Abstract:

This paper discusses how social media dramatically impacted the story of Rwanda's "Ellie, the Monkey Boy." Afrimax documented Ellie's life in a documentary on his tour, showcasing her unique physical behavior and unusual illness. This study illustrates how social media alters people's perspectives and how exposure to certain phenomena in the media and societal movements piques Ellie's interest in helping him become well-known. Theoretical frameworks that function as a guidebook for research problems, such as the Discourse Historical Approach, framing theory, critical discourse analysis, and social identity theory, offer foundations for the study. This study provides insight into how social media spreads news, creates communities, and modifies social behavior. This research focuses on a critical analysis of social media in contemporary society via the lens of activism in Rwanda and Monkey Boy's identity building

Key Words:

Instagram, Well-being, Self-esteem, Social Comparison

Introduction

Ellie, a peculiar Rwandan boy known as The Monkey Boy, piques the public's interest with his unusual condition. Ellie's way of life and his unexplained illness, Microcephaly, are explained in the Affirmax documentary. Using social media, he garnered widespread sympathy and pity for the unfortunate Ellie. Because of his strange mannerisms, skill at climbing, and monkey-like looks, Ellie was known by the odd moniker "The Monkey Boy." Ellie preferred living in the wild than at home. His parents had to physically bring him home, but as soon as he became hungry again, he ran into the jungle to eat bananas, corn, and grass.

This unfortunate child had to deal with the neighbors' dual attitudes at the same time. In the Rwandan town, he was both an intriguing and despised figure. While some individuals made a point of highlighting his terrible circumstances, others ridiculed him out of pure hate. His family showed him love and support despite the repulsive actions and degrading attitudes of well-mannered people. Since his parents have always supported him, despite their little financial means, he has battled valiantly against the challenges of everyday life with love and determination from them. The documentary offers a more comprehensive view of Ellie's life as he battles obstacles and apprehensions from his parents.

The first coverage, emphasizes how his parents' lack of resources prevented them from giving him the medical care he needed to recover from his illness and how the community's views on accepting a child with a disability and abnormalities differed. The public's attention is also drawn by this documentary to broader social issues regarding the acceptance of human resilience. Ellie's life is shown through interviews, intimate family moments, and straightforward imagery, and this film asks viewers to feel empathetic toward him and assist him in leading a typical life. Ellie's story went viral thanks to social networking sites, inspiring people not just in his hometown but also across the globe.

Through social media, the documentary has been successful in eliciting sentiments and actions in support of Ellie's medical care and return to a normal life. Social media sites have cultivated an understanding perception regarding Ellie's illness and his bizarre behaviors. Millions of people watched the documentary and left likes, comments, and posts. People are incredibly moved by Ellie, the main character, and his story, which sparked a powerful campaign to support those with disabilities and the underprivileged. Using hashtags like #SupportEllie and #Ellie's Journey on social media, a large number of people are calling for Ellie and his family to receive better medical care as well as financial assistance. The public, with the aid of social media, established the identity of poor children.

Because he was coping with an unusual illness, his fans expressed their feelings on Facebook and Instagram, portraying Ellie as a strong, optimistic figure in society. Through social media, Ellie and other disabled people with kind hearts receive a lot of support from people all over the world. After receiving medical attention and emotional support, "Ellie The Monkey Boy of Rwanda" goes on to become a global celebrity on social media and a well-known brand. After arduous therapy and medical treatment, he has led a normal life in a new home with his parents, which is undoubtedly a result of social media platforms.

This case study demonstrates the importance of social media in most storytelling techniques, which makes sense given that it affects public opinion and is vital to significant social movements and identity formation.

Literature Review

The field of social media and public opinions has had fundamental theoretical works in place and thus the understanding of how such media influence thoughts among humans already exists. The study is based on McCombs and Shaw’s (1972) Agenda-Setting Theory which asserts that important topics in the society receive acceptance from traditional media. Furthermore, Meraz (2011) and other scholars have extended this aspect to the SM to reveal how Twitter and/or Facebook could turn the direction of public’s attention within no time.

