Thoughts on Facebook, Essay Example

In this article, the author makes his point of view well known; he believes that Facebook is a useful tool that serves a wide range of purposes including communicating with friends and discovering others with common interests. Despite the fact that the author makes the thesis of his discussion clear, the evidence he provides to prove his claim is not convincing and badly phrased. In this example, it is clear that the quality of evidence provided to support a claim is more beneficial than quantity because it appears as if the author provides tangential situations that he believes provides support for his case.

When the author discusses factors that people should consider when using Facebook in order to remain safe on the internet and conform to expected online social behaviors, he notes that people who use online forums sometimes think they are invincible, but they are not. I agree that the example that he provides of a student posting images of his genitals online who was later unable to get a job because of this was a good example of the negative consequences of improper use of the site. However, the way that the story is told does not seem completely truthful because important details were left out. If the individual’s name or school he attended were provided, it would be easier to verify this story as fact rather than a fabrication.

It is difficult to tell whether the student uses material from a wide range of sources in his essay. In one part of the discussion, he cites the Fourth Amendment. However, it is difficult to distinguish in the other parts of the essay what information came from a source and what information the student had knowledge of beforehand. It is also very possible that some of the information was fabricated because precise details aren’t provided in many cases. If a source was used, it is also possible that all of the information came from a single source. While I think that the essay provides interesting advice to the reader, I dislike it because I cannot be sure that the information it provides is truthful.