Facebook, Hypermediacy, Performance and Interaction Essay

While always being a concept extremely troublesome to coherently and comprehensively define or describe, individuality becomes increasingly elusive in our postmodern era, especially since the advent of the Internet and the wide range of possibilities created by this vast informational network. In our global village, a new form of identicalness must be added to the previous(prenominal) taxonomies (Giddens Anthony). champion in which relativity and fluidity have become signifi chiffoniertly more essential, in order to understand and describe it then was the case with its predecessors. This is what is usually called online or digital individualism.This concept is potently connected with that of online or realistic communities, spaces of companionable interaction in which the concept of mediation plays a central role. Even though, as Giddens states, Virtually all homosexual experience is mediated by socialization and in p cunningicular the acquisition of language not until th e advent of the informational era did mediation play such an outstanding role in human communication (Giddens, 23). As McLuhan clearly states The medium is the message, ace of the essential features in understanding the concept of online identity (McLuhan Marshall, 7). dissimilar forms such an identity takes in the context of a specific online biotic community, a social network called Facebook, are analyzed in this essay. Though there are detectable negative sociological implications to Facebook concerning privacy and online identity, (DONT ANNOUNCE LIKE THIS. STATE YOUR THESIS, NOT THAT YOU WILL IDENTIFY SOMETHING BUT EXACTLY WHAT YOU WANT TO jump the research here leave identify ) the online network isIS largely sociologically beneficial by providing a positive forum for social planning, community physical composition and general communication.OTHERWISE, THE THESIS LOO9KS GOOD, JUST STICK TO THE PLAN IN IT Facebooks initial model revolved primarily around the courtship of those stationly machine-accessible with universities. Facebook was launched on February 4, 2004 and until September 11, 2006, it was comprised entirely of individuals with active university email addresses, with high schools and corporations soon being added to the mix (Wikipedia). Today, Facebook is a network accessible to anybody with a valid email address.However, Facebooks operational premise affects people to display certain details regarding themselves that willing allow them to be located by friends. Certainly, an increasingly valid use of Facebook has been its role in reconnecting lapsed friendships or acquaintances. Therefore, DONT intent WE UNLESS YOU ARE A TEAM OF SCIENTISTS. a s our discussion turns into AND YOU ARE ANNOUNCING again ) IN THE recognition of the identity counsel growths united to this legal and valid ego-presentation will related directly to , user preferences will be a germane(predicate) factorpreferences.Therefore, much of the theoretical c onceptualization here will revolve on this understanding that in spite of opportunities for elastic identity management, this network remains, at least(prenominal) for the time being, a space in which online and legal identities are connected (Giddens). This feature will bring about very interesting issues concerning the form and temper of the online identity exhibited on Facebook.Particular issues are those concerning the choices which individuals are able to make in the Facebook context which help to formulate identity in ways which whitethorn differ in the purpose and functionality from identity strategies in traditional social spheres. This points to some of the main differences between traditional and online identity, with the latter creating certain freedoms from physicality. One can choose or bypass certain visual images, can report or leave out certain biographical facts and can generally finesse an identity which is less dependent on day to day interactions.VAGUE. WHAT A RE THESE ISSUES? , AND WHAT EXACTLY IS THE FORM AND NATURE OF THE ONLINE IDENTIY? STATE IT here(predicate). Another factor of determinant splendor in understanding the sociological impact of Facebook is its representation of McLuhansS EXPLAIN WHO HE WAS global village. Marshall McLuhan is wiz of the preeminent theorists in communication and media studies, and with the mid-fifties and 1960s, would command a great deal of foresight in identifying the behaviors of future media systems.In his global village theory, McLuhan envisi unityd, a space in which the magnitude of globalization and especially its protean forms of cultural ex commuteation couldan be experienced on a mortalalized level. Since Facebook has been traditionally grounded at bottom university-based networks, many of these already possessing defined global profiles, mavin can now begin to experience on a virtual level the powerful dynamics of globalization as they have been interested by technological transiti on.Individuals create personal networks of touchings which reflect and, sometimes, even expand the international environment in which they pursued their studies. (Ellison, 1143) reference work? Before going further in the analysis of the concept of identity on Facebook, iodin should analyze the notion of profile, YOUR OUTLINE REFERS TO targetS. CLARIFY THAT THERE IS A CONNECTION BETWEEN PROFILE AND OBJECT