Question

Using article: social distancing to test if technology can solve the loneliness epidemic By NICOLE VAN GRONINGEN

1. This is a two-part question. Be sure to answer both parts! You can answer the two parts together as long as you address both parts. Your full answer should be 2-4 sentences.
a. Who do you think is the intended audience (reader) of this article? That is, who is the author, Nicole Groningen, writing the article for? Explain.
b. What is the author’s purpose in writing? That is, what does she hope the readers will learn, do, or think about based on reading this article? Explain.

2. Considering the article as a whole, is the author making an argument? Is she explaining something? Is she suggesting something? What verb (argue, explain, suggest, or another verb) best describes what she is doing, and how can you tell? There’s no single right answer to this; explaining your choice is more important than which verb you pick. Explain your answer in 1-2 sentences.
3. According to paragraphs 13 and 14, how might technology companies benefit from this period of social distancing during COVID-19? Explain your answer in 1-2 sentences.

Answer 1

Nicole Van Groningen, MD an internal medicine physician says "As social distancing appears to be our reality for the foreseeable future, the purpose of this writing is for the people to use their time to optimize technology to enhance their collective social health.The intended audience are those people who are socially isolated.

Here, she explains how social distancing creates holistic public wellness and at the same time creating unintended consequence like loneliness. She also explains about the drawbacks of social networking before the emergence of covid 19 and their benefits after covid 19 outbreak and thereby suggesting to use social media wisely to combat loneliness.

One of the technology companies like " The campaign that end loneliness" could leverage the public’s increased demand for their services to test their effectiveness. They kept the questions of the scale positively worded and they do not make explicit mention of loneliness, so as to be as inclusive and widely useful as possible.  To expand the availability of digital loneliness solutions, companies might even consider offering some services for free, as other platforms such as fitness websites , streaming services have done and also providing additional technological support to older users, who are at highest risk for loneliness.