Social networking sites such as Myspace and Facebook can be used as tools to enhance our communication. We use these sites to interact with friends and family. You will be hard pressed, in today's society, to find an adult who does not have an account on either one of these social networking sites. When Myspace started to gain speed in the interactive community a few years back I was not sure how relevant it would be to my life. I made an account, found some of my friends on there, and sent emails and messages back and forth. I did not see the purpose or benefit to using this type of site because everything I was using it for could be done via email. However, over time I saw how these types of websites came to evolve as an outlet for expression for many individuals. You can personalize your page and make it unique by choosing a skin or background. A song by your favorite artist can be used and shown to all of your friends. For people who are more technologically savvy, the integration of HTML code helps to insert personal pictures in your background or messages.
When I began to personalize my page I chose a song by an artist that I liked. I could change the song periodically based on what kind of mood I was in or what I was listening to. I gave a brief description of myself, talked about some of my hobbies, and discussed movies that I liked. When it came to putting pictures on my page I sought to find images of myself and friends that I felt best highlighted some of my most memorable experiences. I have pictures of myself engaging in the activities that I love to participate in. Wakeboarding, camping, wedding receptions, and with family members are all examples of experiences that I enjoy and want to share with my friends to see. But still the question remains of whether or not these pictures paint an accurate portrayal of who I really am. Can pictures alone tell you enough about a person to know who they really are? I do not think this is the case. However, what we see online or on Myspace influences the judgments we make about other individuals. I portray myself in ways that I would normally, but try not to distort myself in any manner. As companies now scan these websites as a normal part of their screening process for prospective employees we must be cautious of the image we present online. I have not used Facebook enough to figure out all of its features but I have been told their are privacy settings for image viewing. When using Myspace we can set our profile to private and make prospective friends or contacts answer questions about us before giving them the green light for adding us to their account.
In this weeks reading Wood and Smith explain many of the "social" characteristics that come along with online interaction. One thing in particular that came into mind was the SIDE model. Through this lens of communication we identify with forms of communication that coincide with group norms. Social networking sites have become specialized channels for communicating with others. It is clear to see how much influence these sites have in our everyday life as the number of people who use these sites has increased dramatically in the past couple of years. This raises the issue of deindividuation. When everyone uses Myspace and Facebook to communicate do we lose the ability to be unique in our expressions? To counter that we use pictures and images along with emoticons to create and enhance our identity. Some will argue that online communication adheres to the cues-filtered-out approach as it lacks the ability to pick up on the nonverbal cues present in immediate communication. This is why some scholars believe why the internet and face to face communication are not functional alternatives.
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I, too, created a Myspace page several years ago to connect with friends. However, I've come to prefer Facebook (and have since deleted my Myspace) because it doesn't allow all of the page/music personalization. While I loved this feature of Myspace in the beginning, I got tired of feeling like I had to update it all the time. I'd spend hours cruising the web for a new layout, something I didn't particularly enjoy in the beginning and certainly didn't enjoy an hour later.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I do agree with what you said about photos. The photos are my favorite part of the social networking sites because they allow me to show my friends what I've been up to, and allow me to see things my friends have done. Of course, neither my friends nor I see the full "picture" of each other, but I figure it's alright because most of them know me in "real" life. However, for those people that have only ever seen my Facebook and not me, they're only seeing snippets of my life and personality. While I try to accurately represent myself online, I do a certain amount of filtering because I know it's something everyone can see, even future employers. While my Facebook does show me, it doesn't show quite all of me.
I was surprised in the reading when I learned about dotcomguy and how he lived only online for a year. I agree when you pointed out how online and face to face interactions cannot be substituted for one another. Although I realize more and more people are trying nowadays to pretty much live online, there are aspects of relationships that cannot exist in the cyber world. The biggest one is touch. I am really not surprised how many people are battling depression as a result of less and less face to face interactions in their lives. We may see even more of this as people continue to spend more and more of their lives online.
ReplyDeleteI too have both MySpace and Facebook accounts. I have not checked my Myspace in several months because I have become more accustomed to Facebook. Either way, it is a good idea to monitor what you are putting on the pages since they are open to viewers that might hinder your future.
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