OR AM I WRONG IN ASSUMING THERE IS ONE the online representation of the individual. Firstly, adept should take into account the lucidion within Facebooks grammar lingo, which provides a distinction DO YOU MEAN LEXIS?between objects and actions(Giddens, 47). WHO IS THIS? Social theoriest Anthony Giddens here provides the concept which is fully executed by Facebook, in which the identity which one formulates produces a virtual object through which various synergistic actions may be executed. The basic object is the profile itself, from which a tree-like structure of other obj ects, ranging from the wall to pictures, videos, the questionable applications, or plain text, emerges. Therefore, Facebook can be seen as a container of various media, organized within a profile which represents the individual, the real person hidden do-nothing the screen.The profile can be considered a virtual body representation of the individual root word? a representation connected with other profiles, images of other individuals, join together in various associative networks. (Giddens, 48) The focus is mainly on the tree-like organized strata of media which separates individuals connected on Facebook because it is essential to stress on both the distance and closure between individuals which is created in such instances of communication, the much-discussed (within the context of globalization) new spatial logic the spontaneous dispersion and concentration via information technologies. (Castells Manuel, 419). In other words, at first one has to notice the separation of th e concepts of space and place. in (our CUT THIS) contemporary understanding of THE social landscape. People from various locations can interact on Facebook al nearly simultaneously. This talent be considered as bringing them closer regardless of the physical distance existing between them.Yet, one must always entertain to take into consideration also the very substance of the profile a collage of media, an attachment into post-modernity of what Giddens calls one of the two basic features of mediated experience in conditions of modernity the collage effect. (Giddens 26). In other words, the identity presented by individuals to one another can be considered a highly subjective work of art, creating sometimes large discrepancies between self-identity and the online identity perceive by others.Therefore, in contrast with the disclosure effect WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY CLOSURE way out? , there is also a distancing effect created by Facebook, an effect which is more elusive mainly beca use the information is so intensely mediated. The second category rattling IN YOUR OUTLINE, YOU PUT ACTIONS BEFORE OBJECTS. CHANGE EITHER THE OUTLINE OR THE PARAGRAPH ORDER is that of actions the individual can perform in this virtual environment. First, one joins Facebook, edits his/hers profile, then starts joining various networks or groups, adds friends and so on.An important feature here is closely connected with the object called wall addressed in the previous paragraph and with the action of writing messages on other peoples walls. The distinction between writing on someones wall and send a message is that speckle the message remains private, visible only to the recipient, the message on the walls is visible to everyone connected to the walls avoucher. It might be considered one of the external features of the exhibited individual.In this way, a metaphorical image of the kind of identity created by Facebook closely resembles the image of the self from Pink Floyds conceptu al album The Wall hidden behind a wall. SOURCE? Furthermore, this notion of concealment is transparent also in another action one can perform on Facebook, that of hiding ones ONES very actions, in other words, translating them into the private sphere. In fact, ones actions are published in a so-called News Feed, a virtual newspaper available to all ones friends. SOURCE?(Facebook. com, 1) This inclines consideration of the words of the legendary conceptual artist, Andy Warhol. in the future, Warhol said, everyone will be cosmos-famous for 15 minutes. (Murphy, 1) Today, Andy Warhol, anthe American artist and a central figure in the run known as Pop art might say, one can become famous on Facebook for far more then 15 minutes. SOURCE? However, as stated before, one can also hide ones ONES actions and can decide not to allow them to be published in the friends News Feed.Another important type of actions one can perform on Facebook are the interactive actions. An almost constant and unbroken ex neuter between individuals exists through their profile environment. People are writing on one anothers walls, sending messages, adding comments, sending gifts, comparing themselves with the others through various applications, playing games, virtually being able to perform any action to one another (with the textual Super-Poke, one can order someone to write an essay about Facebook for instance).GOOD representative This aspect will be important later on when the essential role the other has in creating someones identity on Facebook After these initial considerations about the structure and organization of Facebook, it is important, before pursuing further, to turn again to Giddens ideas about the character of identity in the modern era, ideas which can easily be extended to our post-modern