Blog Entry 4 (Mid Term)

For my fourth post, I would like to describe something interesting that I noticed about Facebook.

First off, my opinion is actually an extension of my classmate's blog post about deleting yourself on Facebook. In this post, she argued that deleting your Facebook profile is almost like deleting a part of yourself. I agree with this basic concept, but I would like to put my own spin on it.

If there is one thing that I noticed about online profiles, it is that they don't usually accurately reflect the person that created them. This is true for Facebook pages, myspace pages, youtube profiles, and even dating site profiles. The person creating the page usually will "beef up" their profile with exaggerations of the truth as well as flattering pictures and tidbits of information that give the other users of the site the wrong impression.

In fact, both of my parents, after they got divorced, created Match.com pages. On these pages, just like I mentioned above, they both put "flattering" pictures of themselves, and absolutely "beefed up" the truth. They also (conveniently), only mentioned positive and good things about themselves while leaving out the negatives. This is the perfect example of how profile pages on site can give the wrong, or an exaggerated impression of a person.

Because of this freedom to post up just about anything without it being verified as true, people have the ability to shape themselves to be whoever they want online. In this respect, when they create a Facebook account, for example, they aren't creating a page about themselves, they are creating a page representing who they WANT to be! I would like to make the argument that the profiles of different people are actually separate entities. In this way, I would also like to argue that the relationship that the creator has with their profile can be explained by Meyrewitz's theory of social space and relationships.

Meyrewitz's theory states that different mediums have the ability to remove social boundaries and permit users to believe that they are friends with people that they view on that medium. He also states that in some cases, users may believe to be the person that they see on the medium. In my Facebook example, the profile creator sees himself as the person in his profile. He doesn't necessarily realize that it is not he who appears on his page, but instead it is his own distorted image of himself. He is absolutely immune to his own weaknesses and is only able to view the positive aspects of himself or the person that he aspires to be. I'm aware that this is an incredibly odd argument, but it makes perfect sense to me! (Sorry if it's a little hard to follow)

In sum, the creator of a profile page on a website is actually creating a different person based upon who the creator wants to be. Over time, the creator believes that he ACTUALLY IS who he represents himself to be in his profile and develops a para-social relationship with his creation.

As a last note, the reason it is so hard to give up or delete a Facebook page is because it's not necessarily deleting a part of yourself, it's more like deleting who you aspire to be...and there are not many people willing to give up on their dreams.

Sunday, November 8, 2009