Reflect on the “Archiving our Facebook Selves” article on our syllabus (E-Reserves per Feb 26 reading) as you examine your own FB identity online through the content posted/shared over the last 8–12 weeks or so. Share your thoughts here as a comment in a couple of sentences responding to the following questions:
- How does Boyd and Ellison’s definition of a social network (SNS) (p. 26) apply to you FB experience?
- Explain Toffler’s idea of the “modular man” (p. 26, last para). To what extent do you think it reflects your relationships? Do you think you have met more people today than you would have if you were not on SNS’s?
- How do SNS’s modify our idea of a friendship? (p. 29). Giving examples from your FB usage, do you agree (or not) with Barry Wellman’s idea that “Computer-supported social networks sustain strong, intermediate, and weak ties that provide information and social support in both specialized and broad-based relationships…Computer mediated communication accelerates the ways in which people operate at the center of partial, personal communities, switching rapidly and frequently between groups of ties.” How so?
- The article finds FB (and perhaps, like our class example today, Tinder and Match.com) may be “changing the way that people create new relationships” (p. 32). Give an example supporting or refuting this from your SNS experience.
- Reflect on the article’s assertion that “FB allows an alternative contact medium which facilitates maintaining contacts with seemingly more people than before, such as old school and university friends who would have previously been lost as they move to different parts of the country, abroad, or take on new jobs.” (p. 35). What are your thoughts on the nature of such links and relationships and how these are different from old-times face-to-face village square relationships.
- (P. 35, last para) The authors say, “A ‘diary’ has two meanings–the first reflects the capability to store one’s contacts…The other provides a reflection of the individual’s life, e.g., a record of what they have been doing today, who with and why.” Comment on the dormant nature of our FB contacts and how it influences FB as a relational technology as “these contacts can be monitored and potentially reactivated” (p. 36). How is FB an archive of our lives?
Communication and Technology 
The article discusses using Facebook as a ‘diary’ or sorts and I don’t think my Facebook is as much of a diary as it may have been in the past. When Facebook first came out, or when I first got a smart phone, I posted on Facebook all the time; personal updates, what I was doing, who I was dating, etc. Now, the past 8-12 weeks of my Facebook are maybe 2 statuses and links that my mom has tagged me in. I hardly use it for posting but instead use it to follow other people’s lives. I agree that my Facebook definitely archives my old self, and photos of my current self, otherwise, its loosing a hold on me.
This study found that most Facebook users rarely interact with the majority of their Facebook friends. By looking at my own Facebook wall and news feed I can agree with those findings. My time line is filled with people that I have little to no contact with and I rarely even post directly to my Facebook friends. I generally use Facebook to read articles or look at peoples photos. With the emergence of Instagram I find myself using Facebook less and less.
While observing my recent activity on Facebook I have to say that there is nothing surprising. A lot of the time I do go on Facebook but I do not post anything. Right now I am looking at a post from March 5 and February 26. The only reason I posted on March 5 was because our team had to find a score keeper for our intermural basketball game so I decided to ask on Facebook. No one responded but fortunately we ended up getting one. I post about once a month if that. The most I do on Facebook would probably be change my profile picture about every two months. I do this so it is something new. It also depends on what stage I am at in my life. When I had a girlfriend I feel that I posted more pictures on my Facebook. Whenever we would go somewhere interesting, I would usually post a picture of that place. Some of my friends share stories on my Facebook time to time but it is never a lot. In my opinion I do not think Facebook reflects the person I am. Some information is accurate but I rarely update my site. My Facebook is also pretty clean because I know employers are going to look at it when I start applying for jobs. Overall, my Facebook is not a very good interpretation of who I am.
I find myself rarely interacting with other people through Facebook. I use Facebook now to see what other people are up to, read relevant articles, and look at pictures. I use Twitter and Instagram more than Facebook. My twitter feed reflects my person interests. I follow many of my friends who have similar interests as me, such as hanging out with friends, watching movies, and going out on the weekends. People seem to post along these topics a majority of the time on my timeline. I also follow celebrities whose tweets interest me, such as about food, clothing, or vacation spots. I think news feeds of your friends reflect you as a user, even if you don’t necessarily post yourself.
