Few days ago I watched an episode of Southpark. It was interesting, because it was about Facebook and obsession with number of friends (you can watch episode here). But the question mentioned there give me a lot to think about: Who is more powerful on Facebook? The user or the profile?
As we know, Facebook is currently number one in social network sites. And the question is, does the profile on Facebook say who you really are in real life. On that topic I found an interesting article from Sonia Livingstone: "Taking risky opportunities in youthful content creation: teenagers' use of social networking sites for intimacy, privacy and self-expression". It is about the presentation of teenagers on Facebook and how they present themselves who they are. She is writing:
"While younger teenagers relish the opportunities to recreate continuously a highly-decorated, stylistically-elaborate identity, older teenagers favour a plain aesthetic that foregrounds their links to others, thus expressing a notion of identity lived through authentic relationships."
This is very interesting point because through interviews she did, she discovered that for example older teenagers prefer Facebook to Myspace, because the first is more "sophisticated" and they feel more grown up. They can really show who they are through various profile information but they also admit that this kind of identity is shaped by peers.
Another interesting discovery was that teenagers, no matter how many Facebook friends they have (here we are talking about hundreds of friends), they still can separate those friends so they realise which of them are real one and which of them are just "virtual" living on Facebook. So for conclusion, answer on question of power user versus profile is not so easy. Users have power to manage their profiles but this is actually done under the pressure of self-representation. So in the battle user vs. profile, the score is indecisive.
Source: Livingstone, Sonia. 2008. Taking risky opportunities in youthful content creation: teenagers' use of social networking sites for intimacy, privacy and self-expression. New Media and Society 10 (3): 393-411. Available on: http://nms.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/10/3/393
As we know, Facebook is currently number one in social network sites. And the question is, does the profile on Facebook say who you really are in real life. On that topic I found an interesting article from Sonia Livingstone: "Taking risky opportunities in youthful content creation: teenagers' use of social networking sites for intimacy, privacy and self-expression". It is about the presentation of teenagers on Facebook and how they present themselves who they are. She is writing:
"While younger teenagers relish the opportunities to recreate continuously a highly-decorated, stylistically-elaborate identity, older teenagers favour a plain aesthetic that foregrounds their links to others, thus expressing a notion of identity lived through authentic relationships."
This is very interesting point because through interviews she did, she discovered that for example older teenagers prefer Facebook to Myspace, because the first is more "sophisticated" and they feel more grown up. They can really show who they are through various profile information but they also admit that this kind of identity is shaped by peers.
Another interesting discovery was that teenagers, no matter how many Facebook friends they have (here we are talking about hundreds of friends), they still can separate those friends so they realise which of them are real one and which of them are just "virtual" living on Facebook. So for conclusion, answer on question of power user versus profile is not so easy. Users have power to manage their profiles but this is actually done under the pressure of self-representation. So in the battle user vs. profile, the score is indecisive.
Source: Livingstone, Sonia. 2008. Taking risky opportunities in youthful content creation: teenagers' use of social networking sites for intimacy, privacy and self-expression. New Media and Society 10 (3): 393-411. Available on: http://nms.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/10/3/393
I also saw this episode-on one hand so hilarious, on the other hand-very very true. People are obsessed with this social networking site.
ReplyDeleteLast semester I was attending the course of complex systems. We talked also about social networking sites. The conclusion I drew was as follows: people are no longer individuals-they are dividuals. By people who surround us we create ourselves, our personality. We cannot function without others-they are the mirrors which relfect our being.
I dont know whether to agree or not. But it seems that there is some truth in it. And the ammount of time we spend on fb proves it somehow.
Well I really like this phrase dividuals. Yes I agree that we shape our personality with others but the main problem is, that this personality has become divided somewhere between real world (where real friends determine us) and online world, where we have presentation of ourselves and we are divided between what we are and what other think that we are. This is really interesting topic and I think that it will be relevant in future especially if social networks will have such power on our every-day life.
ReplyDeleteI watched that episode too and it was really funny, but also realistic and sad. We are becoming more and more obsessed with the Facebook, and I'm afraid that some people are not able to distinguish between real life and virtual life anymore. The South Park episode surely exaggerates a little, but it makes a good point. We are converting and equating our real life moments, relationships and connections with the virtual social network site such as FB. And I have to agree with Sylvia that we are spending a lot of time on FB – I guess that is easier to have online friends that you can “turn off” or “check out” every time you want it to.
ReplyDeleteI also like the term dividuals – and I have to say that I get to know more and more people that are not satisfied with their life, looks and status and that create some other personality for the outside world. They are living two lives – the real life and the created life that is shown to others. The FB is therefore a great opportunity to create a new world, to meet new friends or old ones from a different perspective and position. The only problem is that you have to be careful and not forget where is the line between the constructed FB life and the real one.