Jonathan Franzen's Essay 'Liking Is For Cowards'

The rapid expansion of technological advancement is engulfing our culture. The author of IRL Fetish, Nathan Jurgenson argues that people have a weird interest in the world of offline. Technological advances are leading people into the realm of online, but Jurgenson also realizes the glorification of movement to offline. People who believe online world is destroying the real-life connection and many writers lament, “Writer after writer laments the loss of a sense of disconnection, of boredom (now redeemed as a respite from anxious info-cravings) …” (Jurgenson 127). People who are saying technological advances is removing people from the real-life so they think they can create a world where online does not exist. This new movement is educating the world that phone must be put away and boast about being offline. In IRL Fetish by Nathan Jurgenson, the author illustrates the practice of fetishizing of the offline world creates a misrepresentation of online and the offline world.

In the essay “We Are all Quants Now,” published in 2014, Paula Marantz Cohen discusses the influence of technology on the younger generation and how social approval is becoming more quantified. According to the author, in today’s reality, the young generation wants to assess their work in quantitative terms using Internet tools. Additionally, Cohen emulate on how quantitative analysis is rearranging the culture while increasing latest principles. The author claims that, this change in culture affects a person’s shape of self. Besides, the author also feels that this new form of model which combines sociology and computer science is soulless and shallow. Cohen also presents an example on how compilation of “Likes” can simplify decision-making

Adjetives to define friendship, as trust, caring, kindness, or compassion have been replaced by “likes”, and being “on call” as Turkle defines the way people is attached to their smart phones waiting for somebody who needs a comment or a like. Maintaining friendship now is not a question of conversation face to face, or a call, instead is a text message, a message that should be short and edited. People consider that this way or interaction is more efficient and less emotional than a real more demanding conversation. The author sustains that we are moving from friendship to a sense of

The relationship between people has been changed because of the widely using of new technology. People can easily communicate with other people by using different kinds of methods. Because of the use of those methods, people have more space with others and frequently hide part of themselves on the Internet in order to show the best of them. In the essay “Small Change: Why he Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted”, Malcolm Gladwell states that the relationship between people can be categorized by strong ties and weak ties. For example, in the past, people communicated by the method of interpersonal hierarchies, which are considered as strong ties. However, with the development of technology, social network, such as Twitter, Facebook, and Skype, which have become very popular in the world, are regarded as weak ties. Moreover, in the essay “Alone Together”, Sherry Turkle claims that people are distant with others and get lost in the virtual world through the new technology. She points out that now people communicate with others through technology instead of directing talking to real people. Furthermore, some people suppose that sociable robots as substitutes for people. Both Gladwell and Turkle agree with the idea that technology plays an important role on people’s connection. Technology only creates inauthentic relationship because it hides identity of many disorganized people.

We live in a world where the internet and social media plays a big role. There are constantly becoming less and less physical contact, and fewer face-to -face relations. This is demonstrated by the fact that we keep in touch with each other over Facebook, shopping takes place over the internet, we keep up with our economy whit online banking and meet friends and lovers over online dating sites. In late modern society, we are always available. But are we really missing out on a lot of important stuff, and is this necessarily a bad thing? This is also the theme in Jonathan Franzen’s essay, “Liking is for Cowards. Go for What Hurts” from 2011. The focus in this essay will be on how Jonathan Franzen

In Sherman Alexie’s poem “The Facebook Sonnet” Alexie brings up a controversy, over all social media because it absorbs society into the depths of dark unknowns and prevents physical face to face communication. Even though Facebook allows people to stay up to date with friends, whether they be new or deep-rooted, the platform tears its users away from substantial social interaction with others. People can connect to the world by the click of the mouse and know what is going on at any given time. Social media requires ones everlasting attention, and the addiction is almost comparable to that of a cigarette, one cannot give it up and is always thinking about when one can check it again. People become so caught up in trying to perceive what everyone else is doing, they forget that they have a reality to live and fail to maintain real relationships. “The Facebook Sonnet” belittles the social media platform by emphasizing how obsessed society is with making themselves look perfect for the screen. One is either gripping to their past or obsessing over the present.

Throughout his book Modern Romance, Aziz Ansari the author develops and explains concepts that are involved in romantic relationships. In his arguments he describes certain points that explain how romances were modernized with the advancement of the technology. The growth of technology has created new sources of communication like for example socials networks and other websites in the internet that allow people to have an easier search to find a partner when they are looking for one. One of the biggest arguments that author talks about is when he describes how technology has played an important role in romantic relationships. The use of technology that exists in the present day has become excessive and it is a good argument to discuss in the essay. Up to today the online services and socials networking sites have become important factor s in the search for that “perfect someone” that people want to share the rest of our lives with, but at the same time it becomes a dangerous weapon that disappoints, lies and destroys romantic relationships. It’s not really that technology influences bad things; but it is more up to the responsibility of people and the purpose they use it for. The fact that the technology has become a very helpful tool to date someone is something very common to do nowadays but also it is dangerous because people do not really know who they are talking to or who is behind the computers monitors. Although

