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Sofie Gold
Academic Writing 2
May 10, 2020
Influences of Society: How Social Media Showcases the Differing Genre Conventions of

Economics and Sociology

In the ever changing world of today, social media is at the forefront of many business

transactions, and is having a major impact on the way our society is shaping itself. Two different

discourse communities, sociology and economics, are often intertwining, as one defines the other

and the decisions made in the sociological discipline will affect those in the economic discipline,

and vice versa. The article “Social Media for Social Good or Evil” takes a sociological

perspective on whether social media is having a healthy impact on our society, or not. The article

“How Social Media Will Impact Marketing Media” takes a more economic standpoint in

analyzing social media and its effects on the changing economy. These two articles manage to

showcase the differences between these two disciplines, and the scholarly communities that they

create, by using varying word choice, diction, and addressing other rhetorical strategies in their

own unique ways, drawing upon the true differences between the fields.

Sociology tends to be a more all inclusive discipline than other, more specialized

disciplines, like economics. Sociology is the study of the many social problems we face as an

intelligent race of beings, this includes economics and its impacts on human life, however

economics is far more specific when taken in its own context. The article written for this

discipline is mainly analyzing the ways in which social media is a force for social good or social

detriment. This paper attempted to understand if the drawbacks of social media outweigh the

benefits, drawing evidence from a variety of other academic writings and journal articles. The

main point that this paper draws upon is the fact that we have the ability to control whether social
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media will be used for good or evil. The author states “social media can be used for social good,

such as overturning oppressive regimes or bringing income inequality to the forefront of national

and international discussions. At the same time, there will always be those who leverage

technology in ways that were unintended by the designers” (Hemsley 1). In doing this, Hemsley

is essentially creating a working definition that allows readers to understand the goals and inner

workings of this discipline of writing. Sociology is concerned with the ways that humans, and

society, face and overcome the problems they are given, and how we, as a species, are constantly

changing and evolving and becoming more complex. Social media gives us the opportunity to be

connected to millions of people at one time, regardless of location and regardless of economic

status. By examining this social issue, of whether social media is immoral or not, from a

sociological perspective, we see a much more human centric ideology forming, one that is

concerned with the people involved far more than the possible economic benefits. This paper is

widely applicable to other genres and discourse communities, and its information could be

combined with that from a different discipline to find a more complete answer to its’ central

thesis question of “Is social media being used for social good or social evil?” (Hemsley 1). This

article is not difficult to comprehend and it attacks many common issues and benefits of the

world of social media. The paper discusses how social media can be used to build false truths

and diminish consent as its evidence for the evil side of the up and coming world run by online

platforms. In addition to this, this journal article includes research that social media may be

helping the mental performance of older people and adults in addition to connecting millions of

people on an everyday basis as its evidence for the good side of online platforms. Sociology is a

discipline that uses understandable diction and a moderate tone that readers of many levels and

readers from other disciplines can understand with ease.

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Economics is a more specialized discipline, one that tends to be more exclusive due to the

specificity of the knowledge required to work and participate in the field in general. People

outside of this discipline often have a more difficult time making economic information

translatable into their own discourse communities than those within the discipline might. The

article analyzing social media from an economic standpoint was seeking an answer to how social

media is changing the business world, and the writers approached this by seeing the ways that

marketing and advertising are being shifted to online platforms and being personally tailored

with the information that social media is allowing businesses to collect. The article’s main claim

is that social media will permanently alter the way that we do business, both in person and

online. The evidence here is that everyone on social media is putting aspects of their life in the

public eye more than ever, causing there to be a shift in how business takes place. Especially in

advertising, social media is altering the world of economics, and making it easier than ever to

consume. This paper analyzes the financial side of social media and the implications it has for

the modern day economy. The writing is informative and precise, however at times. This article

displays the genre conventions of economics by using a tone and certain specialized jargon that

only people within the discourse community would know, making it more exclusive and less

comprehensible for the average person. The author cites multiple other journal articles and

academic publications as evidence for their core argument, that social media is forever altering

the way that products are presented to us and the way that we consume and further apply

information we see on social media platforms and beyond. The sources used in this article are

mostly primary sources from the economic discipline as well, however the author does branch

out and use some secondary sources in order to broadly analyze the impact of social media and

further concentrate on its economic impacts.

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These two disciplines, sociology and economics, have many similarities, however it is

their differences that these two articles showcase well and help readers see how different genre

conventions create different disciplines that have branches into every form of study we know of.

