October 13, 2014 by phillips1232014 Leave a comment

I have chosen to analyze the following post from the least effective organization I am following, Doctors Without Borders.

“For Those In Peril: read more about the #migrant crisis happening along Central Mediterranean route on MSF’s @issuu: http://bit.ly/1pxsj3d”

The post is word driven. Words like peril and crisis contribute to the tone of the post and appeal to the pathos of the audience, whom MSF assumes is of a caring nature and uninformed of the ongoing crisis. The post does achieve its purpose of this appeal as well as being informative. This is done through word choice, photos, information and more. Through the inclusion of the link to the photo journal, additional emotional appeal is added though eye-catching photographs and additional information. Photos show MSF workers helping those in need and this promotes the legitimacy of the organization. Still, there is a lot left unsaid in the post and certain information that is not included such as detail on what the organization is actually doing in the situation and how they are specifically helping those refugees involved in the crisis. Is this only going on in Italy? How many refugees have they helped? What happens after they receive care from Doctors Without Borders? Overall, the rhetoric of the post is very bland, which is similar to the rest of the organization’s social media campaign/ basic rhetorical context! Bland and less engaging than the other two organizations.

The intended purpose of this post is to appeal to a caring audience who isn’t aware of ongoing crisis. Even though the post is from the least effective of the the 3 social media campaigns, it’s still pretty effective. Effective at being a very informative post through inclusion of the link to the photo journal  – this appeals to emotion and even logic that humans should not be living that way (assuming that the audience cares). Within the link, photos of MSF workers helping those in need promotes the organization and makes the audience feel that the organization is legitimate. Still, there is a lot left unsaid and information not included which detracts from the effectiveness of the post. They mention that they help refugees once they arrive on italian shores, but not much else in terms of MSF’s involvement in the crisis. Bland rhetoric and appeal compared to the other organizations. Post is very similar to other posts, so it fits into the basic rhetorical context of the campaign, which includes posting similar things over and over again with slightly different information.