Facebook

Facebook. We are learning about Facebook in University. Seriously? Is this for real? Did I really pay $1000 to learn about Facebook and a 'global village'? I'm starting to get concerned!! I mean it's easy which is good this time of year because of all these papers coming due but honestly I pay big dollars to exercise my brain at University and I just don't feel I'm learning anything worth learning, at least not this week. Maybe I just chose the wrong class to take but I don't think I need to know about Facebook and global connectedness.

I'm sorry, it's harsh but a blog is created to speak ones mind and that is on my mind.

So Questions for the week. No film, just tons of youtube videos that are irrelevant to this blog. The first question: When everybody becomes totally involved with everyone, how is one to establish identity?

This question is absolutely ridiculous! I think it is stating that because Facebook has status updates and pictures and wall posts etc. which allow us to know everything about all our Facebook friends that we cannot be individuals. This is VERY false. Just because we are able to know everything about everyone does not mean we can't still develop and become our own person. This question is saying that social networks stop us from establishing identity. Is this because we don't have face-to-face interaction? But we do. We only talk on Facebook when we are not able to have face-to-face interaction. So what does this question mean? We can't establish identity because we know everything about everyone? We become so involved with everyone else's lives on social networks that we forget to establish our own identity? I don't believe that. I use Facebook as my social network and I have an identity. Just because I can be updated with all my friends whereabouts and feelings does not mean I don't know my own feelings or whereabouts. Maybe I am reading this question wrong but this is what I get from the question and I do not agree with the assumption.

Second question: Discuss McLuhan's 'global village' as related to digital media like the internet. What are the implications - positive & negative - of this connectedness (of Canadians to one another & the rest of the world) on Canadian identity?

McLuhan's 'global village' is online social networks that connect the world. McLuhan uses the example of Facebook to discuss Canada's ability to stay connected with each other. I discovered in my seminar when covering the reading that the whole world does not use Facebook so therefore it is not a GLOBAL network. However, Facebook does connect a large part of the world together. Facebook is available to 75 different languages, however Facebook is not the first choice for a social network in all countries. One of the students in my seminar is from Brazil and I don't recall what social network he uses in his home country but he said it was not Facebook, therefore Facebook cannot connect the entire global world together.

The positive aspects of Facebook for Canadians only - we can connect to friends and family in different provinces or in different countries FOR FREE. People complain that Facebook is impersonal compared to the phone but it is free. Especially with the economy in the shitters and everyones bills going up in price, Facebook is the way to go in order to stay in touch with love ones that are at a distance.

The negative aspects of Facebook for Canadians only - when talking to friends and family wither on Facebook chat or on their walls, somethings can come out the wrong way and there could be a misunderstanding in the meaning of a message. Because Facebook is a way to stay connected in a written format, certain things a person can write can be taken the wrong way. For example I could write, as a joke, something rude on my friends wall and her friends would not understand my sarcasm and think I was rude. Or just talking to a friend in general in Facebook chat, I could say something and they might not understand what I mean. The problem with Facebook is that others cannot see your emotions and could misinterpret you.

But there is also social networks, like Skype which is like MSN only it is a webcam interaction, where emotion can be portrayed and the problem of misinterpretation can be avoided.

My personal thought is that Facebook is a great way to interact with friends when you are not able to have face-to-face interaction. Social Networks, life Facebook, allow friendships to blossom and grow whether the people live in the same neighbourhood or in a different country. With this economy, it is a blessing to have social networks like Facebook available to the public for free, in order for people to save money on phone bills or travel expenses etc.