Week 11: Applying the Science of Persuasion to the Blogosphere

Three out of the six universal principles of persuasion are relevant to blogs: authority, liking, and consensus.

As the video states, "people follow the lead of credible, knowledgeable experts." Authority obviously plays an important role for bloggers looking to spread their knowledge to gain an audience. It's important that the author is considered an "expert" in their section of the blogosphere, whether they are a social activist blog calling for readers to protest for what they believe in or a food blogger using a new ingredient and persuading readers to try it. Having a legitimate "About Me" page will also help bloggers establish authority over readers. As long as that blogger shows authority–consistent, knowledgeable information–then readers are more likely to be persuaded by them.

The video tells us there are three important factors in the principle Liking. The factor most relevant to blogging is number one: "we like people who are similar to us." I think this principle is pretty straightforward. By displaying traits that readers can relate to, bloggers have an easier chance for persuading.

Lastly, we have consensus, which is defined by the video as the principle where "people will look to the actions and behaviors of others to determine their own." When a reader isn't quite sure about their opinion on a topic, he or she will often look to the Internet to research and formulate an opinion. Bloggers have the upper hand here; if they create a compelling argument, it is easy to persuade readers who are on the fence.

Out of all three principles that are relevant to blogs, I think authority is the most important. If a blogger cannot establish their authority, there really is no reason to continue reading their work. I want to read blog posts from a source with some level of credibility—then I can read on to see if I really "like" the blogger and look to them to see if I agree with their opinions.

Week 10: The Art of Influence

In the introduction to "The Art of Influence," the author brought up several points that resonated with me. Before starting this final unit and before reading this piece, I never truly realized how writers deliberately add certain levels of persuasion to their essays (seen in the 'Introduction' under different section titles). I remember learning about arguments and fallacies when I was a freshman at OU, so it will be nice to revisit some ideas this unit.

After reading this passage, I have not only learned the methods behind an essayist's process (not all, of course), but also why they use these methods. For example, on page 18 of the PDF document, the author writes about how the personal essayist makes the movement from "individual to universal" and goes on to say that essayists much watch their use of pronouns. This made me think about how including the reader in the conversation (like using "we" and "us") might make the reader more reluctant to be persuaded by the essay.

I liked this paragraph because it reminds me of how personal essays can be so expansive, yet it takes a certain amount of determination to be able to create a focused and polished piece of writing. From personal experience, I've found it hard at times to find that focus, so I'll think of this paragraph and the subsequent paragraphs when writing essays for this course.