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Jonathan Franzen's Essay 'Liking Is For Cowards'

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Liking Is for Cowards. Go for What Hurts
Everyday millions if not billions of people connect with each other on social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and so on. With this surge in technology came a new form of living in which people have the opportunity to show everyone else what they like. It have become important nowadays to show everyone that your life is exciting and what better way to do this than by uploading pictures and commenting on how great life is, plus it never hurts if someone likes what you’ve uploaded.
Popularity is now easily measured in likes and friends on Facebook and Instagram, which are causing people to focus more on their online life than their real life. Love have suddenly been replaced by like and therefore the commitment that comes with loving another person is slowly fading. This is what Jonathan Franzen tries to address in his essay Liking Is for Cowards. Go for What Hurts (2011). …show more content…
Franzen is trying to reach the younger generations with this essay, and therefore he starts of by sharing a personal experience, which involves him getting a new Blackberry smartphone. This is a smart move by Franzen because he makes sure to level with his audience rather than doing what many adults have tried before, which is to criticize the younger generations. “Very probably, you’re sick to death of hearing social media disrespected by cranky 51-year-olds.” (P.10 L.140). This shows that Franzen might be aware of the fact that most of his audience would show a lack of respect towards him, if he starts out by complaining about technology and the abuse of this technology by the younger

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