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Jenny
Prof.KevinLyon
WRD103
27September2014
MadrigalintheZone
Inthearticletitled,TheMachineZone:ThisIsWhereYouGoWhenYouJustCant
StopLookingatPicturesonFacebook,AlexisMadrigaladdressesthepsychologicalaspectof
oursocialmediahabits.AccordingtoMadrigal,thosewhousesitessuchasFacebookorTwitter
andfindthemselvesentrancedbytheirendlessscrollingareexperiencingatypeofphenomenon
calledtheMachineZone.Madrigalspurposeincallingattentiontothiszoneistoraise
awarenessofonesbehaviorandthereasonsforit,aswellastochallengethecreatorsofsuch
socialmediasitestocombatsuchaphenomenon.
Immediately,Madrigalestablishesthespaceinwhichhisresearchisneeded.Hecitesthe
statisticsofaverageFacebookusage,anexampleoflogos.Healsoincludesabitofethos,when
hereferstohisownexperienceswithsocialmedia:Iknowthehypnosis,asImsureyoudo,
too.Accordingtohim,thetechworldgenerallymeasureshowmuchyoulikeaservicebyhow
muchtimeyouspendonit.Soalotoftimeequalslove.Hethenturnsthetablesontheaudience
(Myownintuitionisthatthisisnotlove),proposinghisownexplanation:theMachineZone.
Afterestablishinganiche,Madrigalgivesthereaderanoutsidesourceofinformationto
supporthistheory.HecitesNatashaSchull,ananthropologistatMIT,whospentmorethana
decadediscussingslotmachineswithgamblersandcasinooperators.Hiscitationdisplaysause
ofethosandcreatescredibilityforthereader,asoneislikelytobelieveaneducatedscholarwho

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hasstudiedthetopicathandforyears.HeintendstoshockhisaudiencebystatingSchulls
findings,whichmostlikelycontradicttheaudiencesexpectations.
MadrigalusesSchullsresearchtoappealtothereadersownfeelingsandfears,an
exampleofpathos,whenheexplainshowthegamesexploitthehumandesireforflow,but
withoutthemeaningormasteryattachedtothestate.OneofthegamblersinterviewedbySchull
goesontosay,"[Atthemachines],youcaneveneraseyourself.Usingsuchaquotewilltoucha
reader,asanaudiencememberislikelytopayattentiontotheideaoferasingoneself,because
suchideasareusuallyquitepersonal.Itmayevenbeabitshockingtosomeonewhomightnot
expectsuchadrasticideainthistypeofarticle.
MadrigalthengoesontosaythathisintentisnottocompareFacebooktogambling,as
gamblingisaseriousproblemnotmeanttobeunderminedorbelittledbyhisargumentabouta
meresocialnetworkingsite.Here,heattempts,usingethos,topullanyaudiencememberhemay
havelosttosuchamisunderstandingbacktohispointofview,assomemembersofthe
demographic
TheAtlantic
istargetedtowardmayhaveexperiencewithgamblingaddiction.
Suchacorrectionisneededtoavoidconfusion,aswellasassuretheaudiencethatheisawareof
thedifferencesinthiscomparisonaswellasthesimilarities.Healsogoesontoclarifythathis
intentisnottocriticizethesitesthemselves,butcertainaspectswithinthem.
Hethencitesmorestatistics,usinglogos,oftimespentspecificallypullingupphotoson
Facebookfortheaverageuser.Thisaddstoandconcentrateshispreviouscitationstoamore
distinctrelevancetohispoint.Hethengoesontousemoreethosbycitingandsummarizing
sociologistBrunoLatourstheoryoftechnologicalprescriptions.

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Madrigalagainreassurestheaudienceofhisactualintentincreatingthearticleby
addressingmorepotentialconcernswithhisargument,referringtothecomparisonbetween
slotgamedesignersandthecreatorsofsocialmediaandeachonesunderstandingoftheethical
ramificationsoftheirjobs.Hestatesthatwhilecasinosarefrequentlycriticizedfortaking
advantageofsuchastateofmindandareforcedtofacesuchmoraldilemmas,socialmedia
creatorsaresimplyunawareoftheconsequencesoftheirproducts.Again,suchacorrectionis
neededtodrawaskepticalaudiencemember,whomaybeoffendedattheimplicationsof
Madrigalsarticle,backintohisownlineofthinking
Toconcludehisarticle,Madrigalusesethosbyspeakingofhisownexperiencewith
socialmedia.Heclaims,ItexplainsthelosttimefeelingIvehadonvarioussocialnetworks,
andthatIveheardotherpeopletalkabout.Hislastcoupleparagraphsfocusonpleadingwith
thecreatorsofsiteslikeFacebook,Twitter,Tumblr,andPinteresttoworktostopdesigning
traps.Here,Madrigalusespathostorelatewhatheandhisaudiencehaveexperiencedtothe
experiencesofthecreatorsthemselves,andtoargueforthesakeofchangewithinthewebsites.
MadrigalcoherentlyargueshiscaseforchangeinaCARSmodelfashion,providinghis
audiencewithacontext,establishinganiche,andfulfillingsaidniche.Hisuseofpathos,ethos,
andlogosclearlycommunicateshisobservationsofpsychologicaltrendsontheinternetandhis
wishesforsocialmediaentrepreneurs.ReadersoftheAtlanticareverylikelytohavehad
similarexperienceswiththeirtimeonsocialmedia,andtherefore,anaudiencemembercloses
thisarticlewithsomethingnewtoconsiderintheirdaytodaylife.