Conducting Personal Communication in the Public Sphere: Facebook - Report Example

? Discuss the Advantages and Disadvantages of Conducting Personal Communication in the Public Sphere Introduction Personal communication has experienced significant level of technological as well as social transformations in present days. Traditionally, personal communication strategies in public sphere included discussion or conversation on a specific place or area. However, in present times, the introduction of internet has provided additional methods of conducting personal communication in the public sphere. The use of internet as a personal communication medium can provide the opportunity to gauge the interests and the viewpoints of people. An increasing number of people are using social networking websites in order to supplement personal communication. In this context, it can be stated that one of the most popular social networking websites Facebook provides the capability to organize and communicate in an effective manner. Simultaneously, Facebook also provides the capability to express the thoughts of people and to categorize them independently (Westling, 2007). Thesis Statement Considering this aspect, the essay is based on analyzing the vital aspects of conducting personal communication through Facebook. The objective of the essay is to understand the advantages and disadvantages of utilizing an online public sphere medium i.e. Facebook for conducting personal communication. Statement of Intent The essay will intend to address the facet of personal communication in traditional era as well as in present era. Besides, the essay also intends to discuss the suitability of internet as a public sphere medium. Personal Communication Strategies in Past and Present There is a huge dissimilarity between personal communication strategies of past and present times. The actual dissimilarities have been observed due to the evolution of technology. In order to clarify the perspective, it can be depicted that traditionally, the common personal communication techniques were letter writing or telephone conversation among others. The personal communication techniques have evolved from letter and telephone to mobile communication and internet communication technologies. Mobile phone technologies are continuously being updated and developed with new features and devices and internet communication technologies such as social networking sites are continuously accumulating new applications and functionalities. Social networking websites in a sense is a grouping of every internet communication method. In social networking websites such as Facebook, people can create accounts and communicate with other people. It also provides the opportunity to stay up-to-date about the activities of friends and send information either publically or privately. In recent times, the popularity of social networking has increased dramatically where Facebook leads the competition with millions of active users. According to the research conducted by United Nations Research Institute for Social Development in 2000, the introduction of internet and social networking websites has increased the communication level. The level of information exchange through this new medium has far surpassed the traditional communication media such as telephone, face-to-face conversation and meeting among others. This trend represents financial benefits particularly to the poor nations. The present personal communication strategy of using social networking websites provides the opportunity for exploring new customs of other nations and also helps to enhance the knowledge (Serbanescu, 2011). Internet as Public Sphere Public sphere is particularly vital for communication in current civilization. It acts as a medium in which people can communicate effectively regarding important matters along with permitting people to inform about vital aspects. Considering the significant role played by internet, several researchers have framed normative theories which demonstrate how public sphere can be organized in order to ideally accomplish its roles. One of the most conspicuous normative theories is participatory model. This model describes that communication in public sphere must include a variety of appropriate subjects and arguments and must strive for depicting broadest possible consents i.e. widespread popular presence of different actors. These normative demands are formulated to apply to the public sphere. Gerhards & Neidhardt (1993) had distinguished three different types of mediums within public sphere which are ‘encounter public sphere’, ‘public events’ and ‘mass media’. The encounter public sphere occurs on places such as boulevards, parks and inns among others. It has no preset organizational structure. The second medium is public sphere which comprises town hall conference, lecture sessions or other campaigns. These mediums have nominal organizational structure. The mass media comprises third medium in public sphere. It possesses complete technological and organizational infrastructure. In this medium, ordinary people usually have passive roles. Mass media also have considerable influences on society as it can reach vast audience and establish a substantial portion of social self-observation and view creation. Due to this reason, mass media is considered as a strongly controlled medium for communication (Gerhards & Schafer, 2009). In present days, significant changes in mass media have been observed. Nowadays, internet has turned out to be a new medium for public sphere, rather than other mass media. The reason is that internet is much more accessible than other media and is considered as a genuine source of information. Several researchers believe that internet has the potentiality to change personal communication which can also develop a better public sphere in comparison to old mass media. In future, internet might alter the public sphere which can result in strengthened individual interests and involvement of people (Calhoun, 1992). At the present time, the public sphere is mostly reliant on local and international communication media system. Among various media systems, internet plays a crucial role. There is a change from public sphere attached around regional cultures to public sphere established around media system. This media system comprises mass communication which frequently emits government control. The present media structure is local as well as global at the same time. It is built around the internet system, especially in the social networking websites like Facebook. Nowadays, a series of online personal conversations are organized in Facebook. These communications encourage international conversation and provide a platform on which international societies could move to the vanguard of discussion (Castells, 2008). Advantages of Conducting Personal Communication in Public Sphere (Facebook) There is a significant debate with respect to conducting personal communication in public sphere particularly in the online environment such as Facebook. The risk of communicating through the use of Facebook has grown manifold since it provides immense freedom to conduct