Tuesday, September 29, 2009

It Matters: Facebook and our Identity Crisis

Who am I? What am I? How am I supposed to go out into this world and search for...myself? What has preceded me? What will follow me? What is happening now? What is identity?

Today in class, we discussed the downfalls of modern technology. One strand of our discussion led us to debate the concept of Facebook-the social obsession that has drawn everyone into its grasp. I admit that I have also fallen into this trap; I also admit that I find this trap pleasant. Instant communication. Far-reaching connections. Addicting amusement. This tool befriends you, it learns, it anticipates, and it becomes an artificial likeness of yourself that isolates you from the world. Although we tend to focus on the obvious benefits of Facebook and other social networks, there is also a philosophical imperative we must answer to. In class, we scratched the surface of this topic by discussing how it ruins your identity.

A study done by the Royal College of Psychiatrists (http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/113878.php) explains how today’s newest generation of people are growing up with “a different and potentially dangerous view of the world and their identity.” This generation of people has never known a world without an online world to coexist with it also. Facebook alters the past functioning of the world. We now live a world where everything moves rapidly and constantly changes. We live in a world where relationships are quickly disposed with a click of a mouse. We live in a world where you can delete your profile if you dislike it. We live in a world where we can swap our identity for one that is more acceptable. What Facebook does is it diverts us from enjoying the real world. We come to think the real world is boring and uninteresting. Instead of attempting to buy our own farm in the real world, we resort to creating an online farm where we can grow artificial harvests. This young generation that has no experience of a world without online societies puts less value on real world identities. What is a friend? Someone you share a close bond with who comforts you through your troubles; someone who knows you almost better than you know yourself. No. According to these social networks, friends are generic people. Maybe you know them, or maybe you don’t. Maybe you’ve seen them once in your life, or maybe you’ve known them forever. These social networks make no distinction.

Relationships. What are they? Personal bonds formed over a long period of time. What is Facebook now doing? It is destroying the original purpose it was meant to do- to strengthen social connections. However, Facebook’s constant updates of others’ actions destroys the intimacy, the closeness, the actual relationship we form with people (http://gigaom.com/2009/04/08/facebook-population-200m-faces-an-identity-crisis/). Instead, Facebook floods us with a lot of white noise, with constant updates every second. It is less personal. It is less social.

Facebook includes multiple factors that destroy our identity. It divides us- it forms a gap between this generation and past generations. How important is the past? Should we care to imagine a world without online connections? Should we learn from a world so distant from us? This online world makes us oblivious to the world around us (http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4176/is_20090422/ai_n31577638/). For what used to require outside interaction can now all be done from within the home. Is there a need to travel to malls when we can shop on the Internet? Is there a need to talk to a person in real life when we can chat with them online? The smiles. The sound of laughter. The sarcasm that can only be heard in real life. Do these matter? Where has our personal interaction gone? Where are our face-to-face exchanges? We lose our identity when our Facebook profile is the person we want to be. Not who we are, but what we desire. This portrayal is not you, but someone else.

The class discussion we had matters because it is an ongoing issue. Technology is constantly updated, but do we ever stop to think about these philosophical questions? Yes, this blog refers to Facebook, but it extends beyond that. The knowledge I learned from our class discussion and these articles can spur change in the way we act. It isn’t impossible to change. The only thing that makes it a formidable challenge is it being a shift in our mindset. We must strive to personally interact with people. We must strive to make our identity the one that walks around the hallways at school, the one that converses with friends, the one that defines us. We have to learn that our identity is not our profile. In doing so, we will come to cherish the natural world. We will appreciate what it has to offer.

8 comments:

  1. I find this issue of Facebook very interesting.
    We've heard the statistics, listened to the 'online stalker' talks a thousand times over, and yet we all still log on consistently.
    I believe that Facebook is not the downfall of our society as is the opinion of a lot of adults these days. Sure, it's not the greatest thing that we've ever come up with, but I don't think it's going to seriously influence anything our generation does (or doesn't) do.
    It's just a tool that we use to stay connected with people and keep in touch with people we don't usually see. As long as you don't go crazy with it, Facebook is simply an amusing waste of time, like beach trash novels and dramatic TV shows.

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  2. I think that all of these observations are very astute, and quite philosophic. Seeing as how we had not started Sophie's World by the time this blog was due, I feel like this idea of Facebook as a social glitch can fit easily into the heart of the book: trying to figure out who we are, and our purpose in life, which are things philosophers have debated about over the years time and again.

    I think that this argument also adds to the one made about cell phones; how modern technology has made us lose our complete focus and make every possible attempt to divert our attention. I admit that as I write this, I have my Facebook page open in another window.

