PAB Entry #1

PAB Entry #1 In the article “Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?” written by Stephen Marche his argument is that despite the increasing number of ways to connect to each other the value of these interactions has become numerous but inherently less valuable and as a result people are more detached or lonelier. The article while focuses on Facebook actually takes an idea from google+ and it is very impactful to the article. The quote the author provides from google+ refers to adding “Your real friends” on its platform however the phrase itself opens a whole new thought process which can be utilized in answering my question “What are the mental health risks or benefits of users of Facebook?” because of all these added “friends” on Facebook are not real friends then what are they? The author supports his argument by referencing Yvette Vickers who reached out to fans for companionship when she had no social circle church or children this implied loneliness is driven home by the fact that no one knew when she died as she was mummified when found and was only visible due to the glow of a still powered computer screen. She personifies the fears that many people have and while she serves as an example statistics are provided that try to measure how many people are lonely and do a good job of it and are from reliable sources such as AARP and scholars. Also, I think this article is excellent because it provides a historical timeline of hoe technological advances have been building on this problem and because of this I could base my argument on past incarnations of technological based loneliness and build up to now.

 Works cited STEPHEN, MARCHE. “Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?” theatlantic, https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/05/is-facebook-making-us-lonely/308930/. Accessed 28 March 2017.