Franzen discusses his relationship to the environment to try to expand on the ethos of his writing. He wrote how in college he developed a strong liking for the environment and the world around us. He began to be frustrated and discouraged by all of the negatives that the world faces every single day, such as rising global temperatures and the accumulation of garbage in the ecosystem. Eventually, he made a conscious decision to back away from the environment, but then he found a fascination with birds. He felt a sense of love for the birds, and ironically, this made him even more concerned about the environment because that was the home of the birds that he had such a passion for. “And here’s where a curious paradox emerged. My anger and pain and despair about the planet were only increased by my concern for wild birds, and yet, as I

The use of technology has increased rapidly as time has gone by.  In “Growing Up Tethered”, Turkle proves that the young generation need to be connected at all times by relying on their phones a lot. Reality is now based on technology, which people now live off of. Turkle’s argument in “Growing up Tethered” was used in the form of a book, with a well-organized smoothly transitioned article telling of the disconnection of the world we live in today, due to technologies such as cell phones, and social networks. We are slowly becoming a society of distance amongst each other with face to face conversations being limited to 20minutes phone conversations, and on social network sights we are making a portrayal of a person who we are

In the article “Growing up Tethered”, by Sherry Turkle, she argues that technology today plays a major role in everyday life. Youths do not have the ability to branch off and have their own independence because of their reliance and attachment to technology. They also use technology to develop who they are as people and create an online personal identity of what they think is a perfect life. In comparison, their own life seems boring, pale and unwanted. Turkle also talks about how teenagers think of their phone as a “friend’s” and cannot live without it. When feeling a strong emotion, teens want to share their feelings with their friends and phone. I agree with Turkle’s opinion that technology is changing and will never be the same, which will be hard to improve this attachment to technology because too many teens are tethered.

In the article “The IRL Fetish” by Nathan Jergenson, is a powerful essay that demonstrates the idea of this so called “Fetish” that we have with technology today. Within this essay Jergenson uses specific word choice in his essay to strengthen his argument about being connected. He uses quotes from other speakers and writers to get his points acrossed about this fetish that we have in our society right now. Finally, Jergenson also talks about the little victories that we have with technology, like “logging off”, and the irrational fear that we have about being disconnected.

A. Form, structure, plot: Jonathan Franzen uses an interesting jumbled chronology structure to create a complex plot in his fifth novel, Purity. His 2015 novel has a total of 563 pages and divided into 7 sections, each section shows the reader a different perspective of the story about a recent college graduate by the name of Pip, who struggles with a complicated past and $130,000 in student loan debt. The sections, ranging from 40 to 90 pages, contain one character as the primary focus, the spot lights center in on that one character and the other characters fade. A character is basically given a block of pages and some scenes then disappears when a new section begins and replaced by another character, only to reappear later in the novel. Each character’s perspective provides the reader with a 360º angle of the story.

Nowadays, there are many people who are addictive to technology very much, especially some social networks, like Facebook. An article from World Academy of Science, Engineering, and Technology shows that, “Facebook has become an essential part of many people’s lives. Surveys have shown that 71.2% of Internet users in the U.S. are also Facebook users, and that almost adolescents check Facebook first thing in the morning. Facebook ranked first in a survey of the 100 most popular websites in Taiwan. Nearly 90% of the Facebook population is made up of students, particularly university students”. At the same time, we have to notice that technology brings us a lot of fun. For example, communication has been made easier and the Internet has brought email and chatting facilities. Instead of sending letters to respective destinations, it is very easy to send an e-mail, which will be received instantly. New technology makes people to contact each other easily. If you are very busy and have no time to see your parents, you can call them or text them anytime, even during the 10 minutes break of the meeting. If you go to other country to study or work, and get far from your friends, you can have Internet video with them, in this way you can see them easily. All of those I said are the benefits and convenience that new technology bring us. In this way, technology makes people get closer, but not be alone. Without new technology, people have to see each other face to face or

The poem that I have selected for this essay is “Talking to Grief” by Denise Levertov. I chose this poem because it talks about grief. It also talks about the place that grief should have in a person’s life. The poem describes grief, and compares it to a “homeless dog.” It also describes how a dog deserves its own place in the house, instead of living under a porch or being homeless. This poem talks about how a person can be aware that grief is present, but that it is not always acknowledged and accepted. We all experience grief in different ways, and for different reasons. Everyone deals with grief in their own personal way. This poem describes a point in a person’s life when they are ready to accept grief as a part of their life

Digital technology, from computers to smart phones, is an inseparable part of this generation’s lives. The internet entered Iran in 1997 and spread very fast until 1999. Smart phones entered Iran’s market in 2009. Therefore, the internet and smart phones kind of shaped the teen years of the generation born in the 80s and the 90s who are immersed in virtual realities and virtual computer games. This generation has experienced the world and aesthetics in a virtual