techniques such as snap streaks and autopay. Furthermore, I had introduced the argumentative points in a couple of paragraphs and then concluded with the answer to my question in the introduction. What had prompted me to write about this topic is that I had read an academic journal about how the owner of Uber implements rewards and stickers for their employees to get them to continue driving. I found it interesting how something so simple like an animated sticker can channel an individual to become addicted to technology. I was also intrigued by the topic because I found myself vulnerable to these techniques causing myself to stay hooked to the different social media platforms.

     My essay is intended for people who are addicted to their phones and find themselves on social media platforms for a longer time period than they had attended. What I hoped to accomplish with my critical analysis essay is to correctly persuade my audience that the reason that internet addiction is a thing is because of the techniques that are hidden throughout the platforms. I had also hoped that my audience can now point out and avoid the techniques to save themselves from becoming addicted to technology. The critical analysis essay had helped me to be able to do thorough research and to find credible sources. I can now decipher if an article, blog, or news report is credible by looking at who wrote it, and where it came from. In addition, I also learned different ways to introduce and conclude essays. I can now introduce or conclude my essays by giving a definition, anecdote, background information, call to action, or a quote.