Can Facebook Make You Sad? By Justin Mullins: Article Analysis

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Counter argument First draft “When was your last time to log in Facebook? How did you feel then? And Why?”. All these questions were in the heads of many researchers and writers to know if social networking makes us happy or sad, is it useful or not. One of these writers is Justin Mullins, he argued this topic in his article “Can Facebook make you sad?” which was put out in the New York Times on February 6, 2014. Mullins throughout his article discussed that issue showing how Facebook or social network in general can affect us in many ways. He listed at first many benefits of internet and social networking which I agree with. He was right when he claimed that internet communication is an unimagined invention that helped people to communicate …show more content…

He was also convincing when he said that it connects families, friends and colleagues around the world and facilitate communication between them despite their different languages. I also agree with him that Facebook is not for entertainment but it also has a beneficial effect, we could read and know more about the world news, health, sports ….etc. through different Facebook pages. He was also correct when he defended those whom we see happier than us by telling that they may be more likely to share their success than failures. And last but not the least I totally agree with him that all Facebook users shouldn’t only use Facebook for their entertainment but to become active instead. He then depended on many researches (some of unknown sources) and a life story of some kid to claim that Facebook makes us sad and less satisfied than usual, and the less we used it the less we feel that way, here comes my points of disagreement with the author. Despite the fact that the author throughout the article compromises exciting and valid arguments concerning how can Facebook makes us sad, some of his arguments need to be inspected more closely as they are feeble and unsupported, full of false …show more content…

Still other fragile points have been spotted and refuted such as the false assumptions, weak evidences and logical fallacies stated before. As a whole it was a respectable article presenting the author’s explanations and sources behind his belief. Work Cited • Clinical Report. "The Impact of Social Media on Children, Adolescents, and Families." The Impact of Social Media on Children, Adolescents, and Families. Pediatrics, 28 Mar. 2011. Web. 23 Oct. 2014. <http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/127/4/800.full>. • Doyle, Ron S. "Why Facebook Is Making You Happier." Psychology Today: Health, Help, Happiness + Find a Therapist. Psychology Today, 8 Oct. 2010. Web. 24 Oct. 2014. <http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/you-20/201010/why-facebook-is-making-you-happier>. • Magid, Larry. "Facebook Isn't Addictive -- It Just Makes People Happy." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 2 Oct. 2012. Web. 24 Oct. 2014. <http://www.forbes.com/sites/larrymagid/2012/02/10/facebook-isnt-addictive-it-just-makes-people-happy/>. • Park, Alice. "This Is How You Spread Your Emotions on Facebook." Time. Time, 12 Mar. 2014. Web. 24 Oct. 2014.