personal communication. Through Facebook, people can make friends, interest groups and get to understand several cultures. In this way, it supports communication with minimum expenses. With respect to personal communication, Facebook can foster genuine public engagement and deliberation of people. Online environment permits individuals to develop their own virtual personal communication which they can use to disregard others who do not share common interests (Cropf & Krummenacher, 2010). Internet acts as a valuable source for involvement in personal communication. It also provides numerous avenues for personal expression and various methods to influence communication and to stay active. Online debates on any personal communication in Facebook can involve numerous people and can also last for a long time. In Facebook, most of the personal communications is dominated by few numbers of persons. This experiment confirms that personal discussion can easily be transferred to online environment. However, it is uncertain that if this transfer of personal communication can result in more independent conversation. Special rhetoric benefits of internet as public sphere concentrate on the circumstance that it gives a stage for personal communication and makes it possible for people and groups to get in touch with the communication that has been made public. Facebook also promotes interactivity and enables features such as instant poll, immediate surveys and voting among others from home. Obtaining and disbanding personal communication in Facebook is quick, simple, inexpensive and convenient (Cropf & Krummenacher, 2010). The best benefit for conducting personal communication in Facebook is that unlike other media, it is not bound by any geographical differences. It provides the opportunity for establishing personal communication and also facilitates to interact with many people simultaneously. As such, Facebook allows spreading personal opinions regarding the subject of communication to a greater number of people. Facebook provides several tools for effective personal communication such as instant messaging, user posts and uploads of pictures or videos which allow a transformed way of communication. Disadvantages of Conducting Personal Communication in Public Sphere (Facebook) Although there are certain advantages of conducting personal communication in Facebook, it does not promptly assure a reasonable, demonstrative and unrestricted public sphere. Facebook does not commit concrete online expression and for several arguers it is simply a harbor of misapprehension of openness (Papacharissi, 2002). One significant drawback of conducting personal communication in public sphere (Facebook) is that it hampers the genuine discussions and arguments because people tend to encircle themselves in a periphery which is surrounded by similar interest groups individuals. The feature of community in Facebook is thus formed in keeping with narrow perspectives. Therefore, unless genuine variances of attitude occur, discussion in online environment can quickly become biased. Furthermore, internet can construct a spiteful form of group belief or groupism which can split societies into narrower interest groups. Cropf & Krummenacher (2010) stated that online environment weakens the coherent public discourse of any personal communication. Furthermore, information available in Facebook is frequently mediated i.e. it can be tampered with altered information to serve specific interests. The other vital cause of concern for undertaking personal communication in Facebook is that it can cause online harassment and nuisance. As communication in Facebook is not regulated strongly, there is high possibility of spreading malicious humors through personal communication. The most vital disadvantage of conducting personal communication in Facebook is the risk of identity theft which can lead to the misuse of information by suspicious persons. Besides, in online environment, there have been increasing events of perpetration in terms of creation of wrong profiles or fake identifications. These activities can harm the notion of personal communication by fooling people. One of the most significant disadvantages of conducting personal communication in a public sphere i.e. Facebook is the issue of transparency. As a consequence, it can hamper the communication process. Apart from this, there are several ethical issues, security concerns and social aspects which are related with communication in the online environment. Conclusion From the discussion, it can be observed that internet is the forefront of developing public sphere. It contributes to the personal communication activities in several ways. Conducting personal communication in online environment through networking options such as Facebook facilitates a broad number of participation which in turn facilitates in the development of discussion. These discussions can have several degree of success as certain groups of individuals have the opportunity to provide their viewpoints on the subject of communication or discussion. In the meantime, there are several disadvantages which are associated with conducting personal communication in Facebook. There is a risk of misuse of such openness and misrepresentation of information. Furthermore, communication in online environment can also be hampered by deceitful users. Despite these disadvantages, Facebook provides a significant platform for undertaking personal communication due to its simplicity and inexpensiveness. Online social networking is a new trend therefore whether it is advantageous or disadvantageous for personal conversation is still relatively unknown. Thus, in order to conduct personal communication in online environment there is a need for clear understanding about the different issues which can have an impact on the process of conversation along with affecting personal interests. References Castells, M. (2008). The new public sphere: global civil society, communication networks, and global governance. The Annals of the American Academy, pp. 78-93. Calhoun, C. J. (1992). Habermas and the public sphere. United States: MIT Press. Cropf, R. A., & Krummenacher, W. S. (2010). Information communication technologies and the virtual public sphere: impacts of network structures on civil security. United States: Idea Group Inc. Gerhards, J., & Neidhardt, F. (1993). Structure and function of modern public relations. Political Communication, pp. 52–88. Gerhards, J., & Schafer, M. (2009). Is the internet a better public sphere? Comparing old and new media in the US and Germany. New Media & Society, 20(10), pp. 1-18. Papacharissi, Z. (2002). The virtual sphere: the internet as a public sphere. New Media & Society, 4(1), pp. 9-27. Serbanescu, T. (2011). Analyzing the use and effects of personal communication in the modern age. Retrieved from http://www.wpi.edu/Pubs/E-project/Available/E-project-090311-151245/unrestricted/Personal_Communication_IQP.pdf Westling, M. (2007). Expanding the public sphere: the impact of Facebook on political communication. Retrieved from http://www.thenewvernacular.com/projects/facebook_and_political_communication.pdf Read More