Facebook Changing Cultural Expectations - Term Paper Example

Running Head: Facebook Changing Cultural Expectations Abstract Social networking websites, like Facebook, are playing a huge role in today’s phenomenon of information revelation. These sites are providing peoples personality details, current locations and much more. A study conducted shows that sites like this play a role in characterizing people by the profiles they have up, but it seems they can also predict things like a person’s sexuality even though the stated person did not specify his sexuality. This is one example of how individual privacy might be affected by these websites. I will also be looking McLuhan’s idea of “the global village “and at certain media effects theories and how they apply to my topic. Introduction In today’s world what can we call privacy? How does one define something as being private? When people’s lives are being documented by websites such as facebook and this documentation can be seen by a large number of public eyes does privacy really exist? When a person’s sexuality can be determined accurately by connections made by looking at a person’s facebook profile how can individual privacy still be accounted for? I will be studying the effect facebook has on the erosion of individual privacy and by conducting several tests and surveys; I will also be looking at other studies done by scholars on the topic. I will also be linking the studies with media effects theories by St. Hall, Mcluhan and several other sources. Background Social Networking Websites Internet technology has brought new developments in social networking through websites. These are sites whereby a person registers through entering private information which is unique to him/her with the belief that no one else can access it apart from the owner who has registered with the site. It requires one to enter personal details as much as he/she would wish to reveal, such as age, sex, marital status, friends, and employment details among others. People exchange information through these sites regarding any topic of interest. There are more than 100 networking sites in the internet that people use for social networking which include; facebook, myspace, Linkedin and Survey monkey among others (Boyd, & Ellison, 2007). Since the use of the websites varies among various users of the internet, some of them are accessed more than the others. Growth of Facebook Among the social networking sites, facebook has grown to a large extent (McLuhan). Since its inception, facebook has grown to a large extent. Acquisti & Gross (2006) observes that facebook has grown to a large extent in a very short time due to the manner in which it operates. People can invite each other to register in the site through e-mail, and once the person who receives the invitation registers, he/she is presented with a number of other friends who are connected to the one who sent the invitation. This trend continues until so many people are invited into the website. More over, uploading a personal photograph tends to attract the other people to join the site since it looks real and genuine. The growth of facebook can therefore be attributed to the manner in which it operates and application of the widely used electronic mail (Backstrom et al. 2006). It only requires a person’s e-mail to be known by a person interested in making an invitation. The more people discover the whereabouts of their friends, the more they are likely to use facebook to use facebook as they seek to discover more (Brian 2009). Information on being posted on Profiles People are posting a great deal of personal information in facebook. The crucial information involves identifying a persons sex, birthday, hometown, neighborhood of the home, relatives, the kind of relationship with these relatives, marital status, private interests regarding men or women with whom they have relations, political and religious views, information regarding education, and work as well as contact information (Brian 2009). All this information regarding a person can be viewed by others if a person chooses to expose it to them. Many people expose their personal information unknowingly (Reihan 2009). For example, there is usually an option of making information available to other viewers, which one may click without much thought, leading to exposure of critical personal information. Access of Information People who are connected through facebook can view each other’s personal information, meaning that this information can be viewed over a wide network. People from all classes, religion, and age, ethnic as well as political background can view personal information of other people to whom they are connected to through the site (Lee 2008). People are breaking relationships through facebook. For example, a lady indicating in her profile that she is single may raise doubts in the husband and vice versa. Employers may also view information regarding an employee on facebook, which is contrary to what appears on their resume. For example, according to a NBC interview, a student was not hired for a job he was qualified for because his employer had gone on his profile and saw that he had one too many nights out (Steven 2009). Predictions using Private Information Problems arise when people use information from facebook to make accurate predictions regarding a person. For example, age can be precisely predicted from the birth dates in the profile, marital status, profession, hobbies, likes and dislikes among other issues. Employers can predict the type of employees that they have in service, especially where the employment terms are strict on particular attributes such as religion, language, age and marital status amongst other features (St. Hall). According to Carly (2008) the realization that an employee used false information in order to get engagement in an organization has caused loss of jobs amongst many facebook users. Effects on Individual Privacy Exposure of personal information affects individual privacy, especially in the workplace. The use of personal information as a