All of this is Real: Facebook and the Internet Revolution - Essay Example

Methods This essay examines the motivations behind the use of the social networking site Facebook and the implications this holds for its participants. Over a course of a week I monitored and recorded newsfeed and wall-postings from my Facebook account. Further elements of the networking site were analyzed on an individual basis and qualitative analyses were conducted and compared with contemporary research on the issues of identity and social capital. While such an approach allows for a level of sample bias, it does allow for a micro-level sociolinguistic analysis where past studies have opted for macro discussions. The nature of Facebook also allows a uniquely convenient means for sociological analyses that in non-electronic subcultures requires extensive means and human organization. Is Facebook bad for you? Parents and teachers across the nation are decrying the addictive and consuming nature that their children and student’s have demonstrated in devotion to Facebook. The site has even been banned in a large amount of workplaces and schools across the nation. While there is conflicting research that supports both sides of the argument, it seems that the negative effects of the site have been largely exaggerated. A large amount of this research on focuses on the positive and negative influences on the individual’s social capital. In discussing ‘social capital’ researchers, “have defined the construct in terms of social networks, trust, civic engagement, life satisfaction.” (Valenzuela, p.2, 2009). In Is there social capital in a social networking site? Valenzuela (2009) defines the term as the resources available to people through their social interactions and uses statistical research to discuss the effects of Facebook use. She finds that the impression of high intensity Facebook users as isolated in ‘real life’ is inaccurate and the opposite is actually true. However, the question of whether Facebook defines social capital shows no positive correlation, Valenzuela notes that “it would be quite troubling if a sole technological platform such as Facebook determines young adults’ stock of social capital.” In reviewing the posts from the previous week a consistent trend was noticed of participants posting problems they had encountered in their daily life. There are twenty-five postings on a newsfeed page. In reviewing the last twenty-five postings, there were four posts that can be categorized as ‘problems users encountered’. One woman writes about getting wine spilled on her at a restaurant and being asked to pay for it; a man ‘hates with a passion micro-micromanagement by administrators’; another man complains, ‘Punk kids throw a rock at my window. This third occurence in the span of a month. I hate my neighborhood!’; and finally, a woman complains about the unwanted advances of a guy in her office. What’s notable in all these posts is that they all include comments from friends supporting the poster. It seems that this is directly related to the social capital of Facebook, in that the users are able to gain direct social support at any time or place and carry on a dialogue to alleviate their stress. This anytime, anyplace level of support marks a unique and seemingly positive development in contemporary social relations. I Facebook, therefore I am On a recent episode of CNN’s Nancy Grace, when discussing the demeanor of a reported murderer host Grace discusses -- as if it were primary evidence -- the Facebook and Twitter accounts of the perpetrator. While the reliability of cable news is debatable, it’s worth noting that Grace worked as a Judge and has an extensive legal background. It also raises an interesting question about the effectiveness of social networking sites to determine an individual’s identity. Identity construction has been a major concern of sociolinguistic investigations into social networking sites. Valenzuela (2009) argues that Facebook functions to establish personal identity, “by enabling multiple channels for interpersonal feedback and peer acceptance (p. 7)” More directly, in None of This is Real (2007) Danah Boyd uses the instances of the Burning Man and Suicide Girls subcultures to discusses the question of identity construction through the now largely defunct Friendster networking site. She identifies the ways that user profiles function to signal social norms within groups: …I began receiving messages on Friendster asking for my “Suicide Girl” name and the location of my porn site. Looking for patterns, porn aficionados interpreted my profile as akin to that of Suicide Girls because my network contained fellow Burners, older businessmen, and a half-naked photo. When a friend and fellow social software analyst selected a random photo from Google and depicted himself as an “old, white balding guy from the Midwest,” my profile became visibly similar to those of the Suicide Girls Because his photo was prominently displayed on my page as a Friend, his choice in photo dramatically affected my performance. On Friendster, impression management is an inescapably collective process. p. 11 It seems that Boyd revels in the artificiality of social networking user identities – the title of her research essay is even None of this is Real – and points to the controversy of fake profile, ‘fakesters’ to develop her point. During a period of Friendster’s existence fake profile of celebrities and historical figures were taken down to solidify the actual and legitimacy of the site’s users. She argues that the nature of social networking is such that this fake profiles are just as real as the supposedly legitimate profiles in that they are both constituted through artificial means and don’t constitute ‘true identity.’ While Boyd raises an interesting question about the constitution of identity in these spaces, a contrary analysis of the sample newsfeed posts in this study speaks to the ability of social networking sites to more thoroughly embody identity and individual self-expression. Taking on a humanistic approach to identity construction the ability of the individual to post news and links enhances and ads to the construction of the identity. The newsfeed offers a ready means for self expression. For instance, a person’s picture changing to a specific angle or even something completely new represents the individual impulse towards creative personality construction. In this instance, the person actually feels more in-tune with the current picture. To borrow a term from the Situationist movement, this new picture has a detournement effect where previous users are shaken from their past perceptions to realize the identity change of the individual. Other elements of posts, such as the frequent hyperlink of Youtube videos of music – currently there five such posts from users in the sample group – or discussions of movies serve, in some regard, to express the individual feelings and emotions of the poster. In these instances the access to electronic means of expression actually goes beyond what is possible in daily life. Lakoff (2001) discusses the way humans construct identity by structuring their experiences in narrative form. The newsfeed offers a perfect representation of this, as current users will often post messages discussing how they are going to sleep, or how they are now ending their day. Notably, these posts receive limited comments, and it seems their purpose is to offer a concluding narrative to their daily activities and cathartically release the individual to sleep. Another interesting element of Facebook is the proliferation of ‘Groups’ and ‘Fan Profiles.’ Rather than functioning as an actual support group – although some of these do exist (the linguistics group I’m a member of is actually quite active) – the vast majority serve as a form of surveying tool to democratically determine social mores and identity construction. There is a group for ‘People Who Text in Awkward Situations,’ a group for people who hate the Yankees, and a group if ‘I Was Doing My Homework and Ended up on Facebook’. While serving a humorous function, it also seems that these groups are a means for participants to gather consensus on what is appropriate behavior. If enough people admit to awkwardly texting in social situations, then clearly these individuals determine that they aren’t neurotic and that it’s a normal function of the ever-changing world – support groups for support groups in many instances. The underlying democratic nature of this might strike some as conspicuous, as it seems that the democratic process of majority rule has been rooted so foundationally in these participants that their very identity is governed by it. Future studies into social networking could be greatly served by analyzing the relation between identity construction and the Political-Economic structure of the participant’s government. For instance, is identity determined through group consensus in North Korea or Communist nations? Setting the Stage Another approach to identity construction in Facebook uses Actor-Agency approach fore-grounded by theorists such as Del Hymes and Kenneth Burke. As Burke spoke of human interaction as "a symbolic means of inducing cooperation in beings that by nature respond to symbols (pg. 10)." What follows is a micro-level analysis that implements Burke’s pentad to determine elements of purpose and identity construction in a Facebook conversation. The setting for the particular scenario is the Facebook newsfeed section. The situation occurred on the ‘wall’ of a participant who had posted a status update. The status update read, “ok if you had a choice: fl/ga game or halloween party?” Time of day is also a contingent factor in determining setting, as certain times of day create intrinsically different settings as the people the message is exposed to differ. The participants of the situation are limited to those who have been approved ‘friends’ by the individual, creating a situation unique to social networking sites. Furthermore, the participants have a picture attached to their name that may be different from their physical representation. The image is reflective of their view of themselves, so that it ultimately is closer in social significance to clothing than to individual physicality. Occurring as a status update, the writer of the message understood the conventions of the setting and structured the message to elicit a series of responses. There also seems to be a performative aspect to status-updates, as the speaker is literally indicating their social status by demonstrating they have the opportunity to attend either a football game or a party, and the responses the message receives will often reflect the participants’ position in relation to this status. The responses to the message indicate a desire to keep in social contact with the individual posting the status update, but within this impulse deeper impulses are reflected. In this instance, the majority of participants responded with resounding support for attending the Florida vs. Georgia football game. This seems to be more a means of identifying with the collective spirit of the University of Florida and the socio-economic status this entails, than actually valuing the football game over the abstract ‘party’. One marginal opinion was voiced that the party would be better than the football game and the participant went to great length to describe the reasons why. It seems the ends of this individual’s intentions was to compensate for his outsider status in relation to the football game and to prove his social worth by demonstrating that he is able to compete with the main group dynamic. In this situation, the act sequence is unique to social networking sites in that the responses are logged onto the wall of the original poster, so that all future participants in the conversation are privy to all that has been said before and will develop responses in relation to the entire conversation. Also unique is the method the participants respond: whereas live conversations involve organic means of communication with participants directly speaking when the thought occurs to them; on Facebook walls, the speakers must type out their responses, oftentimes editing them. The responses are also necessarily read in sequential order. The key in Facebook conversations generally remains playful. The genre of this exchange seems to be merely rapport building among the participants, with no direct generic elements limiting it to a specific function of socio-linguistic interaction. In this instance, as the topic of interest is which entertainment event is better to attend, the conversation is particularly geared towards fun and levity, as the participants attempt to demonstrate their points in interesting ways so that the individual poster and the audience group will agree with their assertions and confirm their social status. Conclusion The exact function of Facebook clearly exceeds one critical approach and the increasing popularity of the platform is a testament to its ability to satisfy a number of human interests. Even as studies that try to demonstrate the negative effects of intense Facebook use, just as many instances of positive benefits can be identified. It seems that the increasing popularity of the platform needs not to be feared but understood, as its prevalence in the twenty-first century electronic culture is inevitable. While research such of this points out the intricacies of the platform in identity construction, the global ramifications of the findings can’t be ignored. Facebook, Twitter, and sites like them are not only bringing the world together at rates rapidly faster than any time in history, but through democratic methods of consensus are shaping the identity of its very participants in the process. As such, the internet represents more than just a invention, but a cultural shift as dramatic as the Industrial Revolution, with Facebook and sites like it used for more than just networking, but as the method and means by which social relations adapt to this Internet Revolution. References Boyd, Danah (2007). None of this is Real: Identity and Participation in Friendster. In Joe Karaganis (Ed.) Structures of Participation in Digital Culture. (pp. 132-157) New York: Social Science Research Council. Burke, Kenneth (1969). Grammar of Motives. California: University of California Press. Lakoff, Robin (2003) Narrative in the construction of social and political identity. In Deborah Tannen & James E. Alatis (Eds), Georgetown University Round Table on Languages and Linguistics: Linguistics, Language, and the Real World: Discourse and Beyond. Baltimore, MD: Georgetown University Press. Valenzuela, Sebastian (2009). Is there social capital in a social networking site? Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication. (pp. 1-27). Read More