The Influence of Facebook - Case Study Example

Table of Contents Table of Contents 0 Introduction 1 About Facebook 2 Advantages 3 Disadvantages 4 Facebook Market Share 4 Facebook in UAE 6 Addiction to Facebook 7 Affects On Society 8 Virtual Relationships vs. Face to Face Relationships 9 Facebook and Internet Abuse 11 Fake Identities 11 UAE Societies & Arab Societies on Facebook 12 Number of Users 13 Relationships on Facebook 13 Conclusion 14 Bibliography 16 Introduction With the growing technology and the growing availability of Internet, the use as well as misuse has increased a lot. The internet is a well of knowledge, entertainment and anything one could possibly ask for. It has become a world by itself – the virtual world. This virtual world provides the users with a variety of possibilities for their entertainment and pleasure (Boyd-Barret, 1997). In researches that have been conducted it has been noted that the number of users of the Internet has increased over the years and is constantly increasing. The figure below provides a clear picture of the average number of internet users. Figure 1: Number of Internet Users (Engadgeteer, 2008) Figure 2: Number of Internet Users (in a graph format) (Engadgeteer, 2008) With the increase in the number of users there has also been an increase in the number of people using the social networking sites as well. This report aims at analysing and understanding the current situation of the top social networking site – ‘Facebook’ (Arrington, 2008). This report will deals with a number of details including the addiction of people on Facebook as well as the advantages and disadvantages. Also a focus has been made on the Arab societies and the use of Facebook and also the affects that it has had on the societies across the world. About Facebook Facebook, as discussed earlier, was launched in February 2004, when a Harvard college student Mark Zuckerberg created it for his social circle of friends. This was initially called The Face Book. This was mainly for the Harvard college students to stay connected and to keep in touch. However, gradually in 2005, the website was changed and was then officially called Facebook. Facebook became a students’ network, where it allowed for students to use the websites to keep in touch with other fellow students from a number of different universities and colleges. However, by 2006, the website was opened to all and allowed people from various walks of life, irrespective of whether they were students or not, to join the network. This helped the website and network to grow to be the second largest social networking website. Once the website was opened to all, it became the leading social networking site. Prior to opening up the site to all, the site was just behind the then leading website, MySpace. Facebook allows people to register for free and is compatible with both Microsoft as well as Apple computer systems and operating systems. This allows all users to utilise the service, irrespective of their preference on operating systems and any worries about compatibility issues. Advantages There are a number of advantages of Facebook. Firstly, it acts as a medium to search for both new as well as old friends. Also it provides a chance for the students within universities to use as a mode of communication. Facebook provides a chance to meet newer people and makes it easier to speak to people who are unknown or strangers. Facebook is also used by a number of people and the website is also used as a dating system in a number of cases. Facebook also provides a chance to create groups and communities with people who have similar tastes, likes and dislikes. This makes it easier for them to share information and any knowledge that they might have about the item of interest and build new friends as well. Facebook also has one very distinguishing feature, it provides the individuals to check for others taking the same class, coming from similar academies and also living in the same area. This to a great extent allows an expansion of friend network and provides for a chance to figure out people within the same areas of interest (Findlay, 2009). Disadvantages Despite all the advantages of Facebook, the website is also faced with a number of disadvantages. The website currently has as many as 200 million active users. This has lead to a lot of over crowding of the website. Also with the increased number of relationships that have been built on the website, there are a number which have been turning out to be sour, leading to a breakup and weakening the long term distance relationships. Also there is unsupported physical adjacency. Facebook has also been noted to contribute to a wide range of procrastination among the community as well. One of the biggest disadvantages though is the fact that there is a high level of addiction that is seen in the users of Facebook. The addiction of people will be discussed later in this report (Findlay, 2009). It is also noted that a number of other issues have also cropped up in most social networking sites. This includes hacking of the individual profiles as well as even stalking of individuals. Also with the new trend of making friends online, there is an issue where people are unable to differentiate between real friends and acquaintances. Facebook Market Share The website was started way back in 2004. The company has been in the second position for along time, following MySpace which happens to be another social networking site as well. The figure below shows the market share of Facebook. It also provides the statistics for MySpace and how Facebook has been able to take over the market share. Figure: Market Share of Facebook (Digital Strategy Consulting, 2009) Figure: Unique Visitors (Prebluda, 2009) Facebook has been able to capture a very large market. It was for a number of years in the second position however in the present time it has moved to the top position. This website has been able to create a completely different virtual world by itself and has been able to attract a number of users as well. Facebook in UAE United Arab Emirates has blocked the website in the country because the content of this website is allegedly against the customs, and religion of the country. The download Squad of the country mentioned that “on the basis that they are against the moral or religious values of the UAE.” The block has been set in 2007 however there have been a number of people who were able to access the site by changing the proxy setting. It has been a decision on the part of the Government as it is felt that this site can affect the country and is completely against the religion of the country as well. It is essential for people around the world to understand that the laws, religion and regulations of countries