The article by Entman (1993) was congratulatory of Framing Theory therefore increasing the delight of how information presentation influences the opinion of the public. Tewksbury and Scheufele’s (2009) analyses illustrate how messages that are in language and pictures determine how the public communicates. These frameworks are stable and they provided rich instruments for researching the influence of the media and these frameworks got great approval from the people.  

However, a large part of the literature is contextual, is usually aimed at something particular, and is rooted which means that its coverage is sometimes, or in some ways, which is rather limited. Also, due to the fact that social media technologies advance at a very high rate, research information could be e outdated in the shortest time. The Resource Mobilization Theory was established by McCarthy and Zald in the year 1977 and is centered on the means and techniques used in assembling the necessary resources and support from the public domain by social movements. This concept was later advanced to digital activism by Bennett and Segerberg (2013) who rationally described how social media is instrumental in resource mobilization. This concept which has been closely written by Melucci (1996b) as well as Castells (2012) is referred to as the collective identity and it shows how social media assists activists to establish a sense of unity that is characteristic of solidarity and common actions. Tajfel and Turner known as the Social Identity model was developed for understanding how people initiate the process of joining a certain group to define the personality traits. Hence, using Boyd’s (2014) conceptual analysis of social media, an understanding of self and social identities can be achieved. Researching Ricoeur’s Narrative Identity theory which was published in 1991 and built on for social media content by Page in 2012, the study focuses on how the enactment of the self through the narratives shared on the Web influences the person.

However, due to the rapid advance of technologies, such discoveries, as well as others made in a particular discipline, are often time-sensitive and can be rather short-lived. In contrast, the existing study on the topic of social media and “Ellie the Monkey Boy of Rwanda” provides me answers to some of the questions and progresses numerous theories. The choice of focusing on one specific case of a small rural community kinda enlarges the understanding of the impact of social media not only by well-known urban protests. This broader perspective helps to understand how social media influences opinion, different social activism and development of identity in other countries, and various situations, that are not studied as intensively.

To include the current findings on the usage of social media technologies to build consensus, advance social causes, and create individuality, my research integrates current findings in this area. This addresses the concern whereby the same growing rate of technology will render earlier research less useful. Therefore, through applying theories of agenda-setting, framing, social identity, and narrative identity into my work, my study offers a discussion of how social media influences various aspects of Ellie’s story. It can be seen that, unlike this all-embracing approach presents a deeper understanding of the interdependent processes by which social media operates.

This paper enriches the literature with empirical findings through the application of both qualitative and quantitative methods, including visual analysis and CDA. Including specific instances of how digital media may challenge and also perpetuate gender roles, racism, and ableism, the stories exhibit the physical impact that technologies’ PNRs have on communities and individuals in the real world.

The current study seeks to address these gaps which extends prior research and brings out new perspectives and findings regarding the impact of social media on the construction of narratives and self-images of the public. This brings us the knowledge of the function of digital media in the current society at a deeper and more elaborated level thus enhancing the understanding.

Research Methodology

Design of Research: Since, in this study, the researcher mainly aims to find out how the plight of “Ellie, the Monkey Boy of Rwanda” has been received in the social media and how it shapes the views, mobilizes communities, or constructs identities, this study will employ a mixed-methods approach. It is desirable to note that the project aims to gather exhaustive information and records that can be used comprehensively by applying both approaches.

Wodak's Discourse-Historical Approach (DHA): Based on the presented reasons, it is possible and beneficial to use Wodak’s Discourse-Historical Approach (DHA) to analyze the chosen documentary “Ellie the Monkey Boy of Rwanda”. DHA focuses on the assessment of the speech and the language used politically, socially, and historically. It allows for a close analysis of how the specific text of the social media discourse and the documentary, in general, correspond to other aspects of the culture and history of disability and representation. DHA draws from concepts originating in various fields such as; media studies, sociology, and history. It is geometrically impossible to give a satisfactory account of the type of analysis undertaken in this paper, given the nature of the subject matter that casts light on issues of social identification, perception, and media narrative as it pertains to Ellie’s case.