When completing this activity, I realized how little I actually use Facebook. When I do use it, it is most likely because I have received a notification on my phone. However, for the activity I went on the computer and scrolled through my feed. Half of my Facebook friends I am not really even friends with anymore, some of them I never was friends with them. I found that the posts I read were either complete nonsense that literally no one cared about, or huge life events such as getting into specific schools or programs. I have not posted status’ or wrote on walls in months. I do however use Instagram and when I do post a picture on Instagram, it is connected to my Facebook. Basically, after doing this I realized Facebook is way less popular than it once was.
The article talks about “what is friendshp?” over SNS such as facebook, twitter and MySpace. When you think about it, how many of your Facebook “friends” would you actually call a friend? Like would you meet one of them randomly and hang for a night and afterwards actually call them a friend. Most likely not. I remember when I had a Facebook years ago, i had over three thousand friends. I had honestly only talked to about 800 of them. It is horrible to have friends on SNS that you have never even met or even talked to in-person. I am not saying that everyone does it, but I am saying that we as a society should try to better understand things like SNS before we agree to things.
We all must remember where Facebook came from… MySpace. The adaption of Facebook was because it was the new popular thing to use. The following quote is from the reading. “I created a MySpace one when that was universal and MySpace wasn’t when Facebook was
limited just to universities and then once everyone went on Facebook it made my MySpace account fairly redundant. It became obvious very rapidly that more of my friends were on Facebook than MySpace so it didn’t seem worth keeping up two accounts.” And this is true. But I don’t think Facebook can get replaced. Over the past couple months, I haven’t posted anything. It’s not my cup of tea. I will definitely browse my news feed to see what’s going on, but not many people are on it anymore. The article also says for a SNS site to be successful, it must have members. Facebook has members! More members than you think. The older population has started to take over the Facebook site, and I think a new SNS could be in the near future that only allows college students or high school students. Personally, I’m over Facebook and SNSs. They’re only good for reconnecting with old friends now that texting has become so popular.
The article discusses the resistance, acceptance, and rise of Facebook. When I was in high school I was never interested in Facebook. My top priority was Myspace. I knew older people as I approached my senior year of high school who were in college and only used Facebook. To me it seemed like a college thing. I joined Facebook my freshmen year of college but never used it because I was still drawn to Myspace. Facebook was boring to me because it did not offer all the things that Myspace did. For instance, on your myspace page you could make your own background, put music on your page, and arrange you friends to who were most important to you, and in high school that was a huge deal. As I got older I started taking to Facebook more because Myspace started getting out of style and a tad bit childish. More people who I became friends with in college used Facebook and I liked to communicate with them on there. Then I got into the habit of making posts about a lot of things.
When I was in 5th grade my family had moved to Salisbury. After joining Facebook and getting used to how it worked I was able to look up old friends I grew up with a connect to see how they were doing and vice versa. On Facebook I became in contact with a lot of people. I never became in contact with people that I did not know though because talking with people that you do not know online just always seemed to be weird to me. I do not like the fan pages of celebrities but I do follow them on instagram just to be nosey in their lives.
I do agree that Facebook is a little bit of a biography. Facebook accounts ask you personal questions about yourself like your religion, date of birth, name, etc. but now Facebook asks more detailed questions like places you traveled or tv shows that you like. Facebook allows you to post what you are thinking but I do not think its as personal as Twitter. Like on twitter the point is to tweet everything your doing or feeling or thinking. On Facebook I believe its more of every now and then. Well some people post everything but not me. Looking at my timeline I post a lot of pictures of things I did with people and tag them or every now and then I will post a status about something I am thinking about. I may post something like once a week or once every two weeks but I am not nearly as faithful to posting things as compared to my friends. But I do check my timeline just to see what other people are posting everyday multiple times a day.
The article is about how people who use Facebook rarely interact with the people who they have made their friends. I know from my personal Facebook usage, that all the people that i have made as friends are rarely spoken to or acknowledged and vice versa. I read Facebook for techology articles, and current events and there are various groups I like to interact with that broaden my horizon.
1. Their definition applies to my Facebook experience because I have established a number of relationships with all kinds of people, but I rarely interact with any of them or inquire to what they are currently doing.
