(My image won't upload so I will try and explain it as best as possible)
Topic: How organizations establish and develop their ethos through social media.
| What is Ethos? | Evolution of Ethos: | Professional use of social media: |
| - Robert J. Holt
- S. Micheal Halloran - James C. McCroskey
|
- Robert J. Holt
- Melody A. Bowdon - Jason Abbott
|
- Leslie A. Toombs
- Amy C. Kimme Hea - S. Micheal Halloran - Jason Abbott - James C. McCroskey |
The three pillars (or tables) examine the 3 major points I will be tying together in order to complete my thesis. As you can clearly see, most of the readings between "What is ethos" and "Evolution of ethos" cross over with the "Professional uses of social media". I will be using the commonalities within these readings to first establish a working definition for ethos, followed by its evolution from Aristotelean times to contemporary mediums such as social media. I will then draw from one particular example of an organization that has built a very solid digital ethos for their company and examine through what methods they have been successful and why.
Quotes:
Holt:
“If rhetoric is the study of discourse, it follows that a change in the means of discourse necessitates a change in rhetorical theory” (Holt 73)
“How well does Aristotle’s understanding of ethos hold up in the modern world, when the practice of rhetoric is so vastly different from that of his time” (Holt 72)
Toombs:
“Entrepreneurs with foresight can and should involve employees as they develop social media plans and strategies that cultivate a collaborative ethos that drives product innovation and production, that creates transparency and trust with customers, and that transforms employees into evangelists” (Toombs 277)
Hea:
“Although social media are often associated with youth, play, and consumption of time (and those associations are exactly why my son could not figure out what his academic mom might know about social media), social media also are interwoven into the political, rhetorical, and material work of technical communication scholars.” (Hea 2)
Bowdon:
“One of the great challenges of teaching technical and professional communication is to help students to understand how a credible ethos relates to accomplishing the task of persuading an audience” (Bowdon 1)
Halloran:
"To have ethos is to manifest the virtues most valued by the culture to and for which one speaks" (Halloran 60).
McCroskey:
Throughout most of the twenty-four hundred-year history of the study of rhetoric, ethos has held a central position. Aristotle's view that ethos is the most potent means of persuasion has been supported by many contemporary rhetorical scholars" (McCroskey 24)
Abbott:
"Social networks are communities connected in the world wide web to communicate and collaborate" (Abbott 77)