The communities that are structured by discourse-encoded power relations are best revealed through DHA. Applying this perspective to the analysis of the documentary, it becomes significantly simpler to draw how power relations manifest in the discursive construction of Ellie and the reception of the character, thus positing the issues of advocacy, empathy, and the stigmatization of the societies. The method that Wodak employed is based on a comprehensive analysis of how language is used; framing and rhetoric. Of particular importance is understanding how the characters and viewers’ activism as well as public opinion is shaped through the construction of Ellie’s identity and the role of the narratives present in social networks and in the documentary.

DHA provides textual analysis with a scholastic rubric that entails identifying discursive strategies and assessing consequences and intents. This methodical technique helps to provide a rather thorough and exhaustively comprehensive analysis of the documentary and all the connected materials available on social media.

Among the participants are: The main source of evidence comes from children like Ellie and other relations of him who can share their experiences face to face. To understand what people living in the Rwanda neighborhood are thinking or going through. Audience who have come across Ellie’s experience on the social media platforms. These are professionals in the area of Identity development, disability, and social media respectively.

Method of Data Collection

Interviews: Informal interviews will be conducted with Ellie, his family, people in his community, and professionals to get primary data and their experience about the impact of social media. To obtain their feelings about Ellie’s story, online surveys are being administered to possible respondents who are active social media users. It is a content analysis that focuses on Selley-related posts, comments, and hashtags to understand framing, imagery, and language use about Selley. Visual analysis entails the use of images and videos that users post on their social accounts to identify how communities view them.

Moral implications Knowledgeable Consent

The participants are informed of the purpose of 

the study, the processes to be followed, and the participant’s right to withdraw from the study at any one time. They require a participant to sign consent documents It is gotten from each participant.

Confidentiality

Participants’ identity is thus protected and personal details are stripped from results during the analysis of data.

Sensitivity

Despite discussing rather sensitive topics that may come across as provoked and trivialized by public attention, the study pays attention to details and approaches the issues with care and respect for disabled persons.

Approval

They make sure that the procedure of research follows the set ethical standards since an ethics committee is responsible for their approval.

Research setting

Interviews with people and seeing the environment form part of the research environment in the Rwanda community.

Internet platforms

The interactions that occur on the social media platforms are examined, as well as contents that relate to Ellie’s story.

Expert Consultations

In case the experts can be met in person, face-to-face meetings take place; otherwise, the interviews with the experts are conducted on such platforms as video calls.

Through the use of these techniques, the study aims to expand the areas of media studies, communication studies, and social movements by providing a holistic and detailed account of how Ellie’s life and perception are affected by social media.




Due to his general physical appearance as well as the state in which he is found, Ellie experiences numerous social issues daily. At school, he may face bullying or children’s rejection, if they do not understand his condition. Ellie finds it very traumatizing to be socially awkward, this is because she finds it rather hard to make new friends and feel socially accepted. Neighbors may fear, pity, or gawk at Ellie’s family, and this makes the boy and his close ones feel left out.

Ellie’s family is a source of support to him but at the same time, they are not immune to the cultural beliefs. They might struggle to fulfill an entire society’s expectations and norms when helping Ellie because these norms usually don’t consider the individual needs of the child. This strain may increase stress and further complicate the chances of getting Ellie the right help and resources. In political support categories, the systems in Rwanda that assist the disabled could be wanting or even developing. It is possible that legislation intended to facilitate Ellie’s integration into society, to allow her to access health and education services is either lacking in the right provisions or is implemented poorly. For example, Ellie given the lack of qualified teachers or doctors, will not be able to get proper education or necessary medical treatment.



Figure 3

Another area is the representation of disability in the media and public discussions. Entertainment media also has the ability to perpetuate negative attitudes towards people with disabilities and reduce the pressure for legislation change where it does not depict positive encounters of people with disabilities.

Due to such bullying that their son exerted, Ellie’s parents had to overcome many difficulties that are associated with aggression, exclusion, prejudice, abandonment by society, historical discrimination, and inadequate governmental support.