2. “In his configuration of identity, each individual can replace any other individual in society. Toffler addresses this formation in regards to employment—it can be see in the customer service ideal of the zero-training service model. Toffler goes further to address how modularity might affect the family lives. Toffler imagines a society in which families are also modular. Each member might be replaced by anyone.” If I were not on a social networking site, I do not think I would have met the same amount of people that I did currently.
3. Social Networking Sites modify a friendship by taking away the face to face interaction that people take for granted in their daily lives. I believe that this reflects my current relationships to the tee. I enjoy talking to people without having to actually look for them, and that is where social networking sites come into play. I agree that computer mediated communication does accelerate communication in more personal communities because it allows you to respond to more people at a time.
4. I agree that sites like Match.com and E harmony are changing the way people make relationships. I know with my own experiences with Facebook and Twitter involved people connecting on more of an emotional level as opposed to physical. Without seeing the person react to what you say, you go by the emoticons and use of strong vocabulary words.
5. I agree that Facebook does allow people across the world to connect with people in other regions, and through that allows these people to develop a less or more meaningful relationship rather than a face to face interaction. My thoughts on these kinds of links are that they can hurt a persons chances of ever leaving their homes again, as well as deter their chances of ever establishing any real relationships in the regular world.
6. The dormant nature of all of our friends online, reflects the fact that Facebook is a means of relational technology because you can keep your friends as long as you want, and choose to spark up a conversation whenever. The fact that these friends will remain although you do not contact them shows this website as an archive of life. You can see the things you have done and people you have talked to in your timeline and where you want to go in the world.
1. My facebook is a semi public profile within a bounded system. Mostly everything is private except for a few pictures and posts. I have a list of friends, all my FB Friends, with whom I share a connection with and allow to view my FB fully.
2.The modular man is when people plug into a module of personality instead of entangling with the whole man. A few years ago I think it would apply more, but now that FB is not as popular as it used to be I think it less effective. However, I do think that it helps to meet people.
3.SNS’s modify our idea of friendship in subtle ways. There is a fine line between who is just a “FB friend” and who is a “real friend”. However, SNS’s do make easier to meet more people and to communicate with someone you might not normally, for example: by commenting on a picture. A lot of “FB friends” comment on your posts.
4.SNS’s such as Tinder and Match.com are changing the way that some create new relationships. Instead of meeting someone at a restaurant or through a mutual friend, all you have to do is download the app and you’ve found a new hookup.
5.SNS’s definitely make it easier to stay in touch with old friends and reconnect. However, it is not the same as it would be if it were face-to-face contact. Facebook is a medium in which many people portray or want to portray their life in a certain way. So, what you see may not be completely accurate, and the only way to know for sure would be through face-to-face contact. It is a medium in which everyone can stay in touch, but you can only know as much as you can see.
6.FB is an archive of our lives, for some, because for many it is used as a diary. Many people post their every move and thought as their status. Also, however, some do not. So it depends on how much you want the FB world to know vs. how much you don’t want them to know. It is a relational technology in the sense that it keeps friends up to date on your life, however, as stated in the question above, it is an archive of what you want and how much you want known publicly, and that differs from person to person.
1. The authors definition of a social network doesn’t exactly match up with mine. I have friends from all over the place but my profile is private. I don’t like showing my private information on the internet.
2. The “modular man” is when people plug into a module of emotions instead of engaging what comes with the whole man. I thick this is still very affective because so many people still use Facebook to this day. Its just not as new and popular.
3. SNS modify a friendship by taking away the face to face interpersonal communication that people take do everyday in life. But we all know who our real friends are, not in cyberspace. It definitely helps connect people all over the world and helps them meet more easily.
4. I agree how sites like match.com and tinder are changing the way people meet. It is definitely not the same as gutting to know someone with real life interaction.
5. I do agree how Facebook makes it so much easier meet people around the globe.These relationships are definitely less meaningful but fun to have. You can meet some cool people through similar interests on Facebook. I think Facebook is just a medium though the way people can keep in touch. Not a real life relationship.
6.FB is really a journal that shows a timeline throughout our lives depending on how involved you are with it. It shows friends from years ago who I forget about sometimes, shows places I’ve been around the world. I think its great how it keep people up to date on certain peoples lives. I just don’t relate to this too much because I was never too big on the social network scene.
