Summary Of Friendship In A Social Networking World By Alex Pattakos

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.

In “The Limits of Friendship” by Maria Konnikova, social media has significantly changed the way we interact with friends and family. Everybody thinks that using social media is the best way to talk to friends and family, however, in my opinion, they are wrong because it doesn’t give you the face-to-face connections we need as humans for social interaction. On the other hand, the great thing about using social media is you can connect with more people, but in a superficial kind of way. Therefore, we do not get the face-to-face interactions with our friends and family. We, the people that are addicted to social media, learn that without face-to-face conversations we wouldn’t have a normal “social” life outside of social media. The question

Maria Konnikova's essay "The Limits of Friendship," analyzes the impact of social media on close relationships, addressing the people impacted by social media use. This essay published in The New Yorker, a weekly magazine with scholarly authors, to inform the public on social media's impact on our lives. She finds that social media has created a dependency on technology and online interactions. Konnikova strives to inform that social media is decreasing close relationships, and persuades that it will impact our future. She argues on the impact of increased dependency on social media on the Dunbar number, hindering the development of future generations. Konnikova succeeds using strong logic and scientific reason as well as appealing to emotions; however, she fails to prove her credibility over the topic and instead relies on the credibility of Robin Dunbar.

The article “I’m So Totally, Digitally, Close To You (Brave New World of Digital Intimacy)” (2002) is written by Clive Thompson, who is also a blogger and columnist. The author aims to explain the users’ attraction of Facebook, Twitter and other forms of “incessant online contact” through his text. Since social networking has become a nearly ubiquitous aspect of human contemporary life, Thomson has effectively illustrated the invasion of the social media into human daily lives, how people are commanded by it. He later goes on to explore the benefits of social networking sites and a few challenges of the usage assumptions.

In this article Rosen uses a plethora of examples and sources to make her argument/ideas credible. Rosen used one of Stanley Milgram’s studies to show how there were “six degrees of separation,” but now with social media people are connected by closer to three degrees of separation, according to Duncan J. Watts. Rosen uses the essay “The Strength of Weak Ties” by sociologist Mark Granovetter to strengthen her argument on how social media is mostly weak ties and not true real friendships. Also she uses a survey by the Pew Internet and American Life Project that states “ more than half of all Americans between the ages of twelve and seventeen use some online social media coverage of social networking site.” Then Rosen goes on to say how there is a “nearly unbridgeable generational divide, with tech-savvy youngsters redefining friendship while their doddering elders look on with bafflement and increasing anxiety.” This survey helps Rosen’s argument that states how friendship is not the same anymore.

In the argument article written by Dr. Alex Pattakos entitled “The Meaning of Friendship in a Social- Networked World.” He clearly defines his reasons for believing that technology is, in his opinion, ruining the concept of friendship. One of his main supports is the ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle. Other supports include, percentages and personal experience. Together with good example and persuasive skills, he composes a great article.

In the article, Faux Friendship, William Deresiewicz explores how friendship between individuals have evolved in modern life. Nowadays, the social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace turn the idea of friendship into universal friendship, in which an individual become a friend with everyone. Also, he pointed that the modern friendship became a form of distraction, “If we have 768 “friends”, in what sense do we have any? Facebook isn’t the whole of contemporary friendship, but it sure looks a lot like its future. Yet Facebook – and MySpace, and Twitter, and whatever we’re stampeding for next – are just the latest stages of a long attenuation.” (Deresiewicz 435).

In “Faux Friendship,” Deresiewicz discusses current relationships, including social media, in relation to “classical friendships.” Similar to Emerson’s qualities of friendship, classical friendship contains components of “goodness and truth” (Faux Friendship pg. 2). Many modern relationships fail to own this sort of design. On social media, people can be “friends” with someone they have never met in real life. For instance, my brother owns an Instagram account.

Nevertheless, the use of social medias involves disputable risks in modern friendships. In effect, the rewarding property of virtual friendships diverges from the one of real-life bonds. Misinterpretations represent the main conflict in virtual ties (Bond 42). Most importantly, the intended

Stephen Marche’s “Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?” posted by The Atlantic has internet users questioning the meaning of why they use the internet and social media as well as weather or not it has a profound impact on their social lives. In 1995, only one percent of the world had access to the internet according to internetlivestats.com. Today, that number is approximately to 40%. With the expansion of the internet came social platforms such as Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and numerous similar sites. However, while these social media websites may be great ways to communicate with those who are far away or otherwise unable to speak in person, a detrimental effect comes with the power to do so. It can be time consuming and if one has an

In the article “Faux Friendship” written by William Deresiewicz he talks about how Social Network sites like Facebook, Twitter and other social media are changing the meaning of friendship. Numerous friends pop up into our online sites however we are lonely. We talk constantly yet we don’t look into their eyes but letters on a screen. We are fading the relationship and value of the word friend in our society. Those called friends on social sites have spun into contacts, friends who know other friends and people we would like to be friends with.The way we view each other today is different than from the past. In the historical times a friend was viewed in a more personal, affectionate, earned bond, trustworthy perspectivewe had classical, romantic

The very act of “friending” someone on Facebook implies that there is an actual relationship between the two social media users; however, it is not necessary to pursue any so-called friendship. All that is needed is an acceptance of friendship—nothing more. Worse than this, the system of “friends” or “followers” on social media platforms causes a competition between users for who has the most “friends” or “followers.” Those who have more of these two categories are generally perceived as well-liked or more effective than those who possess fewer; and those who possess more “friends” or “followers” believe that they are beloved by others, feeding their

The advent of the “silent era” of friendships via social media accounts has created a totally new definition of friendship and what defines a set of people as friends. Those who are involved in traditional friendships, such as people over the age of 50, find that it has also become quite difficult for them to remain in touch with their friends on a real time level. However, these people do not have the time to spend nor the inclination to learn about the “benefits” of digitized friendships. As such the more advanced in age generation find themselves increasingly lonely as they move on with their lives. As we progress as a society into the 21st century, our method of socializing with one another has began to see changes for both the young and old generation. Most affected by the changes in socialization trends and an aging population is the concept of friendship and its relation to the rapidly increasing sense of loneliness for both the younger and older generation. Regardless of the age difference between the two social brackets the fact remains that both of them find themselves increasingly being enveloped by a serious sense of loneliness. The reasons for the loneliness seeming to vary from the lack of time to personally socialize with one another, thus using digital socialization in its place, or, as in the case of the elderly, their lack of mobility to physically go out and socialize with their friends of the same age. Some of whom either cannot

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

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.