Lastly, there is the social challenge, which makes it hard for Ellie’s parents to find a way of handling people’s perception of their disabled son. It is also important to underline that bullying plays an important role not only in the changes in the character of the boy but also in the parents of Ellie. Another subset of people who contribute to Ellie’s situation or believe that Ellie’s parents are neglecting him and do not provide protection also prejudice Ellie’s parents and blame them for this.

Wodak ‘s DHA helps us comprehend these levels and – consequently – the necessity to change the discursive practices regarding disability to include a more specific focus on helping families like Ellie’s. This means that by trying to interact with the audience where we tell better and more informative stories in which we can attempt to create a more appreciative helping community.



The live coverage of the situation concerning Ellie through the social media platforms stirs up different feelings. Several people employ such hashtags as #Support Ellie in order to support their stand, or in this case, to foster empathy. It was similarly discovered that these messages, which are a good social reaction to the growing consciousness with regard to impairments, commonly impart such qualities as compassion and a directed need to help. There are, however, negative responses to the notion.

On the political aspect, the responses in social media suggest more satisfactory policies and facilities for disabled people. Many users decried the current leadership and demanded change which is shown by the following: ‘I had to read Ellie’s story and campaign for upgraded authorities.

The language used for creating messages on social media platforms can be stated as advocacy, indignation, and compassion in equal measures. In the encouraging matters of posts, positive words often focus on Ellie’s attributes or the need for societal change and are written with welcoming and motivating words. On the other hand, negative posts are based on triggering more awareness and education by supporting negative perceptions and using vulgar terms in their messages.

Favorably, it can be suggested that the existing interventions aimed at ensuring that patients from underrepresented groups gain access to healthcare facilities may influence Ellie’s visit to a medical institution.

The fact that social assistance was provided to enable his visit demonstrates that the government or non-government sectors are trying to fill social inequalities in the healthcare system for the disabled and those in rural areas.

The visit by Ellie is used to depict how the neighborhood is aware of his requirements and the efforts being made to fulfill them. For instance, Ellie can access medical care at the center, which is an indication of society’s progress on issues to do with disability, and acceptance of such people into mainstream society. That social help initiatives offered their support to Ellie portrays society as waking up to the fact that he has a disability and is accepting of it.

The children with impairments have not had many choices when it came to education especially where they come from in the rural areas. The change in the teaching approach towards the integration of learners with disabilities is depicted by Ellie’s visit to the school. This is a wake-up call to the world to notice that in the recent past, society has come a long way to recognize every child’s right to education regardless of the disability.




Figure6

Thus, Ellie’s visit to the school is the effort of the community to socialize him in a normal class. This is attributed to the increase in the cultural transformation that concerns the integration of disabled individuals. Ellie gets a chance to mix with other children in a school setting and is able to perform the simplest interaction with peers, hence social integration and exclusion are minimized.

From an educative angle, schooled represents the attempt to provide the kids with education when there are impairments. Ellie assures that his special needs can be met at the school level as far as the form of curriculum and teaching methodology is concerned and therefore have his education be as good as that of other children. This strategy focuses on the claim that equity in an organization and in the administration of education is very important.

From a sociological point of view, Ellie’s enrollment at a regular school can also be taken as progress in society as the attitudes towards disabilities are changing. Ultimately, it maps change in a positive orientation toward Pre-Linguistic, Linguistic, and Experiential people with impairing disabilities participating in normal social environments. Such a relationship is likely to bring positive change to Ellie’s learning environment since his interactions with his classmates may help reduce stigma and increase appreciation of the differences among fellow learners.

On the psychological level, Ellie can significantly improve as a person if she starts going to school. These areas of the child’s development include social skills and self-esteem; the structure of the classroom, social contacts, and activities at school may help to strengthen these aspects of the child’s development. He needs peer and teacher support so that he can develop his mind into the emotionally well-balanced human being that he is meant to be.

