Is Facebook Making Us Lonely Stephen Marche Analysis

Stephen Marche: is Facebook making us lonely?

“Is Facebook making us lonely?” In an article for The Atlantic magazine, Stephen Marche explores a few articles, expert opinion and even quotes a scientist in his quest to answer this question. The article has an overall negative tone. Although Facebook is the most well-known and widely used social media site, is it really the culprit? I do not think so. If being lonely is something we can control, then we have to read this and reflect. That is, of course, depending on our definition of loneliness and what it means.
In the article written by Stephen Marche, the question of Facebook’s and technology in general’s impact on society is answered in various ways. One of Marche’s main points is that
Marche begs the question “Does the internet make people lonely or are lonely people more attracted to the internet?” (1) People use the internet for so many things these days. It is a giant part of our complex lives and perhaps makes us look ahead, as opposed to staying in the present. Everyone, it seems wants to explore this world but being consumed can be lonely. Some people feel that humans seek independence and this is a perfect way to find it. I agree with the Australian study Who Uses Facebook? The study concludes, “People who have unhappy family relationships in the first place seek companionship through other means, including Facebook.” (2) One thing that I disagree with regard to Marche’s points is his opinion on the increase professional careers throughout society. He states, “We need professional careers more and more, because the threat of societal breakdown, once principally a matter of nostalgic lament, has morphed into an issue of public health.”(1) While I agree that the increase in the number of professional careers such as psychologists and therapists is astounding, I don’t necessarily believe that the increase in social media has affected this. It seems like issues that used to be brushed off as typical life problems are now being addressed as more serious issues. People are seeking mental health help more than ever before. However, I don’t think this is because Facebook is “making us more lonely”, but rather the people of the past had the same issues and there was simply no professional help for them. They just had to deal with these problems because no one knew how exactly to fix them. Whereas today, after extensive psychological research, we are able to manipulate people’s minds in order to help them with mental problems. In the end, it does not seem that Facebook is making us lonely. It is