Faux Friendship Critique

Scott Brown establishes a humorous tone, focuses on specific diction and language, and utilizes figurative language to develop his argument that modern day social networking with Facebook in particular drives the collection of meaningless friendships and prevents people from undergoing the natural process of letting go of friends. Brown appeals to his audience through his use of tone. Right at the beginning of the essay, he casually asks, “Hey, want to be my friend?” (par 1).

There are over six billion people on Earth today. Each of those people has countless relationships, which extend further into an immense network of relations among thousands of individuals. These relations can be romantic, professional, unconditional, mutual, or the strongest of all, friendship. Friendship is a term used to denote co-operative and supportive behavior between two or more beings. In this sense, the term connotes a relationship which involves mutual knowledge, esteem, and affection and respect along with a degree of rendering service to friends in times of need or crisis. Friends will welcome each other's company and exhibit loyalty towards each other, often to the point of altruism.

In the last ten to fifteen years accompanying the dawn of social media, means of communication among friends and strangers have been easier than ever. Since its creation in 2004, Facebook has grown into the largest social media site on the Internet with 30 million users and counting. The ability to catch up with former high school friends who are now across the country or see how an aunt in Pittsburgh has been doing since the birth of her son are now as simple as the click of a mouse. However, the amount of “friends” acquired on social media may not be an accurate reflection of how many close relationships one truly shares. In an article from Bigthink.com titled “Do You Have Too Many Facebook Friends?”, Steven Mazie gathers research from Pew Research Center about statistics surrounding Facebook

Friendship opens our minds to different views and perspectives and change our perceptions. It has the power to change people’s views on life in a positive way. True friends will do anything to keep their friendship alive, no matter the barriers. Potok proves through the friendship of Danny and Reuven that friendship can be achieved no matter the barriers. He proves that friendship is a key value to life through his motif

However, with the expansion of social media, many argue that the word “friend” has lost its meaning. Social media “friends” may, in reality, just be acquaintances added to social media lists order to appear popular. Even as many Americans spend time and energy developing

“We cannot tell the precise moment when friendship is formed. As in filling a vessel drop by drop, that is a last drop which makes it run over; so in a series of kindness there is at last one which makes the heart run over” (Bradbury, 71)

Throughout this essay I will be evaluating the contribution of an ethnographic approach to research on friendship. I will be looking at, and including evidence to support both sides of the argument as to whether or not this research method is in fact useful when it comes to gaining knowledge about friendship. As well as evaluating this method, I will compare it against others to reflect on the strengths, weaknesses and the typical data collected. I will look at some of the questions about friendship that have been addressed, and then whether this is the best method or if there are others that could have been more suitable.

Ethnographic approach to the research on friendship provided data which couldn’t be obtained using other approaches. Therefore, it extended our knowledge in this topic beyond the limits that constrain other methods of research. On the other hand, its shortcomings make its results questionable. Yet, some of these can be verified using different approaches or discover things that other approaches wouldn’t find that easily but can research them further. Concluding, the benefits of ethnographic approach overcome it shortcomings – especially when

With 50% of users logging on to Facebook everyday and more than 35 million users updating their status’s everyday (Facebook a, 2010), it posses the question what effect are social networking sites, mainly Facebook, having on our friendships? Are we extending our social networking and enriching them? Or are the effects of the ease and accessibility of a ‘friend’ demeaning our relationships?

In her blog “ The Fakebook Generation,” later to be published in the New York Times on October 6, 2007, Alice Mathias enters the topic of the most used social networking service worldwide, Facebook. Mathias debates on Facebook’s claim of being a forum for “genuine personal and professional connections” (438) and tries to influence her readers to ask themselves if the website really promotes human relationships. Alice Mathias, a 2007 graduate of Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire has wrote several more columns before, in which one of them was even awarded the Waterhouse Research Award.

With this, online friendships are a self-seeking prophecy. This idea diverges from the original studies of online relationships, which discovered that internet users are lonelier than those with less access to the internet (Tufecki 7). The more recent study of the hyperpersonal nature of today’s society online, known as “Seek and Ye Shall Find”, found the opposite to be true, emphasizing that individuals who believe that online friendships and strong relationships can be gained through those networks have much higher odds (52%) of acquiring new friends (Tufecki 7) and benefit most from online interactions. The hyperpersonal nature of the cyberspace comes to be seen as a space for people to be freer of social judgment due to the mediated communication deemphasizing appearance and shifting its focus towards

In life there are many changes that can cause a true friendship to go wary such as marriage, divorce, birth of children, new careers, and sickness. However, through each of those events the two must remember to keep the intimacy, the letting down of emotional barriers and the expression of innermost thoughts and feelings, “that which makes friendships thrive must be an enjoyable one” and to “always interact” (Karbo 3). Although psychologists continue to research the formation of friendships the great philosopher Aristotle knew exactly how friendships formed and how the lasted.

Trying to find a good friend is like finding a four-leaf clover; it's hard to find, but lucky to have. The term friendship is a unique bond between two individuals—whether it’s a charming boy and a geeky girl, an elder woman and a young adult, or even between a cat and a dog. Friendship takes no form, instead it is the individual trust toward others. Dating back to the creation of the human species, people were familiar with the idea of companionship, in addition of being a companion, it relies on a sense of comfort and protection. Presently, people still share that bond of comfort and protection toward others, but the term companionship has changed into what is now known today as friendship. The world is currently evolving into a digital era, a generation where everyone and everything are connected by the power of computers, including meeting new people across the world where it’s impossible to meet in person. However, even though it’s easily accessible to make friends online, it can never favor those who live locally. The reason why is because in the digital world, people are highly deceptive and are limited in communication while in comparison to those who lives locally. However, it isn’t wrong to make friends online, even though, some of them are misleading. It’s more suitable to have friends locally as they have better communication efficiency, living proof of actual identity, and as well of physically spending quality time together.

Social media improves the way people communicate with others. It allows them to meet new people. At the click of a button, millions of strangers all over the world who would have never met otherwise are able to connect with each other. Many people believe that internet friends are not as valuable as real life friendships. However with websites like “skype” and instant messaging sites, long distance friendships can be as intimate as real life friendships because social media allows friends to see each other face to face and spend quality time together whenever they want to. Because of this, internet friendships should no longer be considered taboo and should be seen as normal human relationships, “It’s entirely possible to have hundreds of

The pleasures gained from enjoying another’s company in a friendship vary in age, gender and, even more specifically, in individuals. Where a young child may experience a strong liking for his or her companion’s presence on multiple occasions, an adult will be content with one solid interaction. The transition from childhood to adulthood also alters the level of comfort one feels within a friendship. As one ages, one becomes more sensitive to the actions of those around them and will quickly eliminate a friend if his or her doings are not favored. (Doyle, Smith 5) This assessment is a clear indication of how Aristotle emphasizes the benefit of comfort in a relationship