After reading
the article “The Language of Fakebook” by Katie Roiphe and discussing it
further in class my eyes were opened up to how fictional the world of Facebook
can be. In the article Roiphe talks about how everything on Facebook seems to
be so exaggerated and extreme. When you type “LOL” are you really laughing out
loud? Most likely you are not. In class someone made a comment about the pictures
you post on your Facebook page. He said, “At the party that night you may have
taken 300 some pictures but on Facebook you only posted 3”. You wouldn’t you
want to post a picture you look unattractive in? Would you? Facebook allows you
to hand pick what you want your “friends” to see. Essentially you are
advertising yourself, amplifying and reducing certain events, pictures, and
posts.
Prior to our
class discussion I felt that my Facebook page (for the most part) stayed pretty
true to myself. During the discussion I found myself agreeing with a lot of the
comments being made and giggling along with other classmates who realized they
were victims of the same crime. We are all guilty participants of “Fakebook”. I
don’t believe that this makes us bad people or liars. In the end everyone is
just striving for acceptance and attention. The media logic we grew up with
influenced us on what is considered good, normal, and desirable. Facebook is
just a social media outlet that allows us to show the world we are not alone
and that we are apart of some social norm out there. Even outcasts are able to
find a Facebook niche to fit in. Maybe we are thinking about it all the wrong
way. Maybe Facebook is meant to be manipulated and molded with to show others
who we want to be portrayed as. You must keep in mind though that nothing beats
real people and personal interactions. Facebook will never attain all the mediums
personal interactions you need to create a successful relationship, so why
treat it like it will?
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