As the daughter of a (pretty hardcore) computer programmer, I have always considered myself to be fairly technologically competent. I managed my way through a minor in Information Technology, have created a couple of functional (though rather budget looking) websites from scratch, and I spend an obscene amount of my life in front of my laptop, so my aversion to social networking sites has little to do with not understanding the mechanics of the technology. I have never actually used Facebook, MySpace the like, but I am sure that it wouldn’t take me long to figure it all out.
Still, I absolutely DESPISE Facebook!
I had considered that it was just a shy girl thing… why bother being “friends” with a million people that I obviously didn’t like enough to have kept in contact with in the first place? It seemed like an invitation for forced conversation, something of which I am just not a fan. But after some series reflection (and some supplemental info provided by my Online Mags teacher, Melanie), I am sure that it is much more than that.
With 59 million users and another 2 million joining each week, Facebook has already begun to redefine the way we communicate. As an outsider to the phenomenon, I can appreciate how many hours people log shooting off one line messages, tagging photos and engaging in drawn-out games of Scrabulous. How long until it is so pervasive that it becomes our primary mode of communication? Drastic, I know, but be honest, how many times have you texted or MSN’ed someone who was easily within walking distance? Is “Facebooking” all that far away?
Considering the impersonal nature of Internet communication, the idea of using a computer to “keep you connected to the people around you” (Facebook’s tagline) is a little off-putting. It cheapens the concepts of friendship and communication to define them by the limited terms that Facebook sets out, most notably that you are sitting in front of a computer. This disconnect is only exacerbated by the fact our Facebook selves, illustrated through carefully tagged photos and drop-down menu political leanings, does not necessarily reflect our real self. Maybe I am a cynic, but it just seems so removed.
And then there are all of the privacy issues. Selling user details to advertisers, tracking online purchases, broadcasting profiles on Google… it all adds up to some very Big Brother stuff. As Tom Hodgkinson writes (The Guardian, 01/14/08), “That’s 59 million suckers, all of whom have volunteered their ID card information and consumer preferences to an American business they know nothing about.”
I recognize the problems inherent in criticizing something you have never really taken part in. My perception of Facebook is clearly biased and I am sure there is a lot of positives that I am missing out on. The photo sharing capabilities alone often have me fighting the urge to sign up and I am painfully aware of all the fun stories, invites and inside jokes that take place, as a supplement to a face-to-face friendship. But in the end, it just doesn’t seem worth it. So, next time you feel like giving me crap for not signing up, head on over to one of these sites instead for some additional reading.
5 responses so far ↓
Melanie // February 5, 2008 at 6:14 pm
That’s a great post - really smart and well argued. You don’t need to take part in bad things to know they are bad things
your perspective IS informed.
PS - thank you for the links!
lea white // February 8, 2008 at 2:29 am
i say cheers to you, i am on facebook, addicted and hope everyday that they will close it down.
i can’t help but check it, but would be so happy if no one had it at all.
i could go cold turkey if i never had the temptation, and i agree it makes friendship almost tacky…
anyone i want to see or talk to really at all i have their number.
so down with facebook, i will sign the petition.
Melanie // February 13, 2008 at 4:00 pm
For me, the issues isn’t necessarily Facebook as a whole but the way they’re doing business. Specifically, their practices.
Social networking software hit the mainstream in 2003 and now it’s officially gone into “late majority” use (that means it’s well past mainstream). So, again, the issue is not whether we’re going to use them (although Bravo to wallflower for opting out) but A) HOW we use them and B) HOW they use us.
I’m advocating that we make better and more user friendly, trusting systems with the kinds of controls that are currently absent.
For those of us who have been using social software since the beginning (and are in contact with the developers of these systems), we think Facebook is a very bad precedent. Unfortunately, many of Facebook’s users are non-technologist who have passively accepted a very bad Terms of Service (because they are “consumers” rather than statekholders in new technologies). The problem with late majority users is that they tend to shrug their shoulders and say “well, that’s just how it is” … instead of saying “OK, what do I need out of this. How can I/we get those things? Who do I talk to about this?”
The only option for many late majority is simply to say “no” - the downside of this is that many people who are alienated from bad policies and practices will not participate in new systems they might actually benefit from (and which would benefit from their presence).
I know for a fact that if I built a system I’d WANT users like Wallflower - intelligent, valuable contributors. So it’s in our interest to make systems that will attract quality users.
magamelie // February 18, 2008 at 12:52 am
don’t cave!!!! Even when I try to convince you
Kelly // February 20, 2008 at 9:17 am
I wish I had NEVER signed up for Facebook. It has been a pain in the ass from day one. It seemed like, for awhile, I was getting tons of notifications from people wanting my zombie to bite their zombie or my dog to lick their dog. Finally, I did something and am getting less notifications.
However, I’m still getting them. What’s more annoying is when people challenge me to games or enlist me in a game without my permission and then expect me to play said game. This is something that I just don’t get.
So, on top of all the crappy ways they handle things, the system is just annoying. And it makes people who aren’t generally that annoying seem so. Which is a bad deal all around.
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