performance measure in the workplace interferes with individual privacy, which is an infringement of individual rights. However, registration as a user of facebook is not compulsory. A person does it by choice, thereby exposing personal information to others, including the employer (Carly 2008). The information initially appearing on facebook may be changed over time as an individual develops in personal life. People who might have viewed the personal information before the changes were made may never believe the new developments, which may adversely affect the prospects of a person seeking employment. Context of the Problem Studies have been conducted regarding internet privacy in the work-place, and the effects of exposure on employees’ personal information. Research has also been conducted regarding the changing cultural expectations about individual privacy. However, there is need to focus more on the fast growing use of facebook over the other networking sites that were in use before. Further research needs to be carried out to answer the following questions; is facebook eroding the cultural expectations to privacy? Does it mean that people are no longer concerned with their own privacy? Are users aware of the future implications of exposing their personal information on facebook? Are there risks that facebook users are exposed to in regard to displaying personal information? Answering these questions will assist facebook users to make wise decisions whenever they connect to others through the modern social network. Literature Review According to a study done at MIT called “Gaydar”, a person’s sexuality can now be predicted by checking his or her interests and friends lists (Johnson 2009). This is an indication of the extent to which personal information can be used to make predictions regarding an individual. Exposure of private information may affect a person’s association with the society. The use internet technology for social networking for example through facebook is an aspect of the fulfillment of Mcluhan’s concept regarding “the global village” (McLuhan 1996 p 379). There seems to be authenticity in regard to the interconnections that are occurring as people tend to emergent sociological systems which are affecting their cultural backgrounds. Before the emergence of the internet technology, communication was highly inclined towards the cultural context of the people engaging in it, especially through the conventional face to face communication. However, Walther (1996) has given the name hyper-personal communication to computer-mediated communication that is more socially desirable than face to face communication. Information flow is fast and reliable, except that there is a difference in the level of privacy. There was a relatively high degree of privacy in the conventional face to face communication. The social aspects of an individual are as important as his/her psychological characteristics. The individual is indeed characterized by two by two poles- one is psychological and the other sociological – that have no connection to each other (Worchel and Deschamps 1998). Worchel and deschamps further indicate that these concepts are based on the idea that every individual is characterized by social features which show his or her membership of a group or category, on the other hand, and by personal features or individual characteristics which are more specific, more idiosyncratic, on the other. Those that have similar positions and common backgrounds have similar social identities; therefore social identity does indeed refer to the similarity pole. There is therefore a close relationship between a person’s associates and his personal characteristics and beliefs. Exposure of private information may cause de-personalization in an individual. This is the loss of self identity that may cause depression. Although Worchel and deschamps argue regarding the relationship between individual characteristics and membership in to a particular grouping, they support the fact that not all social relationships that people are engaged in, which are equally present in their minds. It is therefore unfair to use a person’s social relations obtained from private information to prove what kind of person he/she is. The social networking sites such as facebook present an avenue for exchanging ideas. Herbamass in Williams (2003) views the public sphere as a forum or arena that mediates between state and society. A forum in which private individuals can debate public affairs, criticize authority of the state and call on those in power to justify their positions before an informed and reasoning public. The views that a person posts on facebook and other sites are open to scrutiny by people who might be interested in a person’s privacy. Such information can be used by employers as a basis for assessment, or in other situations whereby it can be used to deny an individual the right to equal opportunities. Gramsci in Williams (2003) conceptualized hegemony, with its stress on individuals always interacting and responding to the society and culture they live in, offers a more pluralistic and complex model of ideology than that put forward by Marx. In this context, since the society is changing due to the culture in which people are living, issues of privacy continue changing and it varies depending on the conception of privacy in the contemporary society and the traditional view. Different social contexts influence individual interpretations of privacy. It varies depending on a person’s cultural back ground, social status as well as political involvement. In the traditional setting, people in different communities had different values and principles regarding privacy. Around the 1950s, many communities valued their culture before the wave of globalization interfered with their beliefs. Privacy has kept on changing especially after advancements in information communication technology (Backstrom et al 2006). The invention of mobile phones generated more privacy, for example through private phone calls and messages and facebook, which is more