1. My Facebook profile is super private. I try to make it as private as possible although i do not go on Facebook very often so it is not that big of an issue. This being said the author’s definition doesn’t exactly match up with how my Facebook profile is.
2. The modular man is when people plug into a module of personality instead of entangling with the whole man. With the amount that people are engaged in social media i feel this applies today because people act differently then how they would in front of an actual person. They say things through the internet when all they are is a profile that they would never say in person.
3. I definitely think examples like tinder and match.com are changing the way people meet. Now people can meet on tinder and its soley based on how they look, at first. Now a days the computer can even do it for you, you don’t even have to start a conversation.
4. SNS’s definitely take away the social aspect of communicating and i hate this. I am not a big fan of having conversations through the computer. It’s hard to really understand what the person is saying and people are starting to lose their ability to actually interact face to face which will cause huge problems in the future. It is hard to have a conversation with someone today without them looking at their phone while you are talking to them.
5. SNS’s definitely make it easier to contact with people around the world. For example i can connect with some of my family in Florida and they can see what I’m doing through my pictures. I do believe though that this takes away the social aspect and with this it serves as a platform that they feel that they don’t even have to contact me anymore because they’ve seen it all on my Facebook page.
6. FB is definitely an archive of our lives like a journal. It is for me in the sense that all of my picture document my trip abroad. Without this i wouldn’t have anymore to show anyone albums of everything i did in different countries. You can show however much you want by changing your privacy settings and this is basically all i use my Facebook for.
1.Boyd and Ellison’s definition directly correlates with my Facebook experience. Basically, they describe it as a public/semi-public profile within a system that has users with whom they interact with. My profile is semi-public in the sense that people who are not my friends can only see my profile pictures and basic information. Whereas, my friends are able to see my posts and can make comments.
2.Toffler’s idea of modular man comes from new technologies, urbanization and changing work patterns that ultimately changes relationships. Instead of doing all of these things at once, people take this “Modular Man” one module at a time. I think that without this, relationships would be extremely different. One hundred percent I think that I would not know as many people if it were not for social networks.
3.SNS’s modifies our idea of friendship because it can be hard to tell what things are factual. Likewise, they have created their own vocabulary in the sense that “they’re not my real friends, they’re my Facebook friends”. For the most part, I do agree with Barry Wellman’s statement. SNS’s definitely can help maintain relationships because it can bridge distance gaps and things like that. It facilitates the process of not only connecting with others, but with organizations and reaching a wide variety of different things.
4.Facebook and other things such as Match.com and Tinder definitely are evolving the way relationships are made and even maintained. People used to meet others by seeing them somewhere and striking a conversation. Now, you decide if you want to form a relationship with someone by what you see on a network page. We are taught to not judge a book by its cover, but that is basically what we are doing with these new apps and websites we are using to develop new friendships or romantic relationship. Another example would be Instagram. The explore page shows pictures of what your current followers have recently liked. You can click on it because all of those pictures on that page are from public profiles, and you too can then like the picture or direct message them.
5.I completely agree with that statement. It can be very difficult to stay in touch with someone who is only twenty miles away when you so much going on in your life such as a job and a family. Moreover, people are always moving after school to start their careers and lives so many times people will end up in different states than their friends. Facebook allows you to see what is still going on in someone’s life without necessarily talking to him or her because you can see his or her recent posts. It’s asynchronous because no one needs to respond to messages or comments right away, you can take your time to think and then respond.
6.Facebook is an archive of our lives because it keeps a timeline of what you are doing with your life. When pictures are post it says the date and you can tag people in it. At the end of the year, it will let you see the highlights of what you did the previous twelve months. Although you are not always interacting with each of your Facebook friends, you can still go to someone’s profile whenever and see what they have done lately. If someone you haven’t talked to in a while comes up on your news feed, you can just quickly message him or her and reconnect.
1. Boyd and Ellison’s definition of SNS does relate to my experience with Facebook. But with Facebook I am only friends with people who I have met before in person and my profile can only be seen by people whom I have accepted as a “Friend”… because they are my friend and I know them. I don’t use Facebook to find random people that are like myself which is the impression I got when I read their definition.
2. Toffler’s idea of the “Modular Man” is that with these new technologies we can act like who ever we want to be because the communication isn’t face-to-face. I don’t generally use social media to make relationships so it’s hard for me to relate to this. If I didn’t have SNS’s I would still have met the same number of people because I have never met a random person online.