Previously, children with CDS were unable to attend standard schools and hence they will be left out. Ellie’s learning experience reflects that of the progressive provisions for the integration of children with disabilities in schools. This might, politically, be supported by rules and laws that allow all children to have equal rights to education in schools proving a commitment to social justice and human rights.





The presence or absence of dominance in Ellie’s childhood may have included different inflections. For example, he may have felt like his parents or other caretakers were in control through rule expectations or disciplinary measures. His early views of obedience and authority therefore might have been shaped by this dominating.

At a larger social level, hegemony is the term employed to refer to the concepts that act as the framework upon which a particular society is fashioned. These hegemonic forces could be in the form of the media, his schooling, and what is expected of him in society Ellie would have come into contact with. Such changes can alter his understanding of what is ‘normal’ in the sense of how people should behave.

Thus, the situation with power relations is illustrated by Ellie’s parents, who play a crucial role in providing healthcare and educational opportunities for Ellie. They oftentimes find themselves struggling against such odds as social norms and bureaucratic barriers to try and alter the dynamics in order to increase acceptance of Ellie.

Ellie cannot live a normal life because of the cultural beliefs and policies that exist around her. From the above analysis, there is reason to believe that Ellie will be in a better position to benefit from enhanced chances and changes of power in organizations and institutions that respond to parity for disadvantaged groups of the population There is a need to pass policies that protect people with a disability. Apart from the improvement of individuals such as Ellie, tolerant and positive societal perceptions also reduce the impact of vectors of stigmas and stereotypes.



In the following section, the discursive representations created in social media to portray Ellie as a social media celebrity will be analyzed using Kristian Wodak’s Discourse- Historical Approach (DHA). This method specializes in the aspect of language and power dynamics, societal beliefs that are reflected, and the perception of the society. Biased and outrageous language is sometimes applied to the posts regarding Ellie with the purpose of attracting people’s attention. This gives words that depict a good picture of Ellie’s story favorable inclination, words like inspirational, heartwarming, and miraculous to assign emotions and generate appreciation. However, projecting Elly as slightly more of an example than a complex character, this language can also re-entrench negative prejudices of persons with disabilities.

Specifying the fragment that could be used in political posts about Ellie’s story is crucial. Tags commonly trigger users to focus on Ellie’s peculiar looks and astonishing performance, stressing that the protagonist is an outcast. On one hand, this framing destabilizes existing power systems and on another it reinforces them. On one hand, it can create an impression of otherness as it consistently focuses on Elly’s odd behaviors, on the other hand, it can dispel prejudices by focusing on his skills.

It therefore becomes possible to identify the hidden ideologies and power relations by analyzing the shares and comments of the social media pages. Praises tend to be expressed with feelings of compassion and respect as well as both the speaker’s and hearer’s multicultural and pluralist perceptions. When discussing Ellie, Instagram, and other platforms prove they can shape the audience’s perception with numerous likes, shares, and comments. The language used in these interactions can either empower Ellie and make the focus of the treatment inclusiveness and awareness or reduce him to a subject of online circulation with a dehumanizing spin. The public perception regarding such aspects of diversity and more specifically, people with disabilities as reflected on social media is largely informed by the stories created by Ellie.

Therefore, with regard to Ellie’s narrative, social media has played a vital role in shaping both his narrative and how people perceive him. The shares and posts involving Ellie usually occur within a context in which people’s differences and unique aspects are gradually gaining recognition by society. On this note, a shift in society provides background information on why many people are touched by Ellie’s story. The language used has the greatest impact on the manner in which Ellie’s tale is presented in social media posts. Using adjectives such as ‘extraordinary’, ‘inspirational’, and ‘heroic’ are used frequently when describing him. That is why Ellie is placed not only as a person, who, for some reason, got sick but also as a strong individual with a great story behind her. The narrative supports and carries the cultural view of triumphant against adversity.



