Nathan Jurgenson's Criticism Of Social Media

Some believe, as our world becomes further dependent on technology, our social skills deteriorate. Although technology, and evidentiary social media, have come with numerous benefits, some critics say it’s increasing presence in our lives has had a negative effect on our social skills. Nathan Jurgenson, one critic of social media, wrote an article on social media and its role in our lives. Jurgenson critiques our misuse of social media and inaccurate obsession of the offline world. In “The IRL Fetish”, Nathan Jurgenson discusses technology and social media’s increasing presence in our lives. Initially, Jurgenson addresses social media’s evils and its overwhelming influence on our livelihood. It appears Jurgenson is criticizing our obsessive

One of the main ideas presented in the article is the in-separation of the online and offline. Personally, I can relate to Jurgenson’s claim “we can’t log off” (Jurgenson 130). Jurgenson says even in an offline experience, one is still influenced by social media. I’ve felt this effect in several of my experiences. Although disconnected, interactions with social media have affected my decisions in the offline world. For myself, the biggest influence is from Instagram. Early in high school, I experienced being photo fanatic. Similar to most students, I document life with the pictures I capture on camera. Today, I consider myself a respectable photographer, but can’t say my inspiration has been all self initiated. Through Instagram, I’m exposed to photos from people all over the world who share their experiences with the rest of the world. These people post pictures of places they’ve been, people they’ve encountered, and, more recently, selfies of themselves or others. The pictures I see subconsciously inspire my photographic vision in the offline moments I try to capture on camera. Often, an idea or image I’ve seen online triggers a thought in my head to pull out the camera and capture the moment. Through my experience, I’ve benefitted from social media and agree with the point Jurgenson makes, we are obsessed with in-life experiences and social media is the means for delivering

The simple truth is; we can’t log off of social media to rid ourselves of our obsession. Trying to live in an offline world and deny the online’s existence is truly stubborn. We must stop denying social media’s role in our lives and accept its presence. I relate to Jurgenson’s point through my experience with Instagram. To strengthen his argument, Jurgenson must further relate to other reader’s experiences. Rather than focusing on the critique of media use, he should expand on social media’s benefits in our lives. This way, the reader can clearly see how both the offline and online have shaped the real