3. In general people are using SNS’s to make or build friendship. With my Facebook experience, when I first made an account I used it all the time to communicate with friends but rarely ever use it now.
4. I support that people are using SNS’s to create new relationships. Tinder for an example is basically a Hot or Not app that people are trying to meet solely on looks and a small caption that I don’t think anybody reads.
5. I agree with that statement because I only use Facebook to keep in touch with friends that I met before in person but it make its easier to stay in touch with friends because friends move and become more busy.
6. Facebook has become an archive over time because people still use it and haven’t gotten over it. I’m over it but I haven’t deleted it yet because there hasn’t been a reason for me to do so. This still allows me to look at posts and pictures from years ago that were put on Facebook. Myspace could’ve been an archive as well but everyone deleted it.
1.I remember when I was in middle school and Myspace was the “thing” but I know how excited I was to get into high school so I could finally get myself a Facebook and as soon as I graduated from middle school I made one. I feel like it used to mean more when someone would request to be my “friend” or accept my friend request on FB. My Facebook is set to private but anyone can see my profile pictures and the basic stuff on my profile.
2.Social networks have almost always been a part of my generation. These day you can follow people on twitter or Instagram or add friends on FB that you may not know personally and it’s completely normal. I think the Modular Man basically claims there does not need to be a face to face interaction to develop a relationship with someone whether you know the person beforehand or not. There are a large chunk of people I have met because of these social networks and my relationships have definitely grown because of these social networks.
3. People have become so sensitive on not just FB but social networks in general. If you unfriend someone on FB it’s a big deal. If you want to prove to someone how you feel about them, you can unfriend them and send a clear message. Friendships can be negatively affected on FB simply by a status or a picture being posted. There may be other social networks used more often by this generation, but FB still has a major affect on the social network scene. Back in high school we used to list best friends as family members. It was almost required. If you aren’t a friends on FB are you actually friends? I do agree with Wellmen’s idea.
4.Online relationships used to be a taboo, rarely heard of. No one wanted to admit they met someone online, but it has become common and comfortable for people to openly admit to meeting someone on Tinder. Some will claim romantic relationships are easier online because you don’t have that awkwardness. Also you can find close to what you’re looking because of their looks or personality or “bios”. However romantic relationships can be difficult because it’s so easy for a person to pretend or lie. I have a friend who has been with her boyfriend for almost 6 months and their relationship started because of Plenty of Fish. I’ve actually made some good friends from tinder or twitter just because we maybe tried for a connection and our friendship level just worked out better
5. Facebook allows for a type of contact that used to not be available. People are not only able to keep contact, but they can also reconnect with old friends, past coworkers, fellow students, teachers, family, and so much more! Face to face relationships are not always possible especially when distance is an issue. No longer do people have to be disconnected because of being “too far a part”. You can still be a part of a person’s life by not only phone.
6. Facebook is kind of set up as a timeline of a person’s life. You can post pictures, comment on a person’s wall, create your own status, and FB lets you scroll back as far as you can to look through the interactions you’ve made. You could lose hours on FB re-reading old messages and scrolling though pictures you were tagged in. You can almost watch yourself grow up and take notice in the difference from when you first started your FB until now. You can see the types of relationships you developed and how you interacted with each other within those relationships.
1.) My profile is more private so it doesn’t necessarily go by their definition. I have all my photos and posts private.
2.) The modular man is a person who uses a module of emotions instead of interacting with the whole man. I think this affects people today because many people use the same social networks and our culture is more in tuned with each other, so people go off of the standard belief/module of emotions. I think I would not have met as many people on if I were not on social networks.
3.) SNS modify our thinking of who is a friend by anyone who you generally know. There aren’t many people you know that you will deny their friend request, but having a good conversation is something most people only have with real friends. I agree with this statement mostly, because most younger people use SNS for this, and associating with different groups. Other older people however don’t really have as many groups they stay in touch with or follow, the same goes for younger people who are on social media but don’t use it as much. Some only use SNS for one purpose, not “switching between groups” all the time.
4.) These are certainly changing the way people create new relationships. It gives people a different platform to connect with others, instead of a public place. I am more inclined to go out and talk to people in person because I find it more engaging, but other people like to use these as different starting points.
