Facebook as a New Media - Essay Example

Facebook as New Media 2009 Analysis According to Lister et al (2003), new media - including computers, the Internet, digital cable, satellite television and DVD recorders - is distinguished from the traditional mass media like newspapers, television and radio - which engages in a one-to-many communication process - through the characteristics of digitality, interactivity, hypertextuality, dispersal and virtuality. By the characteristic of virtuality, a social networking site (SNS) like Facebook is essentially a computer-based platform for converting text and image into binary codes that may be stored on one computer and distributed across the Internet and picked up by other computers. It is one of the most interactive new media platforms by which consumers can create their own material either in text or image and engage into an interaction with the Facebook contacts and communities with whom they may or may not have face-to-face interaction. Compared to the passive take-it-or leave-it approach of the traditional media, new media like the Facebook is an extremely interactive platform (Brown, n.d). In terms of van Dijk's (2006) scheme of interactivity of digital media, which may be at different levels depending upon the space, time, behavioral and understanding the meaning of interactions, the SNSs like Facebook may be considered at the third level of development. The sender and the receiver can not only communicate any time and place (other digital media like television or email can also do this, with email having the advantage of two-way communication), the SNS can also alter the behavioral pattern of the communication in which the sender and the receiver can switch roles. However, it is not always possible to understand accurately the nuances and meanings of all the text and the images posted since it is possible for members to assume anonymous characteristics. Facebook members can upload links of other websites and profiles so that information is connected not only to his or her own profile but also communicate across to the other members and communities. The members then are customizing their search options on the Internet. The Facebook Links feature is like a bulletin board that allows members to post articles, photos and other memorabilia on their own websites that can be accessed through the link. The SNS has had wide dispersal in terms of usage and is utilized for various purposes like social causes, business and political communication and so on. By creating a Facebook profile, a company or a politician or a social organization can advertise its products and causes for no cost. It can also receive messages from other members. Creating a Facebook community allows the consumer to post news feed on the wall or send messages to members through e-mail. The profile of the consumer can disperse through word-of-mouth of other members as well as through the send-to-a-friend option (Edouard, n.d). Facebook allows members to live a virtual life, engage in virtual relationships and activities. Many members even create anonymous identities for themselves while creating their profiles and communicating online through Facebook (Brown. n.d). Discussion Digital divide The term "digital divide" connotes the inequalities in access to the new media. Even though the access to the Internet has been pervasive in the developed world, it has not been so in the developing economies. The access to Facebook may be from household connections or individual wireless connections or from public connections like from public libraries, government buildings. Internet cafes or telecentres (van Djik, 2008). While most members access the Internet and the Facebook from household or wireless connections in the western world, it is considered a luxury to do so in the developing world. Hence, there is more focus on public access of internet in the poorer countries where even this is inadequate. According to van Djik (2008), there are various types of access for the digital media, like motivational access, material or physical access, skills access and usage access. Motivational access for the Internet and the Facebook is the main hindrance in many countries and age groups. People who have not used the Internet and social networking sites are often those who "want not" to do so (Djik, 2008). Typical reasons for not using the computer, the Internet and SNSs are not recognizing the advantage and opportunities of doing so, lack of time, liking, money or skills and even rejection of the medium. Although technophobia has decreased in the US and Europe to a large extent, it has not been the case in developing world. Even in the US and Europe, there are still a lot of people, typically the older generation who continue to suffer from technophobia. Besides, SNSs like Facebook are considered to be social networking platforms for the youth, thus raising a barrier for people who are in the wrong side of the technology-friendly age. However, a popular SNS like the Facebook can be used to motivate students to interact and improve language skills (White, 2009). A SNS is as good as its content is so, in order to increase user access, contribution