Task 1a: The effect of language features and literary devices

Outline of John Naughton’s text

Task 1a requires you to comment on and explain the effects of some of the language features and/or literary devices John Naughton uses to support his argument. John Naughton is an Irish journalist who currently writes for the British newspaper The Guardian.

John Naughton begins his commentary by stating that social-media companies will not change their practice of gathering personal data from users, because this is what brings them profit. He argues that these companies will only change their business models if they are forced to by governments and legislation. 

He makes an analogy between tobacco companies and social media companies to show readers that while tobacco companies damage individual lives, social media has a negative influence on democracy as a whole. He criticizes authorities for failing to deal with this issue and mentions that users are deceived by social media platforms because they are free to use.

Naughton uses the examples of the 2016 US presidential election and the Brexit referendum to show how political actors can use social media marketing to target users and send their political message. He ends the comment by arguing that soci...