context. Giddens considers the self as a reflexive project, which is continuous, as well as all-pervasive. In other words, self-identity becomes a construct, a personal narrative whic h tries to bring order and meaning from the multiplicity of individual traits and experiences. As he states A persons identity is not to be found in behavior, nor important though it is in the reactions of others, but in the capacity to keep a peculiar(a) narrative going. The individuals biography, if she is to maintain regular interaction with others in the day-to-day world, cannot be wholly fictive.It must continually integrate events which occur in the external world, and sort them into the on-going story about the self. (Giddens, 75) From the previous observations regarding the construction of Facebook, one could easily understand why the profile can be considered a narrative, a text through which the individual reflexively creates an identity-image which he/she exhibits in this network. One could apply here the terminology of Arjun Appadurai, one of the founding editors, along with Carol A.Breckenridge, of the journal habitual Culture and also the founding Director of the C hicago Humanities Institute at the University of Chicago, GOOD DETAILS ABOUT THE AUTHOR and call the Facebook profile a mediascape. Appadurai defines mediascapes as image-centered, narrative-based accounts of strips of reality, and further on he states that what they offer to those who experience and transform them is a series of elements (such as character, plots, and textual forms) out of which scripts can be formed of imagined lives, their own as well as those of others living in other places. COMMENT ON THIS QUOTE This points to the distinction between online and traditional identity formulation, with the online variation shown to be more directly susceptible to this careful and intentional scripting. The relationship of Facebook to its origins as university community networking site is apparent in one of the distinct values of its usage. There is an indicationIn its early stages, VAGUE. WHAT KIND OF INDICATION? DO YOU MEAN A SURVEY? OR RESEARH? that there are many educatees wh o hadve naturally adopt Facebook as a meeting, socializing or communicating forum which unofficially affiliates with the campus community.Therefore Facebook attend tos in its individual network contexts to give students the capacity to establish their own networking capabilities simultaneously connected to the physical and cultural community comprised by the campus or school itself and yet fully independent and unofficial from the universitys standpoint. This can exercise to be a very constructive way for students to relate and organize to their own benefit and, absent of the universitys concerted involvement, to the benefit of its culture, community and incarnate identity.As Hewitt and Forte observe, when online communities begin to complement existing channels for social interaction, aspects of everyday practices are often cast into sharp relief as community members integrate new channels of communication into their everyday lives (Hewitt and Forte, 1). Serving to strengthen t he internal processes by which members of a university community are able to relate to one another separate from the parameters created by the university the online community can be extraordinarily beneficial in diversifying, liberating and even emotionally accommodating the university experience.Individuals with rough-cut social, academic or even romantic interests can use university forums to engage one another within the theoretical confines of the school but outside of its official interactive boundaries. GIVE A REAL-LIFE EXAMPLE For many students, something such as Facebook allows for the tangible and observable presentation of a community, which, especially for incoming or socially remote students, can be an important arrow signdoorway to groups, activities and support structures within the university.. WHAT IS AN ARROW SIGN?A SIGN OF WHAT? Thus, Facebook can really help one to couple the gap between a selected identity and a group with which to identify. Moreover, this is also true of Facebooks alteration to the sociological process of recovery of lost, lapsed or unrealized relationships, whether social, romantic, professional or even convenience. Accordingly, previous research draw outs that Facebook users engage in searching for people with whom they have an offline connection more than they browse for get along strangers to meet. (Ellison, 1144) Still, Ththe informality of the friend tag in Facebook, allows people to establish online friendship with one who might not qualify as an entry in ones cell phone or a possible consideration for immediate recreational plans. The fact that such friendship does not actually require either participant to do anything other than to approve this friendship, allows for the establishment in many cases of a personal network far larger than ones physical social network.This is to say that old acquaintances, such as members of ones high-school graduating class with whom only limited friendly interest is shared, may serve a strictly connective role in ones network. Their presence in ones social network will allow one to be seen by other acquaintances and potential friends. This can serve as a positive opportunity to either regenerate lost friendships or even stimulate