It is possible to say thus how this or that power relation is sustained through the prism of the ideological consequences of social media. The character of Ellie is portrayed with a certain degree of sensationalism lonely and humanity. While it informs the audience and helps those in need, it also seems to reinforce a sort of providential view of Ellie’s worth, which exists in so far as he is capable of raising others up instead of valuing their individual potential and talents. Through building an online presence and contributing to the shared culture, social media platforms define the words, actions, and images of people like Ellie through the dissemination of narratives that must fit the online identity of individuals. The principles that govern the activity of social networks ensure that posts that are highly active get promoted even more, which contributes a lot to elevating Ellie’s story.

The manner through which social media networks conduct themselves in the distribution of content is evident in power relations. The platforms have the power of which stories can be seen and which cannot be seen, thus, acting as filters. This is the hope of changing the culture of handicap, brought about by social media; this is through a narration of Ellie’s story. Through considering such optics, one may once again try to understand how social media affects, not only, their own representation of diversity and disability, but the representation of the culture as a whole.

Based on the comparison of the transformation from “Ellie the Monkey Boy” to “Ellie the Social Media Star”, one can identify how social media changes his own identity. Heroes’ positive and optimistic narratives help to redefine the historical and social circumstances of his physical condition. Therefore, while the old legends were presented in a very negative way, on the various social media sites Ellie’s achievements and her skills are celebrated boldly.

The manifestation of social media thus resulted in an alteration of the historical discourse characteristic of difference and disability. In social networks different people and different stories can be heard, thus it becomes possible for the story of Ellie to be viewed by people all around the world. It can be regarded as a sign of a gradual shift in society toward the representation of the characters more diverse and inclusive.

He also alters Selie’s persona on social media whereby he adopts a strong and positive character similar to motivational figures in society. Friends from the online communities will accept and support him in his choice, as the modern trends focus more on the extensibility of the choice regardless of gender.

In social media networks languages used in communication also greatly differ. This is when such adjectives as ‘amazing,’ ‘heroic,’ and ‘inspiring’ begin to be used rather often. This various positive framing of Ellie erases the prejudiced perception of the public and they start seeing her as a positive role model.

We are in a position to assess how social media impacted the growth of Ellie as a social media persona by applying Wodak’s method. It uncovers how users can persuade society, maintain its values, and solicit awareness regarding the dynamics in the connection between sensationalism, empathy, and agency.

Findings:

In conclusion, the researchers have come across the following findings:

? At first, the scope of Ellie’s story was contained within his home country of Rwanda, and the name by which he was known there – Ellie the Monkey Boy – was shorthand for how people saw him: with a kind of horrified fascination, pity, and understanding.

? Worldwide Phenomenon: Therefore, Ellie’s narrative just got amplified by social media and took a man who was unknown to many people and turned him into a social media sensation. A global audience’s engagement was mentioned, which often inverted the emotional turn from empathy to interested advocacy.

? Such a change was observed in the way Ellie’s identity was viewed on social media platforms. First of all, the concern was mainly paid to his exterior appearance, as well as his unique physiological state. However, stories that people tell about him today describe him as persistent, nonconformist, and an activist for disabled people’s rights.

? Essentials on many posts that were created on social networks looked like they were written using individuals with totally different wording. While the language used in the past may have bordered on being sensational or degrading, the currency has now become one of respect and women’s potential. Many activities and hashtags supporting the presence of Ellie as an inspiring character appeared.

? Influence of the Documentary: Thereby, a broad panorama of Ellie’s life-relevant issues, environment, and community advanced the efforts towards humanizing Ellie profoundly and effectively. This helped in countering any wrong or stereotypical pictures that might have been in circulation on the internet.

? Shareable and visually appealing graphics and images that could be posted on the stations’ Facebook, Instagram, and other pages were also important. They presented condensed biographical sketches of Ellie’s life; these elicited passion and underscored that they were dealing with a person.

? Empowerment and Advocacy: Their experiences online were personal yet it also became an avenue for the advocacy for further inclusion for persons with disabilities. Thus, Ellie’s visibility became instrumental for both activists and other everyday users of social media platforms in raising awareness about issues of social justice, migrant rights, free and equal access to medical care, and destigmatization. Community Building: Following Ellie’s article, there were created groups on social media where people shared similar experiences, where people with disabilities could listen, and where people would discuss more general issues concerning disabilities. Long-term engagement and advocacy, however, required that this kind of sense of community be in place.

