Ngoc Nguyen
Professor Kehner
English 151- RW
October 11, 2015
Facebook and Loneliness
Are people still feeling lonely even though they are connected online? Stephen Marche, in his article " Is Facebook Making Us Lonely ?", explains the correlation between using Facebook and loneliness. Facebook has been used worldwide for a long time and it has always been an interesting topic to debate on. Some people argue that Facebook is harmful by isolating people from others around, and that using Facebook might make people less satisfied, sadder and lonelier than ever before. Conversely, I and other people think this most popular social network is great, it makes the world more open and connected. Facebook is useful, it does not separate or make people lonely because Facebook is just a tool and everything depends on how it is used. Stephen Marche describes in his article that people nowadays have less society than before because they are living their busy lives. Facebook arrived and made the connection seem more attractive. However, there are some negative effects that Facebook has on people such as increasing intensity of human loneliness: "We suffer from unprecedented alienation"; "We have less and less actual society. The more connected we become, the lonelier we are"; "Facebook is interfering with our real friendships, distancing us from each other, making us lonelier; and that social networking might be spreading the very isolation it seemed designed to conquer"-
Stephen Marche’s article, “Is Facebook Making Us Lonely” explores the complex issues regarding loneliness. “Loneliness and being alone are not the same thing…” (The Atlantic), Marche states. Loneliness is a physiological mantra and a projection of an individual’s feelings about life and their surroundings. Loneliness is by far one of the most detrimental epidemics because it is sly; many people do not identify loneliness to be an actual factor of bad health. Bad health can originate from a prolonged feeling of being alone therefore can affect the human body itself. In his article, Marche continues to discuss several scientists’ perspectives and references a myriad of social experiments composed around the issue of correlation or causation between
In Stephen Marche’s ”Is Facebook Making us Lonely”, the author starts with an grabbing or interesting story that made headlines about a women named Yvette Vickers. He uses this anecdote to grasp the reader’s attention. Moreover, the writer is trying to appeal to the audience about loneliness. In the text it says “Social Media-from Facebook to twitter- has made us more densely networked than ever. Yet for all this connectivity, new research suggests that we have never been lonelier”. The author presents his argument and gives some factual evidence for the argument. Moreover, he compares his views with others. He gives the readers a problem that many people face nowadays is loneliness. Marche informed “Despite its deleterious effect
Currently many people have hundreds of friends on Facebook and other social networks. Does that mean that nobody is lonely anymore? Many people are still lonely and even back during the great depression, many people suffered from loneliness. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is largely about the loneliness of two migrant workers who have nobody but each other. A black stable buck being segregated and showing how loneliness affects him, and a woman who wants to have friends, but has nobody, even to talk to.
Marche argues that social media such as Facebook is the main cause of people becoming lonelyfor this epidemic occurrence. He begins his article by introducing a death of a Hollywood iIcon, Yvette Vickers. It was noted that Vicki’s mummified body was found only decades after her death. She died in isolation, alone and forgotten by the outside world. Noting the fear of loneliness. A famous celebrity dying without anyone noticing would instill fear being lonely. People are currently “living in isolation that would have been unimaginable to our ancestors, and yet we have never been more accessible” (Marche). Over the years, technology has advanced, exposing many people to social media. Due to this increase of exposure, people are even more
The author illustrates in her blog the power and impact Facebook had on the population by convincing to be “a place of human connectivity,” but
In an argumentative essay, the author can write about the topic he or she is most interested in to try to persuade people to be on his or her side. Authors can use any of the many written strategies that exist to make his or her essay credible to the audience. Some authors use more than one rhetorical tool in their essays, while others keep their essays simple. It really does not matter how many rhetorical tools an author uses; all that it matters is how the author uses them to accomplish his or her goal of persuading the audience. For instance, in “Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?” by Stephen Marche, the purpose is to aware his audience from The Atlantic, magazine where it was first published, that technology and social media such as Facebook are making people lonely. Marche’s audience in this case is people with a high level of education most likely with a profession, and therefore, with high income. His median age audience for printed copies is 53 years old, and his median age audience for people who prefer digital copies is 41 years old. The Atlantic’s audience is more males than females as in the printed and the digital copies. Most of the articles published in The Atlantic’s are topics of global politics, business and technology, health topics, and education for its audience is more into politics, businesses, and the American culture. The types of voices that Marche uses are sad and worried. For example, Marche says, “We meet fewer people. We gather less. And when we
Social media, like Facebook and Twitter seems to be growing popular worldwide in the last few years. Have you found yourself or someone else in an awkward situation and instantly pull out your phone to scrawl through Facebook or Twitter just to keep from talking to someone in the elevator or doctor’s office? Is social media like Facebook and Twitter making us lonely human beings? One man, Stephen Marche, wrote “Is Facebook Making Us Lonely,” published in May of 2012 issue in The Atlantic thinks that social media might play a role in it alongside with other things.
