Is Technology Making People Less Sociable?

Since the rise of the technological era, society has faced many different opinions on the topic of cell phones. On one end, mobile devices help us connect to the world in a lot of beneficial ways, and on the other hand, it damages our real-life relationships. Two authors, who were featured on The Wall Street Journals’ piece called “Is Technology Making People Less Sociable?” argued their points of view. The first argument was given by Dr. Larry Rosen, who spoke about the pitfalls of today’s communicative relationships over a cellular device. The counterargument was given by Dr. Keith N. Hampton who believed that virtual relationships helped strengthen real-life ones. Based on both of these authors, the stronger argument was given by Dr. Hampton

While both of these writings had their own examples shown, Dr. Hampton gave his opinions based on personal experience, researching on his own, and observation. On page five of the article, he states, “My recent studies have found that even the highest users of email. Mobile phones, and social media tend not to report high levels of stress.” Besides this instance, he mentions studying with students and other colleagues. This proves that he received unbiased proof of his argument, making his information more genuine. His examples featured included many different things such as cell phones have created life- long relationships, or, in his words, “…. communication technologies have made many of our relationships more persistent and pervasive.” He also comprises an argument saying that cell phone usage lowers stress and makes us more aware of our surroundings and the things happening around us. Sturdy examples help strengthen a

One paragraph in particular stood out amongst the rest:
“It is tempting to dismiss as trivial many messages exchanged online. But together, the small sips that come from the steady contact of social media can add up to a big gulp of information about the activities, interests and opinions of the people we connect with. They communicate mutual awareness and closeness along with information that we wouldn’t otherwise receive.”
The reason why this paragraph was so important because it highlighted a subject that was given in the first article by Dr. Rosen. He says that we only receive information in “small gulps” and that’s not enough for humans. Dr. Hampton took what he said, and turned it around to something positive in his point of view. At the end of the article, he ties in the quote by sociologist George Cooley, bringing everything full circle. In conclusion, both of these authors wrote very compelling arguments for and against the usage of cell phones, but only one can be considered stronger. Dr. Keith M. Hampton gave sturdy examples, had a strong opening, and had a great writing style. All of these attributes added to the article, making Hamptons case