from users needs to be increased. This is particularly important from newcomers who are hesitant to post content on Facebook. Burke and Lento (2007) found from studying log data of 14,000 newcomers at Facebook have higher motivation to access SNS through social learning. When they see their friends contributing content to Facebook, the newcomers also begin to do so. Receiving comments and getting a wider audience increases motivation. Physical access to the Internet determines that to the Facebook. Besides variations of physical access to the Internet in various countries, which is most pronounced between the developed and the developing world, the other factors that limit physical access are availability and cost of digital technology, general level of literacy, English language skills, freedom of expression, government policies to promote information technology and the culture of using technology in general and computers in particular (van Djik, 2008). These factors vary widely across countries. Van Djik (2000, 2003, 2005, 2008) differentiates skills access towards the digital environment in terms of three types of skills: operational, information and strategic. Operations skills are in terms of hardware and software. Information skills are in terms of the ability to search, select and process information on the computer. Strategic skills are in terms of using the computer for particular goals and objectives. The successful use of Facebook depends on all these types o skills. Only those who are fairly conversant with the operational aspects of the computer and the internet would access the Facebook and use to make friends and social connections. Usage access to the computer and the internet depends on usage time, applications, broadband or narrowband use and active or creative use (Djik, 2008). Internet diffusion is the primary determinant for most of these factors. Broadband connection has been on the rise in most of the developed countries but there is a still large divide among the developed and developing world regarding this. Access of wireless broadband internet connection is not simply a concern for the purpose of providing mobility and access from the home or elsewhere, as it is in the developed countries but also in terms of providing low-cost internet access as in the developing world (The Wireless Internet Institute, 2003). Internet and Facebook can be accessed through various devices like laptops, mobile telephones, desktop computer and PDAs, costs of which determine the usage access (Estave & Machine, 2007). Besides cost, the usage access also depends on usage time, which is different according to age and literacy. Typically, Internet usage time is more for the younger and the more educated. However, the access time for Facebook depends not simply on age (as it is higher for the younger) but is usually related negatively with education, as the more educated tend to use the Internet for various other purposes like direct communication through emails, reading online and so on rather than for social networking. The passive users of the Internet who only read online or receive emails are not the ones who take to SNSs. Instead, users who are more creative and willing to post content are the ones who access SNSs like Facebook. Fragmentation of society There is a fragmentation of the society of SNS users between the two most popular SNSs, Facebook and MySpace. Facebook was launched in 2004 for Harvard students and later opened up for all other college students. Initially, it was accessible to members only through invitation. Even as it is now open for voluntary membership, Facebook continues to have the association with elite students. On the other hand, Myspace is associated with a social networking for teenagers. Hence, there is a fragmentation of SNS users between high school students (Myspace) and college students (Facebook). In addition, a number of adverse press has created an image for Myspace as something dangerous and edgy for kids. On the other hand, Facebook has a more sedate approach. Facebook became an alternate for Myspace with the latter being discouraged by parents. MySpace has been associated with Latino/ Hispanic teens, whose parents had low levels of education and who engaged in alternative, at times risky, lifestyles. Hence, even when kids hear about MySpace and Facebook at the same time, the connotations of the two are markedly different. The division of users of SNS between MySpace and Facebook mirrors the fragmentation of the society in the attitude of good and bad (Boyd, 2007). According to sociologists of technology, the pattern of usage should be analyzed when considering the social uses of technology. It has been found that people with higher socioeconomic profiles tend to use the Internet for capital-enhancing activities that lead to higher payoffs than it is for those from lower socioeconomic profiles (Zillien and Hargittai, 2006). Since the Internet is one of the tools that are used in society, it cannot be analyzed except in conjunction with other social tools. By the Matthew effect, developed by Merton (1973), the rich tend to get richer as a result of the use of technology like the