In his chapter “The Contours of High Modernity”, Anthony Giddens discusses the reflexive nature of modernity. Under the conditions of modernity –fast paced communication, technological change, distrust, doubt and risk – “the self becomes a reflexive project” (32). Modernity is characterized by an obsession with the self, something that needs to be found, assessed, reformed, understood and continually reinvented. Ironic, that in a world where it is so easy to connect that people have seemingly never felt so lost. So where and how does one situate “the self” on the global scale?
I can make a number of connections to Facebook. Facebook promotes the self as a reflexive project in the sense that users are required and encouraged to construct an identity, and to continually build upon that identity. Post your best picture, untag the ones you hate, fill out “what’s on your mind?”, decide what you “like”, “write something about yourself”, sort through your friends, your groups, your events. If Facebook isn’t telling you what constitutes your online identity, your fellow users are by their comments, their “liking”, their “reporting”, their “tagging” and sometimes they even confront you in real life, harassing you to post your most recent photos. Part of Facebook’s success is that everyone is wrapped up in everyone else’s identity construction and thus who you are on Facebook is dependent upon others, as the photos that they post or the comments they write help to construct your image.
Facebook also leads to the second major feature of mediated experience in modernity: “the intrusion of distant events into everyday consciousness” (Giddens 27). I’m not just talking about that “*Awkward Years! LOL!*Good Times in Middle School!! Heart Symbol!” album that your friend made, but rather how Facebook allows you to experience things that you wouldn’t normally every day, like knowing where that girl you went to camp with once went for reading week, or knowing that Mike is “at the library” without having even spoken to him. But even more so, Facebook, under the conditions of modernity, constructs a reality instead of mirroring it. Is your online self the real you? The social you? The photoshopped you? Did that picture capture a spontaneous moment or did you create it? Facebook allows for one to situate “the self”, but to what extent?
As Jacob Scheier asks, are users addicted to the voyeuristic aspects of Facebook, or to the continuous reinvention of our online selves? Are we committed to maintaining our online friendships, or dedicated to preserving our consistent, reprogrammable, controllable online self? Step into hyper reality, where a daily dose of Facebook is sure to cure your modernity malaise.
I can't figure out how to link things! Here's the short piece by Jacob Scheier:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nowtoronto.com/news/story.cfm?content=161754
Is it possible to edit posts? I'm really embarrassed that I wrote Facebok in the title...ugh!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the connections you made between Facebook and self-identity. Until this program, I had never really thought about Facebook in terms of how one constructs their "self". The connections you make between photos and their comments are very true. I admit, I have to think about which photos I choose to put on Facebook and which ones I keep to myself. It is a way of choosing which "self" I want to show others in order to construct a particular identity. The comments on the photos themselves are also interesting in terms of their impact on self-identity. Even though you cannot determine what others will say in their comments, you unconsciously (maybe sometimes consciously) use their judgements to view yourself or at least try to see yourself as they see you. Moreover, now, I have a sudden urge to go back through old pictures and see what the comments/reactions were of "good times" and "awkward years"! Hopefully I have "self-reflexed" appropriately so it appears as though I've made some progress!
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ReplyDeleteTo attempt to answer some of the questions posed at the end of your post; are users addicted to the voyeuristic aspect of Facebook or reconstruction of online selves? I think aspects of both are important to users.
ReplyDeleteI untag first year (Freshmen 15) photos because I do not want those surveying me to see anything but my "best self." I do not disclose my dire love of Pokemon as an interest because surely others will not see this as an attractive or admirable trait. I also think users enjoy the idea that they are being watched, we become insta-celebrities based on the amount of photos we have, friends we have, and birthday wall posts we receive.
At times, we use Facebook as a means of interacting with good friends who have moved away, are studying abroad, or who we can not access readily. Those of an older age group appear to be using Facebook more so for the aforementioned reason than to solidify or create a "cool mom" online persona.
Interestingly, the other day I performed an annual "Facebook Purge" where my mantra was "If I had no idea you are married, had a child, are divorced, or live in a foreign country...we probably ought not be Facebook friends." 68 Facebook friends cut from the team later, I have begun to look at the site more so as a means of interaction than self-promotion
Thanks for you comments ladies! Yes, I think that the majority of Facebook users don't really think about the construction of their online identity, or consider what it means to be part of Facebook. For a website that has over 70 million users, I feel that it's important to question its popularity. What makes people keep coming back? There must be something more powerful at work there than simply staying in contact with friends. Marie, your comments reminded me of a few things.
ReplyDeleteFirstly, the "celebrity" aspect of Facebook is absolutely relevant. I will use my younger sister as an example, who spends a great deal of time editing photos with different color accents and what not, but also adding a song lyric or a title to her photos (we've all seen the edited photos with the "insert quote here" overlaid text right?). I find this behavior to be extremely interesting, as users are essentially mimicking magazine advertisements or album covers and are situtaing themselves as the celeb subject. However, this celebrity imitation may only be specific to North American culture, where everyone seems to know more about Justin Bieber than politics - that is to say, where there is a huge emphasis on celebrity worship.
Secondly, Marie, as you bring up your annual Facebook Purge, it supports the idea of Facebook as a ritualized experience. We engage in ritualized behavior with Facebook in a number of different ways, from when or why we upload certain photos, when we decide to update our status or change our "about me" section, or when we decide to eliminate Facebook friends.
In terms of ritual, Facebook of course also makes users feel as if they are part of a community, the same sort of feeling you get when reading a newspaper. Yesterday I asked my students why they don't consider reducing their Facebook friends list to around 25 people. They insist that they want to "be in the know" and have the option to visit different pages. I guess kind of like the newspaper, even though you don't read every section, it doesnt mean that youre going to only grab the front page. While older users may use Facebook in a different way, they may still be craving, like the younger users, Facebook's ritualized aspects - like being part of a larger community - and by having even joined the network is a testament to that.