Facebook.

In the last few years, Facebook has become a very popular social networking site. It is growing very rapidly and people all over the world use it now. In class we discussed several effects that Facebook has had on society. I personally think that there are positive things and negative things about facebook.

First of all, it effects our identity. The way people view us is something almost everyone cares about. On your facebook, you can choose which picture is your default or your information says what you want it to say. However, you cannot change what other people write on your page, pictures they post of you, or any other material they put online. Even if you untag yourself, it is still there. This changes so much about other aspects of our lives--applying for jobs, people running for public office, etc. When you apply for a job, almost all people hiring will look you up on google and/or facebook. If you have inappropriate things on your page, they will judge you for it. An article entitled "Social Networking Goes Proffessional" published in the Wall Street Journal says, "Millions of professionals already turn to broad-based networking sites like LinkedIn to swap job details and contact information, often for recruiting purposes. Business executives also have turned to online forums, email lists and message boards to sound off on information related to their industries". Many questions they want to ask you, but cannot because it is illegal, can be answered by them looking at your facebook page. If you run for public office in twenty years it is almost guaranteed that Facebook will be to thank when someone happens to find a picture of you from your more wild days. Also when talking about identity, Bugeja brings up a point of whether or not our identity is divided between physical and online. Bugeja believes that the blurring of identity occurs when technology places an individual in two or more places at ones. When identity and time are blurred, so is our sense of place. Does this cause us to have "dual consciousness"? Personally, I do think we are in "two places at once". Cyberspace is not a tangible place, however when I am online, even when I am very emerged in whatever I am doing, I am still aware of what is going on in my physical environment. I can be involved in something on my computer during class and still be paying attention to what my teacher is talking about (contrary to most teacher's beliefs...). I believe this goes back to how technology in general is affecting our lives. Children today get impatient with tasks and want to be multitasking at all times. We think everything needs to be done in seconds and can't stand it when our internet takes more than 5 seconds, literally, to open.

The next point that is important to discuss when talking about Facebook, or any other social networking sites is the change of interpersonal relationships. You can meet people online, become better friends with your acquaintances, stay in touch with older friends, and have a "social life" online. It is crazy. Okay, first of all meeting people online. I have always been very not okay with meeting people online and think that it is generally a very creepy thing. I still think that it is generally very creepy. However, I have realized also that there are some instances when meeting people online is okay. If you are moving to another area and are involved in a group or organization, then you could meet someone from that organization online and when you move there you will know someone. If you are looking for a job and find someone online that has a connection to someone that is also beneficial. Basically, any form of networking is great. I just don't think you can meet someone online and then become great friends. You need to have physical interaction, in my opinion, to be friends. If you never meet, you have no idea whether this person is making up everything they say to you and lieing to you all the time, or if they are telling the truth. Some people think that it doesn't matter, but if they are being a "fake" person online, then the relationship you have with this fake person is not real because they do not actually exist. It sounds complicated and weird, but bottom line is that I do not think being strictly online friends is legit. Secondly, people socialize with their friends through Facebook. I think this is fine as long as people are not basing their entire relationship with people on their online interaction. When your online social life becomes your main social life, you have a problem. It is hard to draw a line where that is, but that is my philosophy. I think it is great for people who are out of the country, or have moved away from friends to be able to quickly stay in touch with their friends without having to call them all the time. People nowadays are determining everything by Facebook, and I feel like it is not for the better. If people are in a relationship it doesn't matter until it is on Facebook, then it becomes real. If someone writes on your wall and says "Last night was so fun! I'm glad we went to that party together!" but you told your other friends you had to stay home and do homework, then you are screwed. If a girl writes on a guys wall and the guy's girlfriend see's it, she will most likely get mad. All of these interpersonal problems could be avoided if Facebook didn't exist.

We depend on it to make us feel satisfied with our lives. If we don't have comments on our wall, pokes, etc. we feel like no one cares about us. In the article "The Benefits of Facebook Friends" they talk about how many people use Facebook as a means of boosting their self-esteem. More people on Facebook are self-concious with low self-esteems than not. We pick our best pictures for our profile, untag ugly ones, put witty things in our status or about me, etc. Everything we put on our profile we do to make us look good and show how we want to be seen. This video shows how we let social networking consume our lives. We forget what it's like to actually be part of the real world.


I have had a facebook since my senior year of high school. I was really into it when I first got it, as well as my freshman year. At the end of my freshman year I deleted my account for about a month. It was amazing the relief I felt. I had SO much more free time! I initially did it because of the time factor. It was finals week and I wanted to be able to study without a distraction. It worked. I got it back about a month later and didn't really care about it when I got it back. It seemed boring to me and a waste of time. This is when I realized all the problems that Facebook was creating for people. I do still have my facebook and I use it, however I am not nearly as into it as I was before I had my break from it. I think everyone should delete theirs for a while and see how it changes their life--more time, more real socializing, and real communication. The way things are going, in 10 years people can be "in a relationship" and have never met...it will all be online. Mull over that one.