Henry Sylvester

Professor McCathy

ENG 110, Section L

September 4, 2019

Unfollow the Extremes


Within the journalists Adrian Chen’s work titled “Unfollow” the essay encompasses the

story of Megan Phelps-Roper. Along with this, Chen uses Megan as an example to present the question “does social media work as a platform to change one’s ideologies or concepts of society?”. Additionally, Chen uses Megan as proof that social media does, in-fact, result in socializa- tion, which also changes and challenges viewpoints.

Throughout the essay we see Chen noticeably pinpointing specific details which slowly start to show Megan’s change in views. Initially, Megan comes off as a brainwashed, homophobic, anti-semitic, racist, and radicalized individual. However, as the essay progresses there is in- creasing evidence as to confirm that Megan is questioning her actions. For example, we first see that Megan was indoctrinated from other people of the church, like Shirley “Obedience was one of the most important values that Shirley instilled in said Megan. She would sum up the Bible in three words: ‘Obey. Obey. Obey.’” (Chen, 76). Yet, as the essay progresses, so does Megan’s views as to how polarized her opinions are; when Megan picketed the soldier’s funeral she start- ed to have thoughts of doubt “the word that comes to mind is hateful ‘disgust.’ Like ‘How could you possibly do this?’ “ Phelps-Roper said. But, before the picket, she asked her mother to walk her through the Bible passages that justified her actions. ‘I’m like, O.K., it’s there,’ she said ‘This is right.’ She added” (Chen, 78). This goes to show that Megan had some self-awareness about

how despicable people had her out to be, and she obviously abhorred that. When Chen uses the evolving voice of Megan, it makes the mental transition she is going through even clearer.

Furthermore, Chen uses Megan’s entire journey as vivid evidence of change. If an argument arose towards the point Chen was trying to make, the point is clear; social media for Megan resulted in a inarguable change in her life for the better. Chen wrote this essay essentially like a story allowing the reader to connect with Megan towards the end, and feel a little bit of sympathy for her. At first the reader sees Megan as an extreme religious zealot. However, she discovered through social media that religion in not an ultimatum of whether or not someone is a person worthy of respect, but rather a way that we can share our diversities and connect. What social media is also presented as, is a means to challenge or change one’s opinions and beliefs for the better. Muhammed Ali once said “The man who views the world at 50 the same as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life”, essentially saying that it is human to change our opinions, and we should embrace changes in our lives. Chen’s essay about Megan not only displayed how social media positively changed her life, but how it can the readers for the better.