a friendship where previously only an acquaintanceship existed. GIVE SOME IDEA OF THE EXTENT OF THIS NETWORK, SOME REAL EXAMPLES OR STATISTICS. overly INDICATE WHETHER YOU CONSIDER THIS IS A POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE ASPECT. YOUR THESIS SUGESTTS THE FORMER, BUT YOU NEED TO SAY SO. Furthermore, SURELY THIS IS A NEGATIVE ASPECT, SO YOU SHOULD USE HOWEVER, NOT ? URTHERMORE. However, there is a perceived exposure simply in ones involvement with Facebook that might instead be seen negatively. One of the biggest drawbacks to the fact that Facebook creates this explicit connection between real and web identities is the danger that it represents to the users privacy.Even as various parameterssallowing individuals to set privacy toll hiding or only selectively displaying profile details are set in place to protect the individual from observation or contact by an individual not within ones friend network, WHAT ARE THESE PARAMETERS? GIVE EXAMPLES there is evidence of vulnerability within the system. It is not in particular difficult for one so hardened to procure personal information regarding other Facebook users without the proper authorization. This is a bug WHY A BUG?that was most recently revealed by a British tech company which was intended to expose the sites susceptibility to willful penetration, with the programming being infiltrated by professional hackers. Thus, in less than three hours computer programmers working for the BBC programme Click, veritable an application for Facebook which they used to discover the details of four users and all their friends. (Cockcroft, 1) Facebook, for its part, has indicated through an anonymous source that any such vulnerability would be counter-intuitive veSTRANGE WORDto the intent of the company and network, and therefore it would work to resolve this particular issue. SOURCE? WHO vocalize THIS AND WHAT WERE THEY GOING TO DO ABOUT IT? (Cockcroft, 1) On the other hand, such vulnerability may be seen as a programming bug and not a conceptual failure, with Facebooks model being dedicated organicly to the protection of privacy details at the users discretion.. SOURCE? DEFINE THE digression Consequently, this is not an issue which draws much in the way of sociological resolution on the subject.Moreover, speaking in a more sociological sense, another issue concerning Facebook is the inappropriateness of varying user intentions. The concept of online identity is refuted by the fact the Facebook is simultaneously connected to the users legal identity and bound to the virtual world. The result is that users have the opportunity to redefine themselves even in direct connection to details which are inherently bound to the non-virtual world such as relati onship status, physical appearance, profession or interests.. SUCH AS?This gives Facebook an obfuscating subject as it related to our ability to comprehend that which is implied by ones Facebook identity.. EXPLAIN Facebook is inherently subject to many of the same usage issues which have always been associated with internet usage. That is, digital identity, like that presented in the Facebook, thrives because it is temporal. You can change your identity at the drop of a hat you can become a liberal or conservative at the push of a button, change your interests and hobbies on a whim. (Stutzman, 1).While this is the kind of identity elasticity for which individuals have often placed specific value O onN the opportunities available on the internet, the distinctions (which we have) discussed hered HERE regarding Facebook make this an issue of increasing debate. Particularly, (we are demanded) the question is asked IS ASKED as to whether or not the fact that Facebooks insistence of see king to connect online and non-virtual identity in ones online presentation, can be a negative pattern due to possible obfuscation by deliberate misrepresentation.An example of this might be ones unauthorized use of anothers account or, far more insidiously, one of the most troubling examples of this might be the infiltration of a school network by a sexual predator. GIVE A CLEAR EXAMPLE While this is an entitlement right reserved to be determined by the individual, it is one that further blurs the lines of the authenticity of digital identity within the specific context of a network designed to attempt the contrary. Therefore, it is conceivable that Facebook is where desire by its user, a forum where individual identity can become quite distorted.Thus, if one has selected Facebook as a means of obtaining information about a particular individualwhich is increasingly common in the cases of gathering public information, occupationally-based background checks or journalistic researc hthe presentation of Facebook as connecting to ones legal identity allows the provided information to be seen as valid information. Because this assumption is justified by Facebooks short history though not necessarily by its usersits service to the strategy of observing identity is somewhat questionable.QUOTE AN EXPERT ON THIS As online media theorists Ellison et al note there are clearly some image management problems experienced by students as reported in the press, and the potential does exist for privacy abuses, (p. 1166) Certainly, the(our) research indicates that there is almost an inherent aspect of Facebook which demands that the user