Hi all, my name is Amber Saylor and I'm a senior majoring in Development Sociology. Development Sociology is basically a branch of Sociology that tries to understand all the factors that go into a country's development, such as agriculture, health-care systems, trade etc. (whether it is a "developed" country like the US or a "developing" country like Bangladesh). I am from Neversink a verrrrry small town in Sullivan County, NY. I had dial up internet for way too long, and I have never posted a blog before.
I became really interested in how different forms of media could affect people as individuals and societies as a whole after taking a related freshman writing seminar (Cultural Studies) and also Mass Media and Society, where we briefly discussed the implications of websites like Youtube for the power relations between individual 'viewers' who could now become producers of media and the established media conglomerates of the US. When I read the description for this class I thought it would be fun to further explore these issues with a specific focus on the internet.
One aspect of social computing that intrigues me is Facebook (originally The Facebook). When I first arrived as a freshman at Cornell, Facebook was relatively new. The idea of posting your picture and all of your personal information for other people to see and judge seemed very strange and somewhat creepy to me. However, after eventually checking it out, I saw it as harmless fun since it was restricted to college students , and at that time only a few universities. Facebook turned out to be a good way of keeping in touch with people you happened to meet briefly or that you had classes with. I was surprised how useful Facebook could be. It helped me to keep in touch with friends from high-school and the photo album option was also an interesting new way to actually see what your friends have been up to rather than just hearing about it. I also occasionally used it to get the email addresses of classmates for homework when I'd missed class.
Its kind of amazing how quickly Facebook has evolved in the short time since its creation. Throughout my freshman year more and more schools were invited to join Facebook, and somewhere between sophomore and junior year, high-schools, bussinesses, and eventually anyone with an email address were allowed to join. I was slightly surprised at this rapid transformation from a somewhat "elite" network to a very open one. I also realized that even though I was initially skeptical of Facebook, I wasn't all that anxious about the site opening up to everyone.
Facebook also introduced some new concepts, such as the "poke" option, which has recently been extended to include "super poke" where you can hug, tickle etc. to your heart's content...what is happening here? In some ways Facebook helps people stay connected, but could it also encourage someone to give you a virtual hug when they know you are upset rather than a real one?
Facebook has also shaped our perceptions and understanding of friendship. A "friend" on Facebook is not always a friend in the traditional sense of the word. They could be someone you talked to at a party, and never spoke to again, or someone who went to the same high school and never talked to you while you were there.
Another strange development surrounding facebook is the tendency for employers to screen prospective employees by viewing their facebook accounts. I have heard and read advice not to post outrageous party pictures or any other incriminating evidence on the site just in case your potential employer is super sneaky. I also heard about some students getting in trouble after their RHD saw photos of underage drinking in the dorms in a Facebook album. I would never have guessed that this new social network would become policed by authority so quickly.
Facebook seems to have aspects of asynchronous interaction through posting within groups or on other people's walls, as well as updating your "status." As far as the groups go, they can sometimes be monstrous with members from around the world or very specific to a certain club at a certain school. Facebook also has what is basically an email function with the "Facebook message." Sometimes interactions are almost synchronous when people write back and forth on walls instantaneously. I can't leave out the convenient feature that sorts your friends based on those with "recently updated" profiles so that you don't have to trudge through your 1257 friends to find out whats new with everyone. Genius.
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There are so many interesting issues concerning Facebook these days, and I think you did a good job of pointing them out. What specifically caught my interest was the issue on authority figures accessing anyone's Facebook profile. As you said, employers can use this in their searches, which changes the relationship dynamic. What we post on Facebook, after all, is meant for our friends.
I have been in this situation before, but I was surprised because it affected me in different ways. When I was a freshman, I went in for an interview on campus. I was surprised and annoyed to find out that the upperclassman who was interviewing me, had checked out my Facebook profile prior to our meeting. I wasn't nervous about what she saw, because there was nothing incriminating on there, but I still felt violated.
On the other hand, just this summer, I interned at a company and one day my boss sent me a friend request. I was surprised that I ended up not having negative feelings about this.The fact that we were "Facebook friends" allowed us to have a more casual and personal relationship at work, without really destroying the authority issue.
Do you think this is still weird?
Hi Amber. I appreciate the appropriate title of your blog, “Facebook Phenom,” because like you, I am also amazed at how quickly Facebook has entered pop culture. In your analysis of this relatively nascent social tool, you make great observations, and I agree with you that Facebook has truly evolved since its inception. Though I personally do not have Facebook, for fear that I would never leave my computer, I have the passwords to several of my friends’ Facebook accounts and oddly spend a lot of time on it. As you comment in your blog, I similarly feel that facebook’s definition of a friend is far different from that of its traditional definition. If I am not mistaken, however, Facebook has recently developed a “best friend,” feature, which further categorizes friends based on the frequency of interactions. Additionally, I feel that many of the more recent functions on Facebook are over the top and unnecessary, such as the “super poke” option. Like you, I feel that Facebook is a tremendous social tool that expedites the social networking process especially in college, but in all social spaces. It is strange, nonetheless, how relationships that initiate on Facebook often develop into friendships in the more traditional sense of the word. Though individuals with Facebook accounts are far less anonymous than those individuals seeking relationships in regular chat rooms, due to pictures, videos, and comments, it is possible that individuals with Facebook accounts nonetheless benefit from an heightened sense of confidence, granted only through computer-mediated-communication, and are therefore more willing to initiate conversations with strangers. Lastly, I feel that individuals on Facebook abuse the pictures and videos features inherent on their accounts. Though the pictures and videos features are great, more and more, people post pictures of themselves simply going to lunch, as if there is a wide audience in demand for that sort of activity. I’m sure you find this to be frustrating as well.
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