? Ellie's journey from being a passive subject to an active agent began when she found herself the object of other people's stories, both in the media and in her community. But when he rose to fame on social media, things changed. Ellie and his family started to have more say over the narrative and the lessons it communicated Social media's impact It was clear that social media had the ability to influence public opinion and promote social change. Ellie was frequently presented in a particular way by traditional media, but social media gave rise to more complex and varied narratives that included a greater variety of viewpoints and opinions.

? Exploitation and Sensationalism: Ellie's tale was occasionally sensationalized or exploited for clicks and views, despite its positive qualities. This brought up moral questions regarding the monetization of his life and the motivations behind certain social media efforts.

? Sustainability of Support: Due to social media's viral nature, attention may not last long. It took persistent work and the creation of deeper, more significant narratives after the initial wave of interest to sustain long-term support and advocacy.

? Narrative Evolution: The change from "Ellie the Monkey Boy" to "Ellie the Social Media Star" demonstrates how representation and narrative have the ability to evolve. Social media was vital in changing people's opinions, drawing attention to the complexity of identity, and promoting social change. More General Implications: Ellie's narrative highlights broader social trends in which social media can challenge established power structures, democratize storytelling, and provide a voice to underrepresented groups. It also emphasizes the value of telling moral stories and the possible drawbacks of using digital media.

? By looking at these results, we can gain a better understanding of social media's dual nature as a tool for exploitation and empowerment, as well as the continual requirement of critically engaging with the narratives it generates.

Conclusion

Thus, social media can amplify voices; the subject is illustrated by a shift of Ellie from a novelty of her local community to a global social media figure. Again this amplification means that Ellie’s situation has reached out to more people than before with people demonstrating their empathetic and supportive side towards her. While the documentary set the initial stage any further vehement movement and advocacy was achieved with the help of Social media.

Wodak ‘s influence of political, social, and historical frameworks which are appropriate to language are well highlighted in the DHA in the analysis it has been seen how the frameup of Ellie’s story has evolved over time. While during the initial episodes, the plot was primarily concentrated on Callum’s physical appearance, from the second season, it started emphasizing disability rights, the ability to work through hardships, and coming into power for people with disabilities. The above shift shows that the narratives of social media are responsive to changes and are part of a social environment.

Criminal sociology, historical, and media perspectives provided a solid methodological basis for a multidisciplinary approach in the study of Ellie’s case at DHA. In this method, the relationship between social media and cultural components such as activism, perception, and identity were illustrated. It focused on the complexity of Ellie’s experiences and the universality of the story to many people’s experiences. Therefore, the power dynamics that were present were established in the analysis. Ellie was initially a mere recipient of other people’s narratives. Able to have greater control of the story as more people heard about it especially his family including Ellie. Some of them included; Other issues raised out of this change including issues to do with exploitation and the commercialization of his life narrative. Taking into account these concepts, the study underscores the moral narrative, which must enhance people’s self-governance and dignified existence.

Even though Ellie’s story was posted on different platforms and brought a satisfactory result, activism cannot be constant. Because the support may come at the spur of the moment and wither away with time; it is important to sustain the strength and efficacy of such support to Elle and disability rights. Ellie’s story is not personal but general and understandable in the context of American culture. It still expounds how social media challenges conventional power structures and brings marginalized communities into the foreground of the narrative. It also points to the potential for abuse and need for the critical engagement with interactive digital stories.

In conclusion, the analyzed documentary and the comments it triggered on social media prove that Internet platforms affect conversation in society to a great extent. This paper demonstrates that social media use has moral implications given its potential to bring about societal change by analyzing Ellie’s narrative according to Wodak’s DHA framework. By and large, it would be possible to state that the presence and use of digital storytelling should be moderate and considerate; social media should be given a voice but at the same time, people’s lives depicted online should not be violated. 

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