Deck 24: The More We Get Together on Social Media the Worse Off Well Be and the Worse Off Well Make Our Friends

Question 1

Reflect on your personal experience with using social media platforms. (If you don't use social media, chat with someone who does). Does Jonathan Reid Surovell's argument seem consistent with your experience of using social media? If so, in what way? Is there some part of the conversation about using social media that Surovell misses in his essay?

Answer 1

-Include a thesis that's focused and appropriate given the assignment.
-Clearly and succinctly state the main argument for the thesis.
-Correctly identify and defend the argument's controversial premises using sound reasoning, well-chosen examples, insightful analogies, etc.

Question 2

Someone might look at this essay and think, "I don't even want to risk it! I'm getting rid of my cellphone." Granted, this would be pretty unusual, but we can imagine it happening. Do you think that a response like this one could ever be wrong? In your reply, appeal to the concepts of intrinsic and instrumental goods to support your answer.

Answer 2

-Include a thesis that's focused and appropriate given the assignment.
-Clearly and succinctly state the main argument for the thesis.
-Defend the argument by appealing to the concepts of intrinsic and instrumental goods.

Question 3

Part of Jonathan Reid Surovell's argument is to talk about how your social media use negatively affects your friends by supporting their bad habits. He appeals to the idea that "we shouldn't, without good reason, do things that are bad for our friends." You might worry that this argument will generalize (maybe it's wrong to go out for ice cream with the friend who needs to cut back on sugar, or to waste time with a friend on the weekend if she is falling behind in her classes). Do you think that Surovell's argument extends to condemn other behaviors we are usually fine with? If so, does that make you worry about Surovell's argument? If not, why not?

Answer 3

-Include a thesis that's focused and appropriate given the assignment.
-Clearly and succinctly state the main argument for the thesis.
-Evaluate Surovell's general argument on the wrongness of using social media insofar as it affects one's friends.

Question 4

What two reasons does Surovell give for minimizing social media use?

A) It's bad for us and bad for our friends
B) It's bad for us and its bad for political discourse
C) It's wrong to waste time and it's wrong to spread misinformation
D) It's wrong to hijack minds and it's wrong to not pay attention
E) It's better to have real life friends and it's better to spend time well

Question 5

What is "subjective well-being?"

A) The state of being comfortable, happy, or healthy
B) People's ability to know what is good for them
C) The state of being a morally good person
D) People's own sense of how happy they are
E) The measure of people's quality of life indicators

Question 6

Which of the following best captures the meaning of "technoference?"

A) The inability to conduct one's day to day tasks without relying upon electronic devices or apps
B) A near perpetual state of distraction caused by the presence of electronic devices and the apps on them
C) An occasional interference in one's life caused by contemporary society's habitual use of electronic devices
D) The race to create ever more distracting electronic devices and apps in order to grab consumers' attention
E) The wrongful behavior of those who refuse to engage in real life encounters because they are distracted by a device or an app

Question 7

How does social media fit into technoference?

A) Social media is the central component of technoference
B) Technoference relies upon social media for its existence
C) Social media and technoference are equal halves of one major problem
D) Social media platforms work to promote technoference in order to sell ads
E) Social media is one facet of the multi-faceted problem of technoference

Question 8

Which of the following is NOT one of the harms of social media that Surovell discusses?

A) It provides a constant opportunity to procrastinate
B) It makes us crueler
C) It lowers our happiness
D) It forms a bad habit in its users
E) It diminishes our attentional capacities

Question 9

Why does Surovell's criticism center on social media rather than smartphones?

A) Social media is a much graver problem than smartphone use
B) Social media is a major problem for college students in particular
C) Social media is intrinsically good while smartphones are only instrumentally good
D) There's less evidence that smartphones tend to make their users less happy
E) There's no evidence that smartphones are bad for their users

Question 10

What is an "instrumental good?"

A) A good because of some other benefit it brings
B) A good that is good in and of itself
C) A good that is related to the use of tools or instruments
D) A good that we attain after working hard to cultivate it
E) A good that is good only because something else is bad

Question 11

Surovell affirms that a behavior becomes habitual when ________ :

A) It becomes bad for the person
B) The person can never stop engaging in this behavior
C) It always leads to happiness
D) One's mind is hijacked
E) It frequently yields a reward

Question 12

How does one's social media use affect her friends?

A) It forms their bad habits
B) It contributes to their bad habits
C) It does not affect one's friends
D) It is necessary for maintaining friendships with one's friends
E) It is good because one's friends are not left alone

Question 13

Surovell argues that we should address the public health problems involved in social media use by ________ :

A) Treating it in the same way that we treat heart disease
B) Publicly shaming people who use social media
C) Evolving healthier cultural attitudes towards technology
D) Boycotting all major social media companies
E) Setting an example for others and deleting our accounts