    I definitely agree with Darrell's final point; eventually almost everything will be come so technologically advanced that we will rarely see our friends outside the online world. And ironically, this supports an idea I had about school via Internet; if everyone got video cameras and turned in homework online (as half of it already is), class could be conducted from the comfort of everyone's homes and beds (no need to get up in the morning, just grab your computer).

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  3. Darrell I cannot help but agree whole heartedly with you on this issue. The technology today, thought it has its benefits, it really distorting the meaning of "Identity". Like you say Darrell, Facebook and other technologies are creating a virtual world in which you can easily alter your identity to your pleasure. This is a growing problem because identites are so easily created or changed it is hard to truly know who anyone is or what they stand for anymore.

    One point that you've made that I've seen made before is the point of how technology is destroying the art of communication. As Mrs. Bergmann, my 6th 7th and 8th drama teacher once said, "With all of this technology, our youth is in jeopardy of losing all arts of communication, like facial expressions, sarcasm, hand gestures, and any other added emotions". I begin to see what she means as now as I am talking to you, Darrell, on a lifeless, emotionless blog post. The way you say things is often more important than what you say. i.e. "Darrell you are so smart" am I being serious or sarcastic right now? Overall, I believe the loss of communication and the too simple way you can end relationships make friends, and define yourself with a couple clicks offsets the benefits of today's technology

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  4. This topic is very interesting. What is facebook really? A social network used to connect and reconnect with new and old friends? Or merely just a way of putting a mask on yourself? In my opinion, our generation is using facebook more as a way to put a mask on yourself.
    Just recently, my dad got himself a facebook. The way he uses his facebook is much different than the way I use mine. He is only friends with people he is close to, such as family members or old high school friends and he uses is it to communicate with others what is going on in each others life through wall posts and pictures. At first, I thought that the way he used his facebook was very odd. But then I thought about what facebook is, a social network, and maybe his way of using facebook makes more sense. He uses to communicate with only his closest friends and family. In our generation, I feel as though facebook is used as a self image. People our friends with everyone, even people they don't really know, they take pictures on their computer to find the prettiest one to set as their profile picture, and they add pictures from everything they do. Lots of people do use it as a better self image, a fake identity, to show everyone "who they are", or at least who they want to be.
    To me, I don't feel as though I am losing my identity to facebook. I like to think that my identity is strong enough that no facebook page or anything of that such matter can put a label on it, but there is definitely a interesting difference in the usage of facebook from generation to generation worth noting.

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  5. Everything you just said scares me. Although I don't have a facebook, I still understand everything you said in a personal way because at least I have a cell phone. Cell phones now are almost the same thing as Facebook, but in a very watered down version. People don't use cell phones to call anymore, rather we text people. I find texting useful and my phone bill could back me up. I can answer when I please and I can go back to see what I had said before, plus I can talk to more than one person at a time, but I don't really connect with any of them. I don't actually hear the person's voice and I find myself having a lot more courage and stamina when I don't have to say it in person or actually on the phone. Like Facebook, cell phones build a wall between the real you and someone behind a screen of any kind. I still want a facebook though. Grant it I haven't really seen my turnabout pictures yet and I can't talk to people over seas, I really really want one, but am I willing to risk building another wall in my personality? Great job Darrell!

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  6. Although I agree with what you say about facebook and other social networking sites destroying 'physical' relationships, one could say social networking is replacing physical relationships. However why is social networking NOT real? The people you communicate are real, so are the emotions displayed, as are your's when you read or hear something. Sure, some senses are missing, like smell, taste, etc. However, this only makes the 'facebook' reality somewhat less real, but as technology improves someday perhaps they will be equal realities, with the exception that in the internet reality you could be ANYTHING you want, and would be able to converse with ANYONE with the same benefits, emotions, and even chemistry as in the physical world.

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  7. Darrell, this was a pretty sweet post. It's a pretty scary view that we're headed into a world where we really don't know how to communicate with technology. Sometimes it seems like we can't even live without our computer or phone for a week, and that's pretty bad.

    I'd say that Facebook gives us a pretty unrealistic view of the world. It's like your entire life can be shown on one page, but that's not true. It means so much more to talk to someone and really learn about them, than it does to just look at their Facebook.

    There are really only a few solutions to that problem, and the idea of just completely eliminating technology is pretty ridiculous and not exactly the smartest one. I guess we just have to be careful to balance out our lives and make sure we don't use Facebook too much. We can use technology to our advantage as long as we don't let it control us.

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  8. Darrell: Like others, I really liked this blog post. The idea of virtual networks taking away the integrity of our social interactions is a valid thought that carries many potential consequences. I will not lie, I use Facebook regularly and don't see myself giving it up any time in the near future. As Pat said, the complete rejection of technology is not an entirely realistic or reasonable response; there is no perfect solution to this issue (Are there ever?).

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