5.) My thoughts on the linking of these relationships is that it is so important to people who are far away and need to still talk to a friend through a SNS or online in any way. I can not imagine moving to a new state and saying goodbye to friends. There was always a phone call, but that is much harder to set aside time for. Bottom line- it is a game changer.
6.) The dormant nature of our facebook contacts can be quite helpful, as it is formal, yet informal at the same time. These dormat contacts influence our relations with others, being a kind of resource for people to always have if they need to message someone personally, or just a post for everyone to see. FB is an archive of our lives because it contains personal and non personal thoughts, interactions with friends, job statuses and photos, everything in an online journal. Ultimately however, it is an archive of whatever you make it.
1) I keep a tight profile—Facebook privacy to the extreme. However I do not regularly visit Facebook. Thus the author’s definition doesn’t entirely apply to my experience with the site.
2) The modular man—Toffler’s idea—comes from new technologies, urbanization, changing work patterns, and thus relationships. People take the modular man one simple module at a time, instead of doing all things at once. Without the modular man, interpersonal relationships would differ greatly. I would not be quick so well-networked otherwise I am sure.
3) SNSs are used generally to make or build friendships. I frequently used my first Facebook account to communicate with friends. However now I do this rarely.
4) Online relationships have transformed from taboo to common. Are intimate interactions easier online? Perhaps. Without physical content there is less potential awkwardness. One drawback of this is the potential for deceit. I have made acquaintances through the use of SNSs and in some cases the use of SNSs benefitted the relationship (i.e. long-distance, awkward interpersonal interaction, etc.).
5) Long-distance relationships may rely on SNSs—the online linking of these relationships is crucial. Imagine moving away from your friends and loved ones. What will be easier for communication? Finding time to make a phone call or finding time to send an instant message? SNSs win every time.
6) People use Facebook to day and have for years. We are used to Facebook now. Plenty of users are “over-it” a.k.a. deactivate their pages, but they exist forever(?) Thus Facebook is an archive of our times.
My Facebook is primarily used for my families purposes. I do not use it to impress my friends or use it for false insecurities like most people and young kids that are on social media now a days. My last few posts were pictures that were linked through instagrams. It’s a great way to let my family know I’m still alive and doing okay. Though thinking about how I use to use it makes me realize how times change all the time. Facebook use to be so popular and the “cool thing” but not it’s something that I could really care less about, it’s just something to keep all my family informed at once.
1. I think that the definition of the internet the author describes is correct when relating to the internet being a vehicle which individuals and communities can use to associate and develop social capital. In my experience social capital can only be earned now a days with the support of social media.
2. I think that from a social networking sense social media, specifically Facebook has had a huge impact on my social relationships with people. An example of this is meeting acquaintance you would like to know better. If you find a mutual friend with an individual you can communicate with this person as opposed to maybe never seeing finding them again with the use of conventional networking.
3. Social media makes it extremely easy to communicate with anyone who is considered your friend online. These people may say things online that they would not say to someone’s face individually; therefore, making the online friendship something that should be taken less seriously. An example of this is through online arguments among your friends. It’s a much bigger deal online to verbally “fight” than it would be with a simple face-to-face interaction. Befriending online hurts much more than a real friend walking away.
4.I agree with the idea that people are using SNS’s to create new relationships. Tinder’s Hot or Not features help people meet solely on physical appearance with little verbal engagement. To me this kind of social relationship interaction does not work for the benefit of myself or others.
5. I think that Facebook offers the ability for old friends to meet or reconnect much easier online. The searching features the site offers makes this all possible. With just normal means of networking an individual would have to rely on trying to find their old friends either with phone books, records, or word-of-mouth research. This could often lead to dead ends or result in unsuccessful searches due to frustration or confusion.
6. Facebook helps to archive of our lives by it keeping timelines of what you are doing with your life. Posting things like pictures says the date and you can tag people in it to help keep interactions with your friends and family. At the end of the year the highlights of what you did or in the previous months can all be found. Although you don’t always have to interact with people in posting on Facebook, you can track someone’s activity on their profile whenever to see what they have done lately. If someone you haven’t talked to in a while comes up on your news feed, you can just quickly interact with that individual and reconnect.
