The following version of this poem was used to create this guide: Alexie, Sherman. “The Facebook Sonnet.” The New Yorker, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/05/16/the-facebook-sonnet.

Note that all parenthetical citations within the guide refer to the lines of the poem from which the quotations are taken.

This poem explores the damaging effect of social media platforms like Facebook (though its message can be equally applied to popular platforms like Instagram and Twitter). Sherman Alexie has published numerous experimental sonnets, and “The Facebook Sonnet” is among his most traditional in form. The poem offers the reader an opportunity, through social media, to reclaim lost youth and join others in a worldwide community. However, the poem suggests that these feelings also foster loneliness, depression, and emotional isolation.