Before taking this class I didn't actually think about how often I was on Facebook, and I assumed that it was less then the average college student, but throughout the quarter I've noticed differently. Whenever I need to check anything on my phone such as the weather, news or email, I would always instinctively go to my Facebook app instead. I casually check facebook on my phone around 10-15 times a day, and that doesn't include the time I spend chatting with friends while on my laptop. The point is that we social network a lot throughout the day and facebook and twitter have become prevalent forms of communication in our generation. Why have a 35 comment length conversation with a friend on Facebook when it is quicker and more efficient to just text message that person? Social networking sites provide people with an audience of "friends" who can like your status or interrupt your conversations. As the documentary "We Live in Public" states, we all want more than just 15 minutes of fame, and social networking sites are our individual way to attain that fame.
The privacy issues associated with social networking sites are a concern for our generation. Anything we post on Facebook can be saved by any other individual and kept forever. You see universities and employers looking at possible students/employees' Facebook profiles and determining whether or not to accept them. Because of this I try not to put incriminating photos of myself online, and if a friend tags an inappropriate photo I immediately un-tag it. Intertwining our personal lives with technology is not all bad though. One is the like function on facebook, and other sites such as digg. I've used this to find news and entertainment that suits my likes (and save time at the same time since I do not have to look through all of the stuff I don't for). When I think about how companies can "buy my information" and personally advertise to me, I think that no one should have the right to my information without my consent, but that is one of the costs of living in public.
In my opinion this problem will not continue in the future when the digital divide has lessened. When the internet is more universal and more people have access to social networking sites, then everyone will live in public and most people will not even notice or care that his or her information is being distributed without his or her concern because everyone's life will be more convenient. Unless we fix the privacy issues associated with the sites we use on a daily basis (such as Facebook), we will be forced to live in public. For now it is best for people to educate themselves and find out how their information is being used online, and it is most important for people to be discrete when posting information about themselves.
I completely agree with what you said about living in public. As much as someone might want to unplug themselves from the internet, you essentially can't because so much of how we live our lives is in public. I could deactivate my facebook, but I would also be deactivating a connection with the rest of SCU/my friends that I get through facebook. I think we just have to be more vigilant and aware of what aspects of our lives we project publicly.
ReplyDeleteI tried deactivating my Facebook last year. I made it about a week before going back. It's funny because my roomate just got Facebook a few months ago after he graduated college. I'm really not sure how it changed his life,but I do know he's always on it now haha. I don't understand how you can go through college without that social medium at your disposal and then suddenly want it when he's done. I guess the point I'm trying to make is we take Facebook's way of keeping us connected for granted once we've started using it. Once you've lived in public for so long, it's impossible to go back because you'd be leaving so much behind.
ReplyDeleteWhen you said "forced to live in public" i kind of got the chills for a bit. I mean it is our choice whether or not to use the internet, but if everyone else is doing it then it's kind of hard to resist. I guess in a way you're right because if you choose to put yourself on the internet it's pretty much the same thing as allowing yourself to go public. However, I do think that social medium sites are working extensively to fix the privacy issues. I feel like facebook has a lot of niches, but it's slowly progressing to where there's options for protecting your privacy. Plus there's that new site that's about to launch with supposedly no privacy issues. Hahah we'll see how that one turns out though..
ReplyDeleteGood blog. It's crazy how much facebook and social networks have taken over the lives of the youth in the last few years. You mentioned the 35 comment long conversations people have on facebook and recommended that instead of having such a long conversation on facebook that they should just text eachother... well why not call? Or even better, why not meet up in person and have a real face to face conversation. These long conversations area a perfect example of how people are sacrificing real life relationships for cyber relationships... which if you ask me are less ideal (even thought they may be somewhat more efficient...??)
ReplyDeleteYour blog added to my plan for the next few weeks to spend less time on my facebook and cellphone. I've done it before and it's not much different... and it feels better!