In your Facebook, MSN
FACEBOOK INSTANT messenger has stirred up a storm in the teacup of blogland. Yes, along with stalking their acquaintances and exchanging virtual pot plants, some Facebook users have time to write it all down.
According to Nick O’Neill at allfacebook.com, the new software can be “a detriment to your health” if you have too many friends. Fearing an assault of simultaneous conversations, Firefox extension Greasemonkey already includes a tool to block it.
Nonetheless, social networking seems to be thriving. Not so, says Mark Hendrickson at techcrunch.com: “The Facebook developer community faces a good deal of uncertainty about its future.” According to bigwigs at Monday’s Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco, low ad revenues mean they just aren’t making enough money.
I write, of course, as a dedicated Facebook user. Since joining the site, and Myspace, and even Friendster (remember that?), I’m much better at remembering birthdays. But are we actually any happier these days? Let’s ask my online friends…
Raniya Ali, 24, has been a member of Facebook for two years. A creative writing student from Manchester, she logs in most days. “It’s definitely improved my social life,” she said. “It’s much easier to organize events, parties. Everyone can see what’s going on, so it’s less confusing.”
With a network now including her dad, she finds online relatives can be a problem. “He can only see my limited profile,” she admitted. “My family is quite traditional. They don’t really respond well to tales of drinking and hangovers.”
Student journalist Neil Vowles, 23, uses Facebook less regularly. He said: “My enthusiasm’s gone a bit now. Once you stop getting loads of requests for friends, it becomes a lot less exciting.”
He added: “I’ve got a Facebook stalker who I’ve never met. He sends me messages and wishes me happy birthday and stuff. It’s a bit weird.”
There’s no doubt, Facebook and similar sites have a lot going for them. But they’re not without their problems. Let me know what you think.
Chris said,
April 25, 2008 at 8:44 pm
Hello!
I don’t know you, but I like you!
I found your blig blog very insightful, your journalistic skills are obviously well honed.
Now that my blissful honeymoon period on Facebook is well and truly over I find most of the service really frickin’ annoying. Annoying people with boring lives have found a way to spice up their existence with silly add ons. Self obsessed, insecurity ridden people, who are obviously petrified of looking the slightest bit ugly, hoard archives of specifically picked photos of privately perfected poses. I’m afraid it seems as though some people take themselves too seriously. Even the self proclaimed ‘wacky’ or ‘wild’ pictures stink of choreography.
Apart from these slight annoyances (that occasionally give me the urge to hurl my moderately priced laptop out of the window) there are some redeeming features. Birthdays shall never be forgotten again, and keeping in contact with your friends at home is a definite plus. It makes it hard to imagine how students ten years ago kept any friends at home.
One really good thing about facebook and other networking sites is the potential for freedom of speech and political activism. The internet is the closest we’re ever going to get to anarchism so we should take advantage of it. If only more Facebook users were more concerned with global warming and preventing the Bush administration from fucking up the world.
Aaah, I feel better now.
x
Beth B said,
April 25, 2008 at 9:05 pm
I still love facebook, but hate that low I get when my inbox is empty and my wall unwritten on. The new messenger thing freaks me out though, some bloke seems to keep collaring me when I’m online and I don’t really know who he is. Facebook does give us the ability to hone stalker-like tendencies which, for those of us who are slightly neurotic, is a bad thing.
Phillip said,
April 26, 2008 at 6:50 pm
Facebook is pretty great, but as ever it pays to be net-savvy. FB has comprehensive privacy options which it pays to check out, especially if you’re being hassled – but it’s better to know when it’s wise to add people in the first place…
I’m a bit of an internet evangelist; I do so much online, from shopping to socialising. It has the potential to be a great mediator: one can, for example, concurrently use resources like google maps etc. whilst arranging things, and it’s far easier to manage emails than phone-based organisation or letters.
That said, there is no replacement for some things. Tactility, subtlety, emotion… you’ll never reach the same levels as you would face-to-face.
One of my favourite quotes, for all of my modernity:
“When something has to be communicated from the innermost soul… then it is done by gesture, touch, by the light of the eyes, perhaps even by music, but never by language. The barrier is insurmountable.”
- Georg Groddeck
nate8steele said,
April 26, 2008 at 7:43 pm
One of my major problems with facebook, apart from evading stalkers (although can I clarify there’s not a sexual aspect to my stalker, just need to clear that up) , is that it does such a disservice to everybody’s personality.
