· Media Matters For America: http://mediamatters.org/research/201003120055
Is Glenn Beck to be hit by a “Twitterstorm”? As a result of comments he had made which associated religious groups regarding his concern with social justice has caused backlash to one group in particular. Beck has attacked social justice and it’s relation with churches. He was quoted describing social justice as “code language for Marxism,” warning that “when you see those words, run.” (Beck) The philanthropic group, Jewish Funds for Justice, has concerns with Beck’s association with Communism and Nazism to social justice. This group is campaigning to ‘flood Beck’s Twitter account” with religious ‘haiku’ as well as lines such as, “it’s so quiet; except of course for Glenn Beck, he’s never quiet.” The group’s is campaigning to swamp Beck with these messages via Twitter’s “reply” function. "While faith traditions may be different, the thread of social justice cuts across lines of faith. In a country increasingly torn apart by fundamentalism, undermining this thread that ties us together is dangerous." (Mic Moore of Jewish Funds for Justice)
This group is using Twitter as their medium tool to hopefully cause an impact on Beck, but because Twitter is their tool of choice, who are they really trying to catch the attention of? The inattentive public who pays little attention to politics, but is fully aware of Twitter are more susceptible to picking up on this story and rebel against Beck, although they might not be aware of each side. I’m going to discuss this event with Toulmin’s Model for grounds, warrant, and claim. The ground for the Jewish Funds group comes as a result of backlash on social justice and his association with religion. The warrant exists because there is evidence regarding Beck’s insight on the matter. The claim or the rebuttal comes via Twitter as those who don’t approve are asked to “reply” and acknowledge their disapproval. Although Beck may not have said what he did, is Twitter an appropriate tool to backlash on?
We’ve discussed Glenn Beck in class and his political views as well as how he an advocate of speaking what he feels. How influential is Beck and do his views really impact the public?
In my opinion I would have to say that twitter is not a good tool to backlash, because it may be looked upon to others as to why. Twitter is something that is used by people who want other people to know what they are doing 247 each day, and it is very popular to a lot of celeberties. I just feel that twitter is used for people who doesn't really have a life and want people to know what they are doing 247. I just don't understand why a person would want to use twitter to response to a backlash. It just doesn't make since to me especially when dealing with politics, unless they were trying to get unnecssary attention.
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