internet (cited in Zillien and Hargittai, 2006). Facebook, by its elite student connotation, too increases the fragmentation of the society. The internet itself has been considered to be a major element responsible for fragmentation of the society. While cultural cohesion was possible in the case of the traditional mass media, culture has become increasingly fragmented with the advent of new media as alternate viewpoints are available. SNSs enhance this process of cultural fragmentation with the possibility of communities of like-minded people. Such a fragmentation has also been seen as a form of cultural democracy that social networking through Facebook has provided (Croteau and Hoynes, 2003). Although cultural traits are thought to be disseminated across the society through the individual agents, on social networking sites, the cultural traits are determined by the person who forms the community and the others who join follow the traits. The membership of the community therefore depends on the individual entity who forms it. Social group dynamics, in the process, avoids flattening of the culture and promotes multiplicity of cultural attitudes (Appoloni and Garguilo, 2006). Public Sphere Social networking through Facebook enables users to enter the public sphere as more and more users are engaging in debates over political issues and news from different parts of the world through comments on profiles, pages and communities. Typically, internet-based technologies adapt to the political order rather than create new ones (Papacharisi, 2002). The public space created by Facebook, therefore, does not transcend the political sphere but rather adapts to it. Flow of information Communication through the Facebook, like in all other SNSs, is two-way communication modes rather than a one-way one (Dijk, 2006). Compared to face-to-face communication, traditional media had the disadvantage of a limited flow of communication since it was directed from the sender to the receiver, the latter being only at the passive mode. New media, particularly SNSs, give the opportunity of active participation in the dissemination of information. Communication, therefore, becomes freer and unlimited in its flow and direction. Such a media platform implies sociability, warmth and personal information that face-to-face communication could give but was totally absent in traditional media. But, these character traits are not as exhaustive as in face-to-face communication because of the virtuality of the platform, the digital divide that does not include all social profiles and the fragmentation of the society that occurs as a result. Works Cited Appoloni, Andrea and Garguilo, Floriana Cultural Fragmentation and Innovation Diffusion in a Dynamic Scenario, http://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/0906/0906.3670.pdf Boyd, Danah (2007) "Viewing American class divisions through Facebook and MySpace ." Apophenia Blog Essay. June 24 . http://www.danah.org/papers/essays/ClassDivisions.html Brown, Ken (n.d). The Mass Media. Chapter 3, http://www.polity.co.uk/browne/downloads/SampleChapter3_MassMedia.pdf Burke, Moira, Cameron Marlow and Thomas Lento (2007). Feed Me: Newcomer Contribution in Social Networking Sites, http://www.thoughtcrumbs.com/publications/paper0778-burke.pdf Croteau, David and William Hoynes (2003). Media Society: Industries, Images and Audiences, Pine Forge Press Edouard (n.d). Business Communication: Facebook Group vs Facebook Fanpage vs Facebook Profile, Digital Communication, http://edouardbreine.com/2009/08/13/business-communication-facebook-group-vs-facebook-fan-page-vs-facebook-profile/ Estave, Guillermo and Angel Machin, Devices to Access Internet in Developing Countries, http://www2007.org/workshops/paper_106.pdf Lister, M. et al (2003), New Media: A Critical Introduction. Routledge - London. UK Papacharisi, Zizi (2002) The Virtual Sphere, The Intenet as a Public Sphere, New Media & Society, Vol. 4, No. 1, 9-27 White, Jeremy (2009). The Use of Facebook to Improve Motivation and Academic Writing, Proceedings of the Third International Wireless Ready Symposium, http://wirelessready.nucba.ac.jp/white2009.pdf Wireless Internet Institute, The Wireless Internet Opportunity in the Developing Countries, www.infodev.org/en/Document.24.PDF Van Dijk, H (2000). "Widening Information Gaps and Policies of Prevention". In K Hacker and J Van Dijk (ed). Digital Democracy: Issues of Theory and Practice. London: Sage Publications Van Dijk, H (2003). A Framework for Digital Divide Research, Electronic Journal of Communication, http://www.cios.org/getfile/vandijk Van Dijk, H (2005). The Deepening Divide, Inequality in the Information Society, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks CA London Van Dijk, H (2006). The Network Society: Social Aspects of New Media. Sage Publications. CA Van Dijk, H (2008). "The Digital Divide in Europe", in The Handbook for International Politics, London and New York, http://www.gw.utwente.nl/mco/bestanden/digitaldivide.pdf Zillien, Nicole and Hargittai, Eszter (2006) Digital Distinction: Status-Specific Types of Internet Usage, www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/9/317/ref Read More