Mandatory Facebook?

After three months of Facebook, I have mixed emotions about Fb and social networks in general. I was going to say that I'm glad they're not mandatory, 'cause I might get rid of my fb, but now that I think about it I'm not so sure they aren't kind of mandatory. That reminds me of a link I saw earlier this semester that someone else had posted that was 10 reasons why you should delete your facebook account. And then there was a follow-up story that was 10 reasons why you never will delete your facebook. The main reason was that you would be so behind with your friends you couldn't possibly delete it and stay anywhere near updated. I would agree with that, which is why I think it's basically mandatory to be on fb. If I want to keep up with anyone, or have a clue about events, I need to be on facebook. If we would have had one more paper for this class I would have written it on MZ and Facebook taking over the world. I think they have.Why? Because I'm on Facebook right now. And I don't even like Facebook anymore.

This article directly opposes my argument because the whole thing is a story about how much social transparency helped the author out of a rather sticky situation. I think it's great because its not some research article saying "this is why social transparency is great" but is instead just an average person's positive experience when social transparency saved her reputation. It really is a nice story, but I think it shows the idealistic nature of social transparency in general. Most people don't have their reputations restored via the internet. They more often lose their reputations there. So I don't think it's particularly plausible to say that because the author had a postive experience with social transparency we should assume it will be positive for everyone, or even form the better society MZ seems to think it will. http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=4&hid=111&sid=d907321e-aff9-4acb-b6bc-fd3b20fa8b24%40sessionmgr113&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=51469032

Privacy

Through the process of researching for my essay, I've become much more aware of the diversity of effects privacy has on society. That is my topic, and I'm trying to investigate the issues that stem from Facebook's privacy policies and the arguments concering these isues etc. (If anyone has any suggestions or opinions on this topic PLEASE let me know!!! I would be grateful for any and all input!) I think it's interesting though because privacy on facebook doesn't just have to do with keeping people safe from creepers and other such unsafe nuisances. As seen in the chapter in FBE on Privacy, it defines what our internet identities are, what the social norms for transparency have become, and, of course, there is the question of advertising (I feel like everything can be traced back to money, whether profit was the goal or not). If you guys have any opinions or thoughts about this please let me know!

Ads (or the lack thereof)

I have been dutifully watching my facebook page for ads which tell me that somebody I don't know knows way more about me than they should. But they haven't shown up yet. I get ads about advertising your business (which I don't care to do because I haven't got one), and then all sorts of boring things my friends like, like verizon wireless. I assume this is because I'm a boring person and hardly do anything on the computer, and I don't click like on everything that I actually do like on fb, so maybe they don't know too much about me. Or they just majorly picked up on the fact that I'm boring. Or they think I'm a computer illiterate lady who didn't post the year of her birth on purpose, and therefore the safest bet is boring stuff. Who knows. There are even a lot of days when there isn't a single ad on my facebook. I'm not complaining though. I prefer to keep it this way.  

An Interesting Letter to the Editor...

I found this Letter to the Editor article while doing some research for my paper today, and thought it was really intriguing. On the heels of what we've been reading in The Facebook Effect about the process of turning Facebook into a lucrative company, I found the writer's comment about the investors and advertisors peering through the windows of our relationships (such a good analogy. It's perfectly creepy) an interesting take on the business aspect of Facebook. While I don't consider this article to be a contradiction to what is supposedly Mark Zuckerburg's vision for Facebook (enhancing relationships), I do find the idea of facebook's advertisers intruding on our relationships to be thought-provoking.

3d#dbhttp://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?hid=18&sid=51fbdac0-7f92-4336-ba4a-1dd6b6f8bbcf%40sessionmgr12&vid=4&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=56684466=aph&AN=56684466

The Weekly Blog

I'll make this short and sweet, 'cause the sun is shining and it's actually semi warm, and I want to be outside! I'm sure many of you have seen this video, but it's funny, and Julian Smith is near and dear to my heart, and it's about facebook, and its something easy to comment on so... viola!
http://www.juliansmith.tv/2009/02/25-things-i-hate-about-facebook/

The Social Network Review

http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?hid=15&sid=f1d88ba3-d44f-4c62-bdbd-7a91ad83bff3%40sessionmgr15&vid=8&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=54323035