The Benefits of Countering
In Natalie Walton’s, “How Advocating from the Comfort of Our Own Homes Has Impacted American Politics”, she explains the effects of social media and how it has helped raise awareness in politics. To improve her credibility and her overall writing, she uses other sources to help discuss her argument. Walton also uses these sources to counter her argument and allow her to suggest a different way of thinking. She uses author, Evgeny Morozov to talk about how social media groups have good intentions, but in the end, don’t help as much as they originally think. Walton uses this to her advantage and turns around the argument. For instance, “While Morozov offers a valid point, it should be acknowledged that sometimes simply raising awareness of what is happening within politics is enough.” Walton casually disagrees with Morozov on her way of thinking and then continues to further describe why she feels this way. She believes that posting online can bring issues to people’s attention and hence, raise more awareness and solutions to that problem. Walton is civil and respectful with her disagreement and uncovers more of the truth behind her argument. She uncovers that social media does help with politics and gives people the chance to share and discuss their beliefs. This helps the readers of Walton’s article continue to understand her argument and the reasons she stands behind it. This new form of media allows more people to know what is going on and what they can do to help. The old form of media did not nearly reach as many people as it does today and that has been crucial to not only politics, but to other news as well. Walton’s use of countering in her article provides the readers with further reasons to be on her side of the argument than follow the other side of thinking. The benefits of countering have allowed Walton to explain her argument and compare and contrast it to other’s.