recent. The modernization theory explains the changes that are occurring in the social and cultural context; they are occurring through a gradual process, and the conventional social and cultural systems will end up being transformed over time to the level of the modern cultures (Schelkle et al. 2000). In essence, the modern cultures have developed to the current state through a gradual process. The private information posted in the internet may be used by a third party for his/her own interests, which might be for sheer fun. Lyons (2009) observes that there is a risk of personal photographs on facebook appearing on other sites, especially for the purpose of ads without a person’s permission. Such occurrences can damage a person’s reputation especially if the photo appears on sites advertising offensive services or commodities such as sexually explicit materials. Tracing private information in facebook becoming more advanced as the site continues to be developed. For example, Danah (2006) notes that “news feed” in facebook is one of the aspects that people can use easily to locate personal information, especially due to the fact that it offers immediate notification to the other users immediately some changes occur in regard to personal information. The situation today tends to prove Orwell’s views in 1984 whereby he felt that the desired developments in communication technology had not been accomplished to enhance social control by the regimes of the time (Fromm 2003). In the contemporary society, the government has the power of effective surveillance through the advancement in information technology through which people’s privacy can be infiltrated. For example, the CIA integrates any information regarding a person, which can offer a clue of his/her involvement in a crime. An e-mail or message in the mobile phone, a phone call on even a message on facebook can serve as a lead to the link of a person to crime, or to other possible accomplices (Block 2002). For example, facebook indicates the network of friends who are in one way or the other connected to a particular person. The issue of friends is therefore no longer private in regard to facebook. The information can be used to establish the whereabouts of a person by viewing the latest communication on facebook. Morris (2009) observes that the “government is planning to begin scrutinizing personal information on facebook and other social networking sites after which the details will be stored in the “big brother” database”. Such a move is likely to interfere with a people’s right to privacy. Apart from the positive use by the CIA to track criminals, private information is also used by criminals with ill motives. Hackers can use private information to steal people’s money from banks. Criminal gangs are also using private information and the leading information on personal friends to track their victims. Today, identity theft is a major issue affecting people’s privacy. For example, there are many cases whereby impersonation has been used for criminal motives, but there lacks a well defined way in which the offenders can be harnessed and charged with the crime (Rayn and cliff 2009). Cultural differences affect the manner in which people believe their privacy is protected, which generates a wide-range regarding how private information is handled. When organizations engage an employee, he/she is required to offer substantial private information. The Americans are known to highly value their private information that they offer in the workplace. Many Islamic states have a culture whereby the face of a female should not be displayed to the public (Amir-Moazami 2009). Capurro (2005) observes that the Japanese value cyberspace and personal health privacy. These variations are wide-ranging across cultures in the globally, with each having unique cultural expectations. However, in the contemporary workplace, globalization has harmonized the information that every member is required to offer to the organization. Personal information must be produced before employment, which includes passport photographs of female Muslims. In general, the cultural difference in regard to privacy expectations continues to diminish as world cultures continue getting integrated through globalization. People are tending towards giving up many of their cultural expectations regarding privacy. The rapid growth of facebook in comparison to the other social networking sites may be attributed to the rising detachment from the conventional expectations of privacy, which makes people to continue displaying their personal information on facebook and other sites (Schelkle et al. 2000). It is not uncommon to find a Muslim woman leaving her photograph with an uncovered head on facebook for users to view, while the conventional cultural expectation was focused on concealing her image (Amir-Moazami 2009). This is a development that could be attributed to the fact that so many people place their photographs and personal information on facebook, which has suppressed the aspect of privacy. Even Americans who are considered to be sensitive to exposure of personal information are using facebook more and more. Further research is needed to establish the impact of exposure of personal information on users of the various social networking sites since their inception. References Acquisti, A., & Gross, R. (2006). Imagined communities: Awareness, information sharing, and privacy on the Facebook. In P. Golle & G. Danezis (Eds.), Proceedings of 6th Workshop on Privacy Enhancing Technologies, Cambridge, UK: Robinson College, pp. 36-58. Amir-Moazami S. (2009). The Production of the Muslim Woman: Negotiating Text, History, and Ideology (review). Journal of Middle East Women's Studies, Vol. 5(1) pp. 94-97 Backstrom, L., Huttenlocher, D., Kleinberg, J., & Lan, X. (2006). Group formation in large social networks: Membership, growth, and evolution. Proceedings of 12th International Conference on Knowledge Discovery in Data Mining, New York: ACM Press, pp. 44-54. Block A. A. (2002). 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