Connecting To Others

It must be said that the only participatory culture that I have spent countless hours on is, unfortunately Facebook. I know it is sad but I must also say that after realizing all these hidden messages about Facebook in my classes, I definitely don’t find myself on it quite so often. Although Facebook isn’t so great on the privacy side on things it is, however, great for connecting with your friends and families from far and wide. For me this is the first time that I have had access to my Uncle who lives in Vancouver, who doesn’t return phone calls nor has email. It’s a great way to leave quick messages updating people with what’s the hap. Access to people has never been so easy; you don’t even have to wait for them to answer their phone or be online. To me emails can get lost in translation or even end up in the Junk Mail; Facebook allows people to see a face and creates a quick way for people to communicate simple messages.

Facebook also allows you to join different groups to which spark your interest. These groups connect you with people of similar interest and allow you to engage in a conversation about the topic as well as aid others with questions. It’s the freedom to say whatever you want and to make groups to bring awareness to important issues (like Buy Nothing Day). It is also a great to come across issues or activist projects that you have never heard of before; allowing you to contribute more to society.

When I had first heard about Facebook, it was about a year before I actually signed up to the social network. I thought it would just be another one of those things that last a couple months and then you move on to something else; boy was I wrong. Facebook is one of the biggest social networks and has become so popular because it is so simple to use. Before I started University I had not been using Facebook very much. Since I went to school out of town, it is a great way to communicate with my friends back home without paying long distance phone charges. Without Facebook I would then have to rely on MSN, and most of friends don’t use it very often. I appreciate having access to a network which strives on connecting people from all around the world.

Benjamin explains, “The situations into which the product of mechanical reproduction can be brought may not touch the actual work of art, yet the quality of its presence is always depreciated" (Benjamin, 3). Everything on the internet will always have a downside to it. Facebook has been criticized for everything bad it’s done but no one ever says thanks for connecting me with a friend I use to go to Elementary school with. People always focus on the negative, yet you decided to get an account and put all the information out there for people to see. I know what I have posted about me and I use Facebook to broaden my knowledge of the world and connect to people who I don’t get to see every day. It is my way of expressing me and the possibilities seem endless.

When Hanes explains how people use media, it pretty much summed up my reasons for Facebook. He explains,

“Uses and Gratifications acknowledged that the audience had a choice of texts from which to chose from and satisfy their needs. Blumler and Katz (1974) suggested that there were four main needs of television audiences that are satisfied by television. These included – Diversion (a form of escaping from the pressures of every day), Personal Relationships (where the viewer gains companionship, either with the television characters, or through conversations with others about television), Personal Identity (where the viewer is able to compare their life with the lives of characters and situations on television, to explore, re-affirm or question their personal identity) and Surveillance (where the media are looked upon for a supply of information about what is happening in the world)” (Hanes).

Although he was explaining it through television, it best reflects everything that I get from using Facebook. Facebook is the media that satisfy me.

Works Cited

Hanes, Philip J. "The Advantages and Limitations of a Focus on Audience in Media Studies." April 2000. 5 Nov 2008 http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Students/pph9701.html.

Benjamin, Walter."The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" http://academic.evergreen.edu/a/arunc/compmusic/benjamin/benjamin.pdf