1. I agree with Boyd and Ellison’s definition. My Facebook is semi-public so that people I am not friends with can’t see my whole page. However I do monitor what I post and what others post on my wall so that it does directly represent me.
2. The modular man is seen as the changes in how we now communicate. A lot if not most of your interactions with some people may be strictly online or through cell phones. I prefer face-to-face communication so this doesn’t affect my relationships as much as it does other peoples however I understand this idea and can see how it is useful. Keeping long distance relationships has become much easier. I do not think I have met more people because of SNS’s but I do think I know a lot more about people because of SNS’s.
3. I believe that Facebook has coined this term “friends” and therefor that has changed how some people view friendship. Now even with Twitter, you could follow someone and know things about them but does that mean you are friends? I believe my Facebook usage would go in support of Barry Wellman’s ideas. Facebook group events help me connect with friends I don’t see on a day-to-day basis.
4. For this one I am going to go off of my experience with my mom’s experiences on Match.com. My mom has seriously dated a few men that she has met through Match.com. When she started using the site it was very difficult for her to understand how she was possibly supposed to meet someone through the internet but as time went on and she became more comfortable and experienced with this online dating phenomenon she was willing to accept it more. I think for someone my moms age to be getting involved in SNS supports that we are changing in how we build relationships.
5. I completely agree with this part of the article. This is what I use SNS’s for most. I love that Facebook allowed me to stay closer with family and friends back in Baltimore when I moved to Salisbury to attend college. It made the transition that much easier for me, and everyone else. Twitter and Instagram, because I only downloaded these apps once I was in college, allow me see how friends I met freshman/sophomore year but didn’t stay in contact with are doing. All of my SNS’s combined allow me to stay in constant contact and keep up with the lives of friends I don’t see everyday.
6. Facebook is an archive of our lives because it had pictures and thoughts and things we are interested in all in one place. Also, it is an archive because we can never fully delete this information off of the internet. I love looking back in time on my Facebook to old photo albums. Recently I downloaded another app called TimeHop and it allows you to see what you posted on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram on that day as far years back as you’ve been using these apps. It is basically like going through an old diary and seeing what you wrote about in years past. I love using Facebook for this feature.
My facebook is semi-private. So for the people who are my friends they can see my posts, but if you are not my friend then you must send me a friend request in order to see anything on my wall or my pictures. The modular man is seen in how we now communicate with people. I personall prefer face to face encounters, but today in society social networking sites, or text messages have become necessary in order to reach people. Facebook has definitely helped with building friendships because even if you cannot see a person as often you can atleast go online and keep up with what’s going on in people’s lives.The author states how Facebook is related to a “Diary.” I would have to agree to a certain extent that I do use my Facebook to share posts about certain things that are on my mind. But I would have to ultimately disagree because a diary is used as a way for a person to express themselves privately. I don’t post personal information that I don’t want people to know about.
FB Selves Archive
1. The definition of social networking sites relates to my experience with facebook because I have a vast amount of relationships and connections but it is never about the actual status of what they are doing at that particular moment. It is more about checking in to see what they have been doing.
2. Idea of modular man is when people plug in to a module of personality instead of the whole man. This reflects my relationships more so in the past than it does now. I think that I have met more people today because of social networking sites because, I see people who are mutually friends with my friends and if we are out it gives us the chance to say oh you know so and so and create a friendship that way. It also, gives you the chance to meet people you never would have. It does however present more dangers in society.
3. Social networks modify our idea of friendship because; we as a society take offense to not getting comments from certain friends etc. I agree with Wellman’s idea
4. I agree with this statement because, we had to branch out and meet more of our classmates using different social networking sites.
5. This is something that I find to be true because, before my grandmother made a facebook she maybe talked to one or two people from high school, but now she is coming in to contact with so many more of her classmates.
6. I am probably friends with over 2,000 people on facebook, but I probably only know about 300 of them, and of that 300 probably only know 150 of them personally. I think when you first get a facebook you want to be friends with everyone. I literally talk to no one on facebook except my family. I think the dormant nature of not talking to anyone is the next step of the evolving nature of the internet. Facebook is becoming obsolete in my opinion. I am happy that I have pictures from everything on facebook and I can go back and look at stuff from 2009.