Social Networking is a communication technology that has recently hit home with our generation. Not only does it provide an easy way to talk to people that you know, but it provides an easy way to talk to people that you don't know. Sites like Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace have become more than just a short profile with random facts. They have morphed into a person's identity. What people put on their Facebook not only says their favorite movies and books, but says who their family is, what exactly they did that weekend, place of employment, and personal contact information like addresses and phone numbers. Many people use social networking not just to keep in contact with friends and family, but to see what they have been doing with their lives. Checking for status updates, looking at pictures, and keeping a close eye on their relationship statuses are just a few ways you can learn personal information about someone without even speaking to them.
A lot of people don't realize the information they are putting on their Facebook or MySpace is available to the entire world wide web. Although safety settings can be set a lot of people ignore them thinking "only my friends will see my page." This has proven time and time again to be untrue. Many colleges and even future employers will log onto Facebook and check and see if you put anything inappropriate or illegal on your profile. Not only that but the generation before us (laggards if you will) are now starting to get the hang of tweeting and news feed. Grandma probably wouldn't appreciate seeing a picture of you half naked as you're beer-bonging 8 BudLights.
Since Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace are becoming such an important role in culture and technology today it's easy to see why some people have had their profiles represent their identity. Lee Keenan Farquhar states that, "Facebookers craft their identity performances through a variety of components for a variety of audiences, and those performances are manifested in the selection and emphasis placed on specific types of images and text. Performance is a negotiation between performer desires and audience expectations and reactions." Clearly social networking and Facebook in particular has become more than just saying hello to old classmates. It has become a place where people go and update their lives. Like the saying goes, "it isn't official, until it's Facebook official," clearly is the way this technology is headed if it isn't already there.
Work Cited:
Farquhar, K.L. (2009). Identity negotiation on facebook.com. Dissertation Abstracts International Section A: Humanities and Social Sciences. Vol 70(8-A), 2010, 2785.
