TOW #17: Facebook Friendonomics (Written)

Recently, I read the book Freakonomics, which explored the hidden economics of everyday situations. Scott Brown, New York magazine’s theater critic, wrote his essay Facebook Friendonomics, using the title to refer to the best-selling book. His essay also focuses on a hidden side of an everyday idea: Facebook. Brown uses allusions and imagery to convince readers that “friending” people of social media removes the original sensation of friendship.

                Brown’s inclusion of allusions and referrals is very important since it helps the audience connect with his point more easily. For example, he refers to the Rolodex when discussing the value of friendship. He states, “Friending has subsumed the ol’ Rolodex… But the great thing about the Rolodex was that it never talked back…” (par. 4). Brown’s reference to the Rolodex shows how friendship online can be a distant affair and cannot assume the values of pure, face-to-face friendship. In another part of his essay, Brown refers to a Showtime subscription, stating that it, like friendship, allows you to, “chance, adapt, evolve or devolve” (par. 5). This shows readers that some friendships are meant to be ended; to help one grow as a person, whereas online friends do not allow such growth. In this way, Brown is able to convince the audience that online friends cannot offer the same values and lessons included with a proper friendship.

                Secondly, Brown also includes imagery to persuade his audience about the negative impact of online friendships. He states that, “the flimsiest of attachments – the chance convention buddy, the cube-mate from the ‘90s, the bar napkin hookup – will be preserved” (par. 2). Brown’s diction in this sentence gives negative connotation to the readers about online friendship, since it shows that regretful events of the past will be preserved and will not allow someone to move on from that spot. Later, Brown considers an analogy, stating that online friends, “are the currency of the socially networked world; therefore, it follows that more equals better” (par. 3). Similarly in this case, Brown’s metaphor shows a negative side of online friends by comparing them to greed for money, and therefore is more convincing of the fact that online friends just remove the original sensations and values behind proper friendship.

                As a high school student, plenty of kids around me have increased their time on social media with “friends” from a couple minutes to hours every day. Brown’s convincing argument against such attachments shows that people around me might be making a mistake, and it’s probably time for them to get off the computer, met people face-to-face, and enjoy the values of human interaction.