construct himself or herself in such a fashion as to reflect the desired impression received by others. And certainly, this is an action at law which we? WHO?social interactants engage in socially on a moment-to-moment basis at school, at work or even at the train station. design management is a regular aspect of the way we communicate, int eract and otherwise engage social contexts. SOURCE? However, as technology author KelleyWHO IS HE? i Indicates Facebook users attempt to manage the impression others receive of them by guessing what their interpretation of their performance will be. The structure of Facebook limits the ways people can construct identities and so some users have to creatively modify their performance. (Kelly 13). The primary limitation with Facebook is its static nature in the context, at least in comparison to personal interaction. Undoubtedly, in the traditional context of socializing, we are in a unique position to observe rather than to simply guess how our impression management is received. Thus, we can alter identity perception in a matter of seconds. If one feels that his self-presentation in conversation has produced a misimpression, it is feasible to quickly alter ones conduct, verbal approach or some other quality by which interpretation is being gathered. SOURCE?(Koch, 319) In Facebook, on e is always seeking to establish an identity which is likely to promote the widest appeal to all observers, thus serving a more homogenized interest than personal impression management which occurs on an interaction-to-interaction basis. This gives one the opportunity to attempt to deduce a likely collective response, in which a social network is perceived almost as an audience amongst whom common interests or appeals must be identified. SOURCE? (Kock, 320) In this way, identity becomes a target-directed activity in Facebook, almost placing the user in a position of selling an identity to those in the network.This causes a distinct conflict concerning the image and identity management which one must generally commit to in order to scar professional, personal, social and intimate personas. The concern that Facebook may be observable to ones parent, employer or instructor enters into the discussion here. QUOTE SOMEONE, OR GIVE AN EXAMPLE Accordingly, looking at the amount of informa tion Facebook participants provide about themselves, the relatively open nature of the information, and the lack of privacy controls enacted by the users, Gross and Acquisti (2005) argue that users may be putting themselves at risk both offline (e.g. , stalking) and online (e. g. , identify theft). Other recent Facebook research examines student perceptions of instructor presence and self-disclosure. (Ellison, 1146) Indeed, one of the most repugn nuances of the social networking phenomenon is its variation of social networking by way of its changing of forums. (Ellison, 1146) IS THIS AQUOTE? NAME THE SOURCE It may not be accurate to refer to online networking as an extension of traditional social networking insofar as this context has the capacity to undermine or alter many implicit rules therein.Referring once again to the Hewitt and Forte study, one of the most pertinent examples of the difference here impliedIMPLIED is that individuals choosing to enter into the online communit y may do so without the types of informal cues, approaches and comforts pertaining to traditional social networking such as facial expressions, vocal intonations and even attire. SUCH A. S? Thus, it occurs that, in the case of university networks especially, susceptibility members can create Facebook identities and establish friendships with students. This inserts educational instructors into a vantage POINTpoint?to relate directly to studentsor perhaps more problematically, a vantage pointPOINT? from which to observe studentsnot previously afforded them. In consequence, there is a prospective sense amongst student social networks that some violation of unspoken social arrangement is facilitated by such networking. To this extent, the issue of ones selected identityfrom the perspective of student and expertnessmay well be altered strategically in reflection of the awareness that the other party is in a new position of direct observation.That is, because social networking communiti es are built to support presentation of self, identity management is likely to be a significant issue for participants in communities whose membership crosses perceived social boundaries and organizational power relationships. (Hewitt and Forte, 12) Indeed, it is not of a small degree of importance that there is a separate dynamic of power in the swerve between faculty and student that may be threatened by the merging of more inherently social contexts.Thus, as it is specifically concerns the issue of identity, this lieu raises the concern that intentional misrepresentation may be encouraged. SOURCE? EXAMPLE? Moreover, as we have identified the preference of activities for users such as the publicizing of events, the calling card of photographs and communication with peers, the concept that an instructor is watching is likely to have an inhibitive impact on the presentation of self. SOURCE? (Ellison, 1140) Similarly, the motives for an instructor to present ones self in this con text may be cause forinto GRAMMARspeculation as well, suggesting that an interest in