around the world is different and hence, what might be appropriate in other parts of the world might not be well accepted in certain countries and vice - versa. Addiction to Facebook This is one of the biggest growing issues that have been noted. The average number of people who log onto Facebook each day is almost a hundred million people. The table below provides for a clear understanding of the average users and the issue of addiction to Facebook (Cohen, 2009). Total Number Particulars 200,000,000 number of active users 100,000,000 number of users who log on to Facebook at least once each day 170 number of countries/territories that use Facebook 35 Different Languages used on Facebook 2,600,000,000 number of minutes global users in aggregate spend on Facebook daily 100 number of friends the average user has 700,000,000 number of photos added to Facebook monthly 52,000 number of applications currently available on Facebook 140 number of new applications added per day Table 1: Statistics of Facebook (Singer, 2009) Although there are no clear stats of the number of people who are addicted to Facebook, researches and interview from a number of people shows that the average time spent on Facebook is a minimum of 30 minutes per day and in some case as much as 20 Hours per week. This is almost half of the working hours of a week and has thus shown an impact on the productivity of the people as well. Although the governments of the various countries have been requesting public not to use the Internet to such great extents and to concentrate on work instead there has been no difference in the usage. Affects On Society While recent times have seen a big growth in the usage of the Internet, the Internet provides people with newer spaces, where there is freedom for people to interconnect with friends and also explore new relationships. This enables them to project a new, refined or otherwise altered identity. The Internet has seemingly deregulated the applicable and traditional rules and regulations of social discourse and identity. A number of different activities are made possible in the vast paradigm of the web space and users themselves have begun to reap the benefits of this medium. The growth of online social networking communities has made it possible for individuals to have a new space (Lange, 2007). The projections are created to seek out new avenues for understanding themselves singularly, while participating in a group dynamic of plurality. This acts as a platform for individuals to express their views freely and also facilitates self – understanding to a great extent. The online communities have played a very important role in providing individuals with a platform where they understand who they are and express themselves (Morley & Robins, 1995). The major role of the online communities is the interactions among the members and thus bringing together a network of online identities. Members communicate through their own projections and also through the distribution of media messages. This also allows individuals to interact with others with similar likes, dislike, and opinions, thus breaking the geographical boundaries and distances. This provides the members with access to diverse cultures, opinions and attitudes. Traditionally, the closeness and the propinquity were major reasons for the traditional community to be accepted and also for concept to be well received by all. The design of online communities mainly allow for people to break physical time/space borders and allow for people to come together to speak their views and gain collective knowledge. It is essential to understand that, these websites are not only for building new friendships, or even to keep in touch with old friends, but also includes a variety of other services which include the ability to sort through friends based on networks within the site and also to find new friends based on common interests (Shedletsky & Aiken, 2004). As mentioned earlier, whole sites have been developed to cater to different aspects of interactions for various people across the world. There are sites that have been developed for jobs, cars, schools, colleges, dating, blogging, and cell phones. These, however, are a minor part of the various websites that are available for people to use. These websites are very beneficial as they help provide a number of different facilities to gain better understanding products and services based on user reviews and also for companies to reach out to their customers via social networking (Tapscott, 1998). Virtual Relationships vs. Face to Face Relationships In the online medium, the individuals gain a sense of easy connectivity and also an attachment with the immediate social circle. The online communities allow for individuals to have an easier mode of communication with their peers, irrespective of which part of the world they are. This thus creates a very strong feeling of connection and attachments, of which one physically has neither. The user, or community member, accepts the online community as such, with the physical aspects irrespective of the end result. This makes one rethink the paradigms of community, family, membership, and what it means to society as such (Turkle, 1995). It is a known fact that man is a social animal. Human beings have a craving for connectivity and attachment with others, the need for discourse with others and shared views and thoughts. Different individuals have a myriad of specific types of relationships based on the collective aims as well as the superficial differences. Together, these combined attributes allow for a better understanding of self and also allows individuals to realise themselves to a greater extent. Over the last twenty years, the concept of the communities has undergone a radical change. Globalisation has had an effect on almost every aspect of services and products. This has also affected the virtual community to a great extent. There have been a number of arguments which highlight that the traditional social communities based on a region or a group, have changed and have been long forgotten with the emergence of the online communities. Combined with the initiatives taken in the telecommunications sector, people have developed a new sense of space and place (Holmes, 1997). The concepts of communities in the past have been constrained by the geographic borders. However, in the present conditions, the communities are no longer based mainly on the geographical borders. It is now a combination of the real as well as the virtual spaces and the various experiences that are gained from these worlds. Facebook and Internet Abuse Facebook being such a vast network can prove to be very beneficial in terms of marketing for a number of companies. However it has been noted that