The essay Stephen Marche wrote “Is Facebook Making Us Lonely” is talking about with the technology what the society looks like now, and social media like Facebook and twitter have made us more densely network than ever.
In today’s world, technology is at its peak. However, there was a time when things were getting evolved and websites were created to connect and socialize. For example, Facebook was created with the intent of connecting with people, but it rather forced people to compare each other’s live, which made some people sad. It became successful, but not completely successful. Libby Copeland’s essay, “Is Facebook Making us Sad,” addresses a key factor in how Facebook makes us sad, according to research and some expert testimony. One key factor that I would like to address in the essay, how humans compare their lives with others on Facebook, making themselves lonely and sad.
“Social media allows people to connect with each other to create and share information. It is people-powered communication, an authentic dialogue motivated by a basic human desire to share information” (CIPD, Social Media and Employee Voice Report 2013). ‘Click’ and my message is on its way to my friend’s Facebook inbox hundred of miles away. The astonishing speed of how quick we can communicate in today’s societies, all thanks to social media. The invention of Facebook simplified everything we know about communication. We can connect to people whenever and wherever, sharing information has never been more convenient and exciting. In Shane Hipps’ Article, “ Is Facebook Killing Our Souls?,” he has no intention to impede technological advancements, instead he wants users to understand technologies with insights. According to my research, although Hipps ' points has some merits, I disagree with him because he overgeneralized the impacts that Facebook and other social media has on users’ behaviors and identities.
In his article, “Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?” Stephen Marche argues that Facebook is the vital cause for loneliness and is luring people away from social capital. According to Marche, social networking isolates individuals and creates distance, mostly amongst family members. For some, it is not only isolation but rather social loneliness. The author claims that health can also be effected by loneliness. Nowadays, due to very little verbal person to person communication, he writes that people have never been so separated from one another because of social media. Facebook users, Marche argues, have an addiction to profoundly visit their account constantly leading to the feeling of loneliness and in most cases depression. The author claims that social networking, instead of demolishing isolation, is unknowingly spreading it. Ultimately, However, Stephen’s argument fails to convince due to his abundant false assumptions and the articles confusing organization.
At first, I agreed with Stephen Marche, author of “Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?”, but after doing some of my own research I would like to retract my original position. We cannot blame technology for our own human condition. However Stephen Marche begs to differ. “At the forefront of all this unexpectedly lonely interactivity is Facebook, with 845 million users and $3.7 billion in revenue last year” (Marche). Stephen Marche believes Facebook is making us lonely because it is changing the dynamics of traditional friendships (Marche). He also blames Facebook for the rise in human isolation. From 1950 to 2010 a 17 percent increase in households of one were reported (Marche). Does Marche not realize that many happy Americans
The more we use social media, the less happy we seem to be. One study a few years ago found that Facebook use was linked to both less moment-to-moment happiness and less life satisfaction—the more people used Facebook in a day, the more these two variables dropped off. The authors suggest this may have to do with the fact that Facebook conjures up a perception of social isolation, in a way that other solitary activities don’t. “On the surface,” the authors write, “Facebook provides an invaluable resource for fulfilling such needs by allowing people to instantly connect. Rather than enhancing well-being, as frequent interactions with supportive 'offline' social
As technology progress, humans evolve to the advanced technology and enhance our lives via technology. We connect to our families, friends and others through social media such as Facebook. Social media takes up a huge part in our lives. Social media infest us with information that are relevant and irrelevant to us. Marry Marrow wrote, “It was Facebook that changed the face of e-communication; in fact, it was the first electronic social media” (para 1). She assumes that Facebook is playing a huge role in electronic communication. In the journalist Maria Konnikova, “How Facebook makes us unhappy?”, Konnikova divulges many aspects of people on social media through researching and experience, and finds how social makes us unhappy. I agree with Konnikova findings after reading her article. In addition, she concludes that if you are engaged, active, and creative you will not sorrowful on Social media, however if you are passively browsing and defuse to engage, you will be depressed.
Society is constantly changing and will continue to change in the future. The change is predictable because people change their ideas, routines, and views frequently. One of the topics that is typically brought up when discussing the influences on how society is changing, is social networking. There are two sides to every story. One side of the effects of social networking is that it is beneficial to society by informing people on particular situations in the world and on current important events. The other side views social networking as dangerous and drama filled. While there are benefits and dangers to social networking's effects on society, I will argue that social networking has changed society more negatively than positively.