Facebook

I just did an informal media enthnography study on the use of Facebook. I found this video on YouTube as an after thought, and I posted it mostly because I appreciate a good silly song. What this video portrays some common complaints people have about frequent users of facebook--namely, I think, the point that facebook users no longer have to be physically present to feel like they're being social and making friends. They can instead log on to this virtual social world and become "friends," a friendship based more often than not on the fact that two people know each other rather than any type of emotional significance. While I think this is certainly a real aspect of some people's Facebook Culture, I think it's only one side of the coin.

I interviewed one of my friends, a self-proclaimed frequent user, about her habits, her thoughts, and her overall experience with Facebook. I found that she is part of a completely different Facebook Culture, one that I think is more common than the one portrayed in the video. Mostly, Facebook isn't a replacement for seeing people face-to-face for her-- rather, it's an extension of socializing that makes it easier for her to keep in touch with people and schedule social events. The features she says she most appreciates and uses on her profile are photos, the wall, her courses, events, and work info. She frequently uses the "Events" feature to set up gatherings-- anything from an outing to a bar on a Friday night to attending a senior recital with her fellow music majors. For her, sending out the event to people is in addition to actually talking about it with people and doesn't replace the interaction of inviting someone to something. She says that it's just a good way to make sure everyone has the same information-- the when, where, what time, etc. Also, she likes that you can post pictures in albums and associate them with certain events or times. For similar reasons, she's also a member of several "groups." The "group" feature on Facebook is interesting, because it seemingly serves no purpose whatsoever. When I asked her about why she chooses to accept membership into some groups and not others, or why she sometimes create groups herself, she said she uses her groups to reflect who she is. She doesn't think about it in terms of what other people will think of her, though it seems likely that some users probably do think about it in this way, but rather, she uses photos and groups and events as a record of what experiences she's had and what she associates herself with. For example, she's a member of "Students against U of M Students that Wear Badgers Crap." What's the point of this? "Nothing," she says, "but it's just so true. I hate when people walk around with stupid big red Wisconsin shirts!" I think for her, Facebook is a tool that merges socializing, self-expression, and entertainment. If you think about it, that can be said for a lot of other things that don't take as much flack as Facebook does. What's the outside of a refridgerator door for, for example? People write in their schedule on calendars, post phone numbers of people they need to call, invitiations they need to reply to, and stick up pictures, comic strips, and quotes that mean something to them. Socializing, self-expression, and entertainment... okay, it's a stretch, but perhaps we could start thinking about Facebook as an interactive, online refridgerator door instead of dismissing it as a tool for non-social stalkers.