Brian Westover Making Connections In Our Connecting World Summary

In his article, “Making Connections In Our Connected World,” Brian Westover posits that technology is actually enriching the romantic experience in the modern age. Through the course of the article, technology is defined as an enhancement and evolution of the positive experiences of the generation that came before. Though the article is lacking in certain authoritative appeal, as the author is not an expert in the field of romance or dating, the author utilizes rhetoric and parallelism to his advantage to prove his point.
This opinion piece begins in a very informal tone. The author addresses his reader in a very conversational manner, using colloquialisms like “poo-pooing” and “balderdash”. This type of conversational tone would likely exempt
It is brought to the forefront and discussed as the dangers and bad possibilities that exist within the scope of internet interactions: predators that can more readily scope prey, the ease of cyberstalking, the disposable romance of “hookup culture” that’s only magnified by certain types of dating sites. These antagonistics points are then brought to a head with another rhetorical question for the reader. “Isn’t this simply technology letting human beings make the same stupid mistakes that they’ve made for centuries?” This question takes these arguments and shifts the blame off of his subject, and back onto human nature. The writer uses this question to to highlight the technology and processes therein as a tool rather than a catalyst.
The author goes on to further outline the role technology plays in our increasing pace of life. He notes technology as an augmentation, letting people do what they already do, just faster, better, and on a larger scale. He treats the idea of the technology like an amplifier, it may worsen some of the negatives of the entire romantic experience, but in equal part the good is also made even greater. Positive things are given a way to happen more rapidly on a grand