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Jonathan Franzen Digital Footprint

Through various blogs and facebook posts I have seen many different aspects of
Franzen; ones that I didn’t see through his essay. I’ve learned many things about Franzen
including; his extreme hatred for social media, his exceptionally honest views and opinions
on the world, and his miniscule digital footprint. By spending 15 minutes researching the
name Jonathan Franzen I have come to see a different person than I originally thought. One
blog in particular caught my interest; “Jonathan Franzen’s scorn for social media keeps him
from making a difference.” By reading this one article I’ve found that Franzen’s fans are not
only disappointed, but confused by his recent publishings. The author of the blog started out
by saying that he “used to think Jonathan Franzen had the potential to change the world.” He
then continued to explain that “it’s clear that Franzen’s disdain for the modern world
kneecaps his ability to respond to a collapsing society and a dying planet.” Yet, in another
article by Eric Volmers on the Calgary Herald, the praise for his honest views were quite
controversial to the last blog. The fans of Franzen are inconsistent with what they believe he
is. In yet another article on The BookSeller, Franzen claims that writers are now being
coerced into participating in social media so as to achieve a book deal. It is clear that
Franzen’s views on society are ahead of his time, and that many people dislike what he
preaches. I wanted to see for myself if Franzen had social media, and was excited when a
simple facebook search found him. But, to my dismay, I soon realized that this was not a
personal account where Franzen posted about his life, moreso an account run by what seems
like his publicist, updating the public on upcoming interviews or books. A quick instagram
search showed that he didn’t even have an instagram account. So, you ask what I have found
about the controversial Jonathan Franzen? I found that he hates social media enough to not
even have any, and that his views on society are ahead of his time; most people do not agree
with his preachings. His fans; controversial. His enemies; overwhelming. And my thoughts?
I’m not surprised by my findings, since his essay that I read hinted at the extremeness of his
views.