Fallacies

A fallacy is "an argument that involves faulty reasoning," according to The Norton Field Guide to Writing. Obviously this is something one would want to avoid when attempting to argument a specific point. Fallacies decrease the amount of authority you portray to your readers. There are many different types of fallacies, including bandwagon appeals, false analogies, and faulty causality.
An example of a common type of bandwagon appeal, that does not necessarily have success although we have all done it: "Mom and Dad, I need an iPhone because Lauren, Casey, and Jamie all have iPhones."
An example of a slippery slope fallacy would be an argument that tries to say that if children watch too much TV, the future generations will become illiterate.

An example in my research had to do with the article I found that opposed my thesis. The article says Facebook boosts users' self-esteems. They back up this argument by saying Facebook users have the ability to edit and alter any detail on their profiles and by doing this, they can make it look the way they want and that will make them feel good about themselves. The problem with this hasty generalization is that everyone alters their Facebook appearance and then feels good. No matter how much you alter your information, you will still compare yourself to others.