observing students has been falsely underplayed in relation to the instructors interest in social engagement.. (Hewitt & Forte, 1)SOURCE? OR EXAMPLE? Though, Facebook does offer many privacy options which allow users to determine who can see what information posting within a profile, with regard to the issue of identity and presentation, such as the protection of age or the prevention of profile views from individuals outside of ones networkDESCRIBE THESE OPTIONS the deconstructionism of some social boundaries concerning such limitied factors as geogrpahyndaries SUCH AS?which have been purposefullyand in some instances usefullyestablished does have an impact on the validity of presented identities. Still, with the issue of identity thrust to the side, there is a notable value (which we can find) in this deconstruction of social boundaries. According to the Hewitt and Forte study, which in 2006 evalu ated student behaviors at the Georgia Institute of Technology, two thirds of the students surveyed in their research GIVE FULL DETAILS ABOUT DATES, PLACES, RANGE ETC reported that they are comfortable with faculty on the site.Positive comments tended to focus on the alternate communication channels afforded by the site and on the potential for students to get to know professors better. (Hewitt and Forte, 2) In this way, (quite) in fact, Facebook appears to offer a reconsideration of the dynamic between instructor and student which can actually provoke a positive social change. Without question, this interaction is allowing an educational intimacy (improbable)which would be otherwise improbable, with instructors finding a way to enter into a student realm outside of the classroom without necessarily imposing stratified demands upon students.FOR EXAMPLE? HAS THIS HAPPENED? These direct contradictions make it increasingly difficult to make a rigorous argument for certain that Faceboo ks current usage proclivities have achieved a cultural consensus in terms of sociological impact. That is, where this discussion has focused so significantly on the matter of identity management, there is good cause to suggest that normative behaviors are now only in their infancy.Only four years old, the remarkable sociological, technological and economic impact of Facebook is still being suppose during a continued phase of massive adoption proliferation. (Ellison, 1140)IS THIS A QUOTE? SOURCE? Therefore, it is uncertain how the near future will shape usage and identity considerations. And in many ways, this is a direct factor in the distortion of identity which is currently available, and perhaps even encouraged by the current Facebook model.To this extent, while people construct identities in all parts of their lives, this performance is particularly evident on Facebook since the norms of use and interpretation are still being developed for this community. This manifests itself in debates over Facebook etiquette, risks and user rules. (Kelley, 2) This is a set of debates which is still very much underway, and which presumes (for us) mesa future in which high adoption rates of Facebook will force continual discussion on the issues of identity here related. promise some resolution. N0T USRE WHAT THIS MEANS.WHY DO HIGH ADOPTION RATES NEED A RESOLUTION? Indeed, as the research here suggests, this resolution is likely to benefit the improved balance for the user of desired image presentation and the demand for accuracy, as it appears that the true social and interactive benefits of Facebook are realized thusly. Even as individuals attempt to manage impressions that benefit their social or image-based status, there is a determinable interest for many in constructing an identity which represents the aspects of ones life which will place them in useful and relevant social networks.It is therefore that we cconcluded deflect THE WE that there is a positive end in the proliferation of Facebook. Though it is clear that its early stages of development have presented a wide array of new and evolving considerations relating to privacy, social power dynamic and image management, there is nonetheless a direct value to honest representation in the social networking context that suggests this impulse will ultimately direct the further evolution of normative behaviors on Facebook and other online social networking communities. Works Cited Appadurai, Arjun. Modernity at Large.Cultural Dimensions of Globalization. University of Minnesota Press, 1996. Castells, Manuel. The Rise of the meshing Society. Blackwell Publishers, Massachusetts, 2000. Cockcroft, Lucy. Facebook loophole open to identity thieves. Telegraph. 5 January 2008. 27 April 2008. . Ellison, N. B. Steinfeld, C. & Lampe, C. (2007). The benefits of Facebook friends Social capital and college students use of online social network sites. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 12(4)., p. 1143-1168. Giddens, Anthony.Modernity and Self-Identity. Self and Society in the Late Modern Age. Polity Press, Cambridge, 1991. Facebook. Wikipedia. 28 April 2008. 28 April 2008. . Giddens, Anthony. Modernity and Self-Identity. Self and Society in the Late Modern Age. Polity Press, Cambridge, 1991. Hewitt, Anne and Forte, Andrea. Crossing boundaries Identity management and student/faculty relationships on the Facebook. Georgia Institute of Technology. 24 April 2008. 24 April 2008. http//www-static.