Before it was MySpace, now it is the era of Facebook. When people speak of social networking sites the first name that pops into their head is Facebook. Almost everyone that is an internet user and has participated in some sort of online social interaction has a Facebook profile. Although MySpace was once very popular like Facebook is today (but a bit less), some people still have a MySpace profile and are active participants. The majority, however, are Facebook worshippers who have gotten rid of or continue to have their MySpace account as a secondary social networking tool. I myself accept the fact that Facebook holds about half of the responsibility of keeping my social life on track, thus I am also a Facebook worshipper.
I have received comments both online and offline about my interaction with Facebook. “Dang Jasmine, you are always on FB! Do you ever log off?” or “I don’t even text you anymore because I know that I can easily reach you on Facebook through chat”. I always laugh when I hear my close friends tell me stuff like that because it sounds that I am Facebook obsessed, but even funnier is that I know it is true. How often do I use social networking sites like Facebook? Well, I would have to say that since the moment I wake up, leave my bed, brush my teeth, and are getting ready for the day is till right before I brush my teeth, wash my face, and climb into bed is that I use this social networking site. I know it sounds somewhat like an addiction, but after having a Facebook since before it was well known (beginning of my 7th grade year) to present day which is about seven years, I have incorporated Facebook to fulfill part (if not… most) of my real life social needs.
My daily social interaction if not entirely through the use of solely technological tools like texting or Facebook, I use these two as a form of reaching people to set-up a meeting and have a face-to-face conversation. So either way, my social life revolves and is dependent upon technology. Just like I mentioned that I am basically living in Facebook, it is even worse when it comes to texting. At least there are times when I am actually “offline” in FB because I have to go to class or have to go somewhere where I don’t have access to a computer with internet access. However, my phone never leaves my side. My relationship with my cell phone surpasses any other relationship I have because I see it as purely receiving love and affection. It allows me to keep communication at any period of time with anyone (well whoever has a phone and texting enabled of course) with the sending of a text message. Similar to FB, I text message from the moment I wake up to when I am about to go to sleep, but all throughout the day I am constantly texting. I have sent and received altogether about 15,000 txt messages a month… I’m thankful for unlimited messaging. One thing I don’t do and is because I don’t have the unlimited data plan for my phone is check FB updates; else I probably would be connected to FB 24/7 like I am with texting.
Online privacy advocates are constantly at war with social networking sites for their lack of privacy measures in protecting the identity of internet users and the information they expose to the public. I know Facebook has been pushed towards adjusting their privacy policies to better the relationship among these organizations and internet users. The cultural move towards social networking and having constant access is seen as troublesome to many because I feel that it is something that people are still getting used to (especially those members of the older generation). Skepticism and negativity has always existed especially towards technology use, and not until everyone learns to accept the change and embrace it there will still be debates about the negative effects technology has on people.
I personally believe that the positive outweigh the negatives in technology use and adaption into our daily lives. Having constant access to other people online through social networking sites like Facebook is very handy, especially in a college or educational institution where group assignments are a great deal of importance. I know that in my experience, I may not the phone number of the individuals in my group but I can easily find the individuals on FB if they have a profile and just message them with my number so they can reach me or simply ask for their information. Also, if for some reason I miss a class due to illness or another circumstance, I can easily reach someone that is in my class through FB if I am unable to reach them through any other form of communication.
Now, in regards to individually exposing personal information such as posting comments on the news feed which everyone that is a friend or public (depending on your set settings) can see or just filling out the personal profile can be a dangerous thing at times. Just like many other people that have mistakenly or did not fully think things through before posting things publicly on their own wall or people they have listed as friends, I can relate to them. Being in a romantic relationship on FB, I have gotten into some arguments due to some things I have posted on my wall or the conversations I carry on with certain individuals. My relationship almost ended due to the misinterpretation of a comment I made on some other friend of the opposite sex’s wall. Also, I have had people come up to me and tell me “Thanks for putting me on blast on FB” like tagging them in a picture or comment about something they didn’t want to expose publicly.
I do worry sometimes about what I expose on FB to the public especially since I am in a relationship with someone, so I have to be extra careful about what I say and do on these social networking sites because everything stays documented and could serve as evidence against me. When it comes to exposing yourself on these public and populous sites, one has to be really careful but also enjoy the positive aspects like expanding your social network.
No comments:
Post a Comment