The Downfall of being Interconnected

           With the introduction of social media, humans have begun to be able to communicate with each other all over the globe within seconds. In Charles Seife’s “The Loneliness of the Interconnected,” the author describes how humans have become more susceptible to being close-minded due to the introduction of social media. People rarely go out of their way to look at different perspectives, but instead tailor their searches to their own personal beliefs.

Seife does succeed in conveying the point that people are consumed by their own personal prejudices by utilizing specific examples. By describing how different news organizations target their explicit audiences, we are able to see how society has become locked on their own personal biases instead of branching out to rid themselves of false ideas. By becoming interconnected within social media and through news networks, people have become blinded by only the things that they believe matches their already formed beliefs. The example of the South African president believing that the anti-HIV drug was more harmful than good is a great example of how the internet affects people. Due to his lack of insight, almost 300,000 people lost their lives. With this use of logos, Seife is able to back up his points to prove how humans have become isolated from one another.

Although the examples that Seife uses are excellent, it makes his writing more disjointed and harder to read because of the sheer amount that he uses. Examples are great, but too many of them can hinder the points that are trying to be made.  Some of them seemed like they were placed there just to take up space instead of being thoroughly explained and incorporated into his overall purpose. Even with this, Seife manages to describe his main point thoroughly.