How much time would you say people take to create their profile picture on Facebook? I’ve known some people to browse through photos for hours until they find the right one they want to upload. Everybody knows it has to be good, because it is going to pop up on the newsfeed of all of your friends’ home page. Many people choose a picture in which they are featured with some of their friends, usually at a social scene like that party all of your friends went to this past weekend. Others find one in which they think they appear their best and sent it straight to photoshop to crop and zoom. How is creating a Facebook profile picture a social norm? Most people naturally want to display a picture that represents them at their best, while those that choose ridiculous pictures tend to not take their social image too seriously. Here is where gender plays a role in representing the ideal “best.” Males tend to portray themselves at a party scene or through an athletic image. While many girls choose images that include drinking and partying, they typically surround themselves with friends rather than sports.
In addition to profile pictures, tagged photos offer another set of social norms. When you look at a person’s profile and see that they have 234 pictures, how does this effect your impression of them? Some people may say this might suggest that this person is popular if there are so many photos. If you see that all 234 photos were tagged by the person, how would this change your opinion? Most people would say that this would make them less popular if they had to tag every photo.
In the world of Facebook, the Leviathan consists of more than just the people that are listed under the heading of friends. The Leviathan consists of any person that may approach your page, and that is to say that every safety precaution was not taken to prevent others from viewing it. The obvious and probably most prevalent Leviathan is your group of friends; they are the ones that view your page daily. But your friends are not the only people looking. Everybody in this class knows that Professor Hancock has a Facebook. I wonder how many other professors have one as well. How many instances have you heard of in the news recently of applicants being denied jobs because of future employees digging around through their online life? This happens quite often and more and more it is becoming another tool which is frequently used in the application search. So the question is who is acting as the Leviathan? I believe there are two faces of the Leviathan: the one in which we perceive and take note of, and the one in which we cannot see and do not predict.
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4 comments:
Jenny,
This is a very interesting post, especially dealing with social identity and the Leviathan. It’s difficult to decipher who or what is the “real” Leviathan on facebook because there are so many options. I find that some people are their own Leviathan on their profile in how they limit the information shown or how they utilize the privacy controls, but you’re right in that there is always the aspect of the Leviathan that we cannot see and predict – all the people who are able to view your profile.
Also, I think it really has become a social norm to put up a profile picture. Not only is it vital to put up a profile picture because much of our impression formation (Hyperpersonal Model) is based on it, but it seems to perturb people when they see the big question mark.
I’m noticing that many online networks might have more than one Leviathan. Angi wrote about Wikipedia above, and with your comments on facebook, it shows that we and the social norms we put forth are often our own Leviathans. Same with away messages and chat room etiquette. While Mark Zuckerburg and company run facebook and would kick people off if they did anything inappropriate, we ourselves judge people on their profiles and what’s not socially inappropriate, but definitely frowned upon. If a person only has 10 friends, we wonder what the deal is and if they’re new to the game. If they have 6000, it may seem like they’re trying too hard. Either way, we form an opinion and a judgment and essentially provide a ruling, just like in real life. Something might not be against the law, but imagine if you started singing out loud during a funeral. I know this seems like an extreme example but it works. It’s not illegal, but it’s definitely frowned upon. Same with some facebook behaviors. They may not get you kicked off, but they’ll definitely get you weird looks.
Hello Jenny. I enjoyed reading your post very much. I am not someone who spends a lot of time deciding on a profile picture; in fact, my friends often complain to me that the profile pictures that I put up are subpar and that I should spend more time in choosing them. I know plenty of people who do spend lots of time deciding on their profile picture though (mostly girls like you said). While I agree that facebook friends are one Leviathan that dictates what kind of pictures we put up, I also believe that you should consider the power that the facebook staff wields in controlling what kind of pictures we put up. Before one uploads a picture, they must click on a little check box that states that you agree that you are not uploading a picture of a pornographic scene or copy-written material. I have never met anyone who has posted a pornographic picture as their profile picture. I believe that no one I know has done it because they fear that the facebook staff will suspend or possible erase their profile. I am not very familiar with all of the actions that can be taken since I follow most of the rules of facebook, but I believe that there is a way to report abuse on the site as well. I know that whenever I am tagged in a photo, there is an option to “report” the photo. I am not sure what this means exactly but it doesn’t sound good for whoever tagged me in the picture.
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