Warburton Blog Post 5

Christine Rosen’s journal article, Virtual Friendship and the New Narcissism, is a well written analysis of the new technological aspect of friendship that has grown astronomically in the past few years.  The main point Rosen is trying to convey in this essay is that the social friendships we are making today are not as meaningful as pre-digital age friendships, and can also be damaging to social skills.  This article comes from The New Atlantis, which is a conservative journal that focuses on relevant and new technology.  The intended audience for this article was most likely the elderly and less technology experienced generation due to the fact that it points out the negatives of the social networks such as its creation of a more self-centered generation of young people.  The arguments in this essay are all opinion based, however they have facts to back them but there is nothing to prove beyond doubt that the arguments presented are the absolute truth.  Rosen appears to be a credible writer because she keeps her focus on the topic and does not stray off on ideological rants which would be unprofessional and unlike a credible author.  Rosen uses specific instances to prove her points; she referenced a 2006 Dateline special about the easiness of predators to contact children to show that these social network sites are not as safe as we think.  She uses several other specific instances to prove her point that social network sites are primarily detrimental to the social skills of young people who use them.  Rosen thoroughly addresses all negative aspects of these sites but she does not consider the positives of the same sites and what roles they play in keeping friendships alive.  Overall I agree with Rosen in that too much of these sites can be socially harmful but I also believe that in when used in moderation these sites are not harmful to their users.