Sociology is a very broad discipline, sometimes crossing into the territory of other discourse

communities. Economics is a very focused discipline, it does not tend to be welcoming of people

unfamiliar with the terminology and concepts. Not only is sociology a more personable

discipline, it is easier for many people to comprehend and study without prior knowledge or

access to very specific conventions of the genre, which economics oftentimes requires. The

largest difference illustrated by these two articles however, is that the sociological perspective is

analyzing a moral debate about the impacts of social media, essentially saying that it is either

good or bad for various social reasons, while the economic article is only analyzing the financial

aspects of the rise in online platforms. Economics is about what is profitable and what is going to

generate revenue and allow new business ventures in order to continue stimulating the economy,

rather than the human emotional impact of actions. These two disciplines and their connection

through the topic of social media is that they attack two very different sides of the same issue,

and find common ground in certain places. The economic standpoint is showing how social

media can be used as a tool to influence the buying patterns of people and using their

information in order to tailor advertisements to encourage spending. This ties into the

sociological standpoint by showing that social media is oftentimes not used for what it was

originally intended for, however this discipline is more concerned with whether or not our

interactions are genuine or whether they are promoting false identities and flimsy connections.

These two spheres of influence in the academic world find themselves colliding in the

world of social media, demonstrating the most obvious and the most obscure differences between
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the two genres, sociology and economics. Even to the lesser experienced readers, certain genre

conventions are obvious enough that we can clearly see where these disciplines split and where

they converge. These articles showcase the ways that the scholarly communities of these two

genres differ by using specified genre conventions and a certain tone combined with language

applicable within the respective disciplines in order to show readers the contrast in priorities of

the two genres.

References:
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Hemsley, Jeff, et al. “Social Media for Social Good or Evil: An Introduction.” Social Media +

Society, vol. 4, no. 3, 2018, p. 205630511878671.,

doi:10.1177/2056305118786719.

Johns, A. M., & Johns, A. M. (1997). Text, role, and context: developing academic literacies.

New York: Cambridge University Press.

Sheth, Jagdish N. “How Social Media Will Impact Marketing Media.” Social Media Marketing,

2018, pp. 3–18., doi:10.1007/978-981-10-5323-8_1.

Cover Letter
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In developing this writing project, I came across many obstacles and found sanctuary in

the revision process. In the weeks leading up to writing my first draft, I researched and read

through many possible articles before choosing the two that are used in the paper. In doing this

research, I also learned a lot more about my topic and the wide variety of ways that people

interpret and use social media for their personal, political, and economic benefits. This new form

of expression is quickly becoming more and more essential to everyday life and work, those that

are unfamiliar with social media are finding it crucial to adapt in order to keep up with society

and the economy. I felt this topic was important to address what with its increasing importance in

the modern world and its developing influence on our economy. 

After researching my topic and going through the preliminary steps of developing my

draft, I began the writing process. When beginning this assignment, I found myself facing

writer’s block and putting off writing because it felt like too much of a task. When I finally sat

down and began the draft, I felt surprised at the ease with which I managed to write my first

attempt. Obviously, this was not my best writing, what with it only being my first draft, but it

was a solid start that was ready for some self criticism and revision by myself. I managed to

tweak some topic sentences and integrate some more convincing evidence by the time it was

ready for peer revision. 

In terms of my writing itself, I found this assignment to be somewhat challenging but not

too bad compared to other writing projects I have had in the past. I did run into some struggles

with learning APA formatting, something I had not worked with yet. However, in terms of the

writing I ran into some roadblocks in developing strong topic sentences for each paragraph and

formatting the essay in a way that was clear to not only me, but my target audience as well. I find
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this to be one of the most difficult aspects of writing, ensuring that my writing can be understood

by my audience and that it is clear and concise to other eyes as well as my own. 

For the next writing project I have to attempt, I would like to work on my formatting

more. I think in order to accomplish this, I should develop an outline first and decide what each

paragraph’s purpose will be before even beginning to write the project itself. This strategy will

allow me to have a plan for analysis and hopefully help readers better comprehend my writing

and understand the purpose of the essay itself. In addition to formulating an outline before

attempting to write my next writing project, I would like to read more similar examples like we

did for this project. I thought the analysis of some of the Starting Lines essays was one of the

most helpful parts of the process, I found myself referring back to them at every stage of writing.

In writing this essay, I learned many things about my topic and about the way that I am

programmed to write. I have learned and taken many different writing courses, but this is where I

felt I truly got to demonstrate what I have learned. I found the foundation of my writing skills to

be an extremely key component and things that I didn’t think I would find necessary after

highschool english became extremely helpful in writing my final draft. Not only this, but I

learned how to successfully peer review and how to leave and receive constructive comments. I

used the feedback that I was given to improve my writing and tailor it to a more specific

audience so that it could be better comprehended. I found the topic of social media to be

extremely interesting and relevant to my life, I am happy to feel more educated after writing this

paper, and armed with knowledge that applies to my every day life. I feel like I have also fine

tuned my eye for subtle genre conventions and what sets certain disciplinary communities apart

from one another.