Facebook

I picked Facebook to comment on this week, mainly because it is the only social media platform I use. I do not have Twitter (because I am not interested in celebrities and how they lead their lives) or MySpace (although I have browsed through it a bit), and I have never played Second Life.

The author raises some interesting points about Facebook, which made me want to post my thoughts on it.

First of all, Facebook connects people with other people and it is very often the case that these people are friends also in real life, whereas MySpace has a lot less of real life friends. MySpace does not feel as "alive" as Facebook, it does not feel as interactive, plus Facebook's chat is one of the characteristics that, combined with everything else, made it so popular.

I definitely think Facebook is used in a very bad way, and I am going to state that from the very beginning. Like some of my fellow classmates pointed out, statuses about completely annoying and childish issues are being posted (from "I just made cocoa" to "OMG!!!! I have diarrhea, it is awful"), in a way destroying the credibility of the medium and undermining its reputation. Do I get irritated when I see all those annoying statuses? Of course I do. That is why I never use the status function, except if I have something really important to say, which often has to do with work (announcing some event etc.). I choose not to pay attention to dumb statuses and I have often deleted people from my friends list because they post statuses that make me want to punch the screen of my laptop.

I could go on and on about all the dysfunctional and negative aspects of Facebook and how it isolates people, and leads to even greater illiteracy due to this new instant messaging "language" that it promotes. But I am going to focus on its positive aspects.

Facebook has treated me good. I used it a lot to promote my DJ events and to get reservations for them. Through that I had the opportunity to meet new people. I kept in touch with some of them both online and sometimes in real life too. I reconnected with my best friend through Facebook, and we had the chance this way to talk about a misunderstanding that had happened, due to which we lost touch. I have found many old classmates or people I had worked with at different jobs or positions. I also made a friend, with whom it turned out we had a lot of mutual friends and whom I consider a very good friend in real life. Another aspect of Facebook that I enjoy very much is listening to the songs that people post. It is like being able to spy on the ipod of each person. Plus you get to know about all the latest events in your town.

In addition, what I have also considered many times and have discussed with several users, is how through Facebook you project a certain image. By looking at the profile of a user you can make certain assumptions about them, which 70% percent of the time are representative of them. From the quotes that they have picked, to what movies they have listed as favorites, or their pictures and statuses, which are probably the things that people most of the time go berserk on. You also learn or realise things about people, that you would not be able to find out in any other way. You get a "feel" of people.

Groups on Facebook are also very important, if you choose them wisely. They are a very good way to stay updated on matters of your interest and they definitely hold great manipulative power, especially if they are official. The interconnection between users on Facebook really amazes me sometimes. The instantaneous feedback that you get on any topic, by perhaps simply posting a status (even if 90% of the time statuses are about entirely stupid things) cannot be compared to any other medium. If that is used in a constructive way, posting a status announcing that you lost your job and looking for a new one, then it could really improve society.

The bottom line is, like I stated in the conclusion of my paper, it all depends on how you use a medium. You can buy a knife and kill a person, but you can also buy a knife and use it to make a nice meal for you and your family. So use it for the best.