Saturday, February 5, 2011

Geez, get a blog.

A friend of mine posted a link to an article about Facebook and the Social Network and how Facebook frames our lives in Zuckerberg's terms and, well, I teal deered all over his Facebook wall. 


The article mentions Zuckerberg's profile in the New Yorker, which I remember reading and it explained a lot for me about Facebook and the, I don't know, the meaning behind the way it functions. Facebook, as opposed to other social media, has limited room for creativity. Even Twitter, which functions somewhat like status updates, leaves more room for creative uses than Facebook. As mentioned in the article, Facebook reduces complex human relationships into Zuckerberg terms - trivia, poking. The creative aspect of  Facebook lies in programming applications, because that's Mark Zuckerberg's creative output.

Every aspect of Facebook stems from Zuckerberg's view on the world, including privacy policies. Every new feature that Facebook introduces is opt-out, not opt-in. Facebook operates under the assumption that the notion of privacy is becoming outdated and there's no reason to keep any parts of your life to yourself any more, and Zuckerberg has said as much: "Having two identities for yourself is an example of a lack of integrity." Every so often the privacy options for Facebook change, and the majority of Facebook users accept without question. The outcry against Beacon back in 2007 didn't come from a majority, but just a small circle of users concerned with privacy.

I agree with what the author said about the last defense of Facebook. Facebook is easy. It's easy to feel like you're keeping in touch with people if you see their Facebook posts. Asking people to post in a Facebook group to keep in touch isn't keeping in touch, it's a Christmas newsletter. It's changed the way people relate and the way they think about friendship. Today, saying you don't have Facebook is like saying you don't own a television. Facebook is obligatory.

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