Reetu Sukhramani- With friends like these ...

Summary:

The article, ‘with friends like these’ by Tom Hodgkinson is quite appealing but at the same time awfully subjective. The author talks about the disadvantages of Facebook and it enormous effects. He also includes the historical background of Facebook including the founders as well as the investors.

He believes that Facebook disconnects people from their real relationships rather than connecting them. ‘Far from connecting us, Facebook actually isolates us at our workstations’, (Hodgkinson). He also mentions the competitiveness around friendship. ‘It seems that with friends today, quality counts for nothing and quantity is king’, (Hodgkinson).  

On Facebook, we can share information and be whoever we want to be. For example, have a second life. He also points out the interference of advertisements. We are bombarded with advertisements on Facebook.

Reflection:

I think the article helps us understand Facebook from a different prospectus. The author speaks about the disadvantages of a virtual world as opposed to the real one. His argument is quite comprehensible and lucid. But the author is way too subjective and I disagree with some of his opinions. We all have a different perception about the virtual world and maybe this is the reason as to why I might disagree with him.

Most of what he talks about is quite agreeable and after reading this article I do realize the consequences of having a Facebook account. The competitiveness that he mentions early in his argument is quite explicable because we all do it unconsciously.

‘In Praise of Oversharing’ by Steven Johnson can be linked to this article. I think there is a very fine line between private and public. This wasn’t the case earlier on but nowadays we tend to forget the difference between the two. I believe it is rather astonishing.

Citation:

 Hodgkinson, T. (2008, January 14). With friends like these [Article History].
Retrieved from The Guardian website: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/
2008/jan/14/facebook