companies misuse this and do not use Facebook to the full potential to market their products. Instead these companies send out a number of spam messages to the individuals on the network. Also as this is a place for people to make new friends some people are open to adding unknown people. This leads to a number of people disturbing the people add and gaining a lot of information of the people in general. Last but not the least, there are as many as 700,000,000 pictures that are uploaded on the network every month. This causes a potential risk as there can be misuse of the pictures to a great extent and can cause some serious damage. Fake Identities Fake Identities on Facebook will not be as useful as it would on other social networking systems. Although using a fake identity to build a profile is possible due to the simple registration process, the use of this identity will not allow people to gain any information from the profiles that are on Facebook. Facebook has taken immense care to ensure that the site is as safe as possible both in terms of privacy as well as content. Only friends are permitted to view the profile of others. Even if a person does create a false identity, the possibility and the chances that people might add them as a friend is quite low. The only reason why a person might use a fake identity on these sites is to either stalk people or even gain personal information of people. However both of these would not be possible with a fake identity as it is quite rare that people add unknown people on to their list (Ward, 2004). UAE Societies & Arab Societies on Facebook Virtual ethnic groups utilize a number of strategies which allow them to differentiate and make themselves exclusive from the out – groups. A unitary national identity served to connect individuals from multiple geographic locations on the basis of a shared history, heritage, language, and culture. Also, there is clear understanding of the use of internationalized identity and the phenomenon of normalized blending is showcased. Some groups have also failed to include details of the multiple identities which highlight the fact that possibly they have moved beyond distinction. A number of people have chosen to create their own unique identities with the growing need to mix cultures and races, which is slowly becoming a standard. There are a number of societies and communities that have been built in Facebook. One of the major communities that have been included into the network is that of ‘UAE Chapter’. Number of Users This section aims at highlighting in the number of users on the online community. Facebook was started five years ago and at present the site has as many as a hundred and fifty million active users. This is considered to be one of the fastest growing and very popular among people who are out of college, although it was created for college students exclusively. The site is one of the most commonly used sites and the statistics of this site has shown that the number of new members is fast growing. The statistics have also shown that the average users have almost 120 friends and almost three billion minutes are spent worldwide, each day on Facebook. The heavy usage of the Facebook is seen and can be realised by the fact that there are almost 850 million pictures that are updated on the site each month, and there are more than 20 million active users on the site (Facebook, 2009). Relationships on Facebook It is essential to firstly understand the meaning, and implications of an online social network. As understood and as mentioned in the online technical dictionary Webopedia, “A social structure made of nodes that are generally individuals or organizations. A social network represents relationships and flows between people, groups, organizations, animals, computers or other information/knowledge processing entities”. This highlights the importance of the relationship and allows a better understanding when discussing the flows between the people and computers: the push and pull of the online communication process. The Internet has developed to become a place where people from all over the world can come from different cultures to create and interact within a digital culture, unlike their own, but familiar. It has also democratised and equalised the media landscape as now everyone with a functional laptop can create and publish media messages without the necessary gate keeping of mainstream media. While unregistered users can often browse the same content, these social networking sites allow registered users to create their individuals profiles which in turn allows for the user to contact and meet up with old contacts and friends. They allow for people to maintain relationships and also meet newer friends from all over the world. While traditional news is often based around “newsworthiness”, a user is creating a newscast when providing and updating their friends with their recent positions, addresses, and occupations. This forms a strong method and a platform for individuals to easily share information and keep other members updated with the recent happenings in the lives. There are a number of different options for the individuals and they can choose from the people they want to keep in touch with and share their current status of where they physically live, what their relationship status is and even it has now become possible for people to share their pictures online. Conclusion In conclusion it is essential to note that Facebook is a Social networking Site and has now become an addiction to a number of users across the world. Facebook and other social networking site like itself have provided a chance for individuals to know and understand various cultures as well. Facebook however has been designed so well that almost a million users have been noted to have been developing a ‘Facebook Addiction’. Hence to face this dysfunction in the society, there have been a number of new laws that are created to provide a stop on the addiction and steer people to do more innovative and productive work. It is essential to understand that the careless use or abuse of social networking sites across the world have legal obligations and implications. Bibliography Arrington, M.. (2008). Facebook No longer The Second Largest Social Network. TechCrunch. 12 June 2008. Accessed on 13 March 2009. Available at http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/06/12/facebook-no-longer-the-second-largest-social-network/. Boyd-Barret, O. (1997). International communication and globalization: Contradictions and directions. In A. Mohammadi (Ed.), International communication and globalization (pp. 11-26). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Cohen, E., (2009). 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