Thursday, 15 August 2013

Facebook; the reality of the future

I am almost certain that all of you would be aware of the social networking site; Facebook. Created in 2004, initially membership was limited to Harvard University students. Gradually expanding, Facebook is now home to over one billion active users (Wikipedia).

To gain membership, users must be 13 years old.  This is something Facebook's creators lost control over long ago.  I refer to the May 2011 edition of the Consumer Report, which states that there are currently 7.5 million children, under 13 years old, with a Facebook profile.  It is reported that these under-aged users are unsupervised by parents, which exposes them to the threats of cyber predators and bullying.  This gives at least one example of how Facebook disempowers both the user and the creator.

Facebook can also be empowering, hence its 1 billion users. It was mentioned in our recent lecture  when speaking of the Politics of Cartography, "In our society we subconsciously equate size with importance and power" (T.Petray, 2013). I have observed this on Facebook. The more friends or likes users have, the more popular or powerful the users profile is perceived to be.  More friends means more users to share your choice of information, opinions and experiences with.  This gives users power to share with people that they mightn't otherwise have in the physical world.

Facebook has changed the way we live our lives. Users are able to access Facebook almost anywhere, anytime. Users are regularly checking their notifications, browsing news feeds or updating their statuses.  When reading the Passage of the Cyber-Flanuer, this quote "Cyberspace is an alternate geography that needs to be seen, witnessed,  and experienced in order to exist" (G.Barnes, 1997) reminded me of something I have heard often; 'Unless it's on Facebook, it's not official'.  Facebook has become an extended reality; even when we are not online we find ourselves talking about our cyber experiences or merely waiting for the next opportunity to jump online.

Reference List:

Barnes, G. (1997). Passage of the Cyber Flanuer. Retrieved from http://learnjcu.edu.au


Consumer Report, May edition 2011. Retrieved from http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/new/2011/five-million-users-are-10-or-younger/index.htm


Facebook In Wikipedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook


Petray, T. (2013). BA1002, Our Space, Netwoks, Narrative, and the making of Place. Lecture 3.3.3
Retrieved from http://learnjcu.edu.au


Image Credits:

Image 1: We are not your Friends. Retrieved from http://www.radioclash.com/archives/2012/10/24/we-are-not-your-friends-facebooks-premote-scam/

Posted by at

2 comments:

  1. Unknown16 August 2013 at 16:50

    People are so ready to jump on line to update their status with their social network. It has become so important to update your status, other obligations are put off or neglected. As a midwife, I have seen so many of the younger mother (sometimes the older mothers) busily updating their status at all hours of the day and night, failing to attend to their crying babies who require nappy changes and a feed. Some of these mothers continue on facebook on their smartphones/iphones despite the midwives coming in to them suggesting that their babies require a feed. Sometimes I want to surgically remove the phone from their hands.

    I personally enjoy the overall concept of Facebook as it allows me to see photos of family on their adventures along with pictures of their children growing up - particularly of the family live so far away.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Gabrielle Bennett30 August 2013 at 21:10

    I agree with the statement "Facebook has changed the way we live our lives", as it is one of the most successful communication device out. It allows individuals to contact through statuses and even public or private messages. This form of network connection allows individuals to become connected with friends that are all over the world. It brings the community together by viewing everyone's updates of statuses. As Zuckerberg proclaims it "is the story of your life" (McNeill, 2012, pp. 107).

    Reference

    McNeill, L. (2012). There is no "I" in network: social networking sites posthuman auto-biography. in biography, 35(1), 101-118

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)