Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Identity Production and Facebook

I am not going to talk about the security concerns surrounding social networking sites because I covered this in my presentation. Instead I will focus on identity production. I find the issue of identity production and social networking software really interesting. I signed up for a Facebook account only a few months ago. I had a difficult time deciding if I should join. I guess it was because I am a pretty private person and I wasn’t thrilled with the idea of my “identity” (although I didn’t think of it in these terms at the time) being posted online. When I finally joined, I did not fill out the complete profile or post any pictures. I also hid my wall (if people want to talk to me they can send me a confidential message) and changed the privacy settings. Maybe I am being paranoid, but I don’t like the thought of everyone on my friend’s list knowing exactly what is going on in my life, especially when half of them aren’t really my “friends.” I have found that many people add others just to increase the number of friends on their list, like it is a popularity contest. I just checked my Facebook friend’s friend’s lists and one person has 632 friends. Isn’t that a little extreme? I find it very interesting that all of the people I know who have a crazy amount of friends on their lists are the type of people who love attention. I think that Boyd is exactly right when she states, “for those seeking attention, writing comments and being visible on popular people's pages is very important” (Boyd). Boyd is speaking about teenagers in her article, but I have learned that university graduates are not much different. I guess this attention is what attracts some people to social networking sites, like Facebook. Perhaps these people want others to know that they have a boyfriend, have lost weight, are successful, etc. Am I being overly cynical? I honestly don’t think so.

In her article, “Identity Production in a Networked Culture: Why Youth Heart MySpace” Boyd states that “profiles are digital bodies, public displays of identity where people can explore impression management” (Boyd). Impression management is an interesting concept and one that I had never really thought about in terms of an online environment. I think that many people on my friend’s list hope to give the impression of leading interesting and exciting lives. Many people also post the activities they are participating in, such as “BLANK plans to attend Evil Dead the Musical on Friday.” Really though, does anyone actually care?

I guess you can tell that I am not so into the identity production aspects of Facebook. I do; however, think that the site is great way to re-connect with old friends and stay in touch with people and this is how I use it.

4 comments:

Jill said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jill said...

Sorry I messed up your comments area--I thought I had posted my comment twice, and ended up deleting it (I did not know that was possible to do on someone else's blog). What I had said was I agree with you that there is something very self-centred about people wanting to divulge their everyday life to a wide circle of people, many unknown to them, on social networks. I suspect that many are not thinking of how widely or permanently they are spreading their personal life details.

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Gerry said...

Hi Alexandra

Yes, I too agree with the comments made by you and Jill regarding the need of some people to divulge their everyday information to the world at large. I joined FaceBook shortly after starting this class, and have set all the privacy features, don't have a wall, and only correspond with people via email. I am constantly amazed at the comments and photos that people post, and can only surmise that they are not looking beyond the moment. The line between one's private and social life is getting really blurry, and as Jill mentioned, many people are not thinking of how wide or permanent their online behaviours really are.