I recoil in horror at my attempts at a humourous profile and it leads me to pigeon hole other people. If someone hasn’t made much effort to make their profile interesting and funny, I’ll instantly consider them unimaginative. The truth probably is they have better things to do.
Also one bad film or band in personal interest and I am quite likely to reconsider my friendship with them. I really wasn’t a judgemental snob before facebook, Honest.
In a shameless link to my own blog, nate8steele.wordpress.com, you should check out the hilarious lengths the Sun goes to to vilify Facebook.
Beth said,
April 27, 2008 at 4:54 pm
The worst thing about facebook is getting friend requests from people you barely know.
These people insist on harassing you with quiz requests to see which Star Wars character you are, or which crayon you are, or which 20th century dictator you are most like.
And the worst part is, if you reject them, they will know they have been rejected and that can’t feel good. But I don’t want to be forced into a cyber friendship with someone I barely know. I don’t want them to see pictures of me at my drunkest and I don’t want them to know that I don’t want them to. It’s all very distressing.
Having said that, it is a great way to keep in touch with the friends that you do like. Especially if you are both too busy/lazy for a phonecall.
Tom said,
April 27, 2008 at 5:18 pm
I read an interesting snippet in the Guide yesterday about online profiles (yes, I am a muesli-wearing, sandal-eating liberal, if I knew how to drive, I’d probably buy a Toyota Prius). It was written by Wendy Fonarow, a professor of anthropology at the University of California, who claims that the cyber community:
“present an image of themselves on cyberspace, where your personality is basically an enumeration of your tastes. You didn’t just go to Glastonbury, you’re ‘the type of person who goes to Glastonbury’. To have a great cyber identity you have to record events and put them on your page. So your life in the real world is a way of gathering material for your online persona. In a way you’re not really present at all.”
I think there is certainly more than a soupcon of truth to what she says, and I say that as a terminal facebook addict. I don’t think it’s an entirely new phenomenon, unique to the web though – a similar process is at play if you write a daily personal diary. You start doing things purely so you’ll have something entertaining to write about and dissect afterwards. You’re not entirely ‘there’, because you’re forever calculating about how best to write it up.
It’s interesting that so much of modern life is about advertising to other people what type of person we are but I think it can be really misleading.
Phillip said,
April 28, 2008 at 12:37 am
@ Beth:
“The worst thing about facebook is getting friend requests from people you barely know….And the worst part is, if you reject them, they will know…”
They’re not directly notified if you decline, so unless they have their heart set on being your friend they probably won’t realise. And if they do wish it so much, then you probably either know them, or want them at something more than just arm’s length =P
@ Tom:
Whilst you say it’s nothing new, I think there’s definitely a cyber-edge to this particular phenomenon. Regard what the little icon that represents you in a forum is called: an avatar. I disagree that people now do things just for the sake of recording them; I think people have always done things for no greater reason than to do them – but one creates an online persona. And that can be both a strength and a weakness.
dan said,
May 4, 2008 at 9:31 am
Hey meg
I love the irony of recognising that blogging about facebook is a new social low and procedding to do it. however me making that comment as a reply surely increase the multipilicities of layered irony cake
its all too post modern these days I just dont know where we stand any more.
very often i cant even move my hand unless it has at three levels of irony, non irony,sub irony and post irony involved.
its all too much . like istening to beck. backwards. because its backwards its in the future you know
Casanova1 said,
May 11, 2008 at 2:22 pm
I remember vividly the halcyon days when I joined Facebook. It all seemed rather more eclectic and spontaneous an experience compared with more wrinkly neighbours like Myspace.
Part of the attraction was the escapism the site provided from annoying chavs and skater boys who had not reached the loftier heights of academia. When I joined in 2006, one needed a university/ college email address to grace Facebook with your presence.
Coming from a working class background, it would be a trifle hypocritical for me to put the decline of ‘book solely at door of the bling donning youths of today, but their arrival last year has coincided with the introduction of the abhorrent applications. Undoubtedly, some of these applications are useful and fun. Take Scrabulous for example, a good game of Scrabble is a great way to procrastinate. However, there are simply too many applications aimed at the new audience of social networkers. I had over 550 requests at the last count. Do I really want to be virtually kissed? Do I really want to become the best virtual vampire on ‘book? The answer to these questions from my point of view is a resounding no.
‘book needs to delete 75% of these applications if it wants to continue it’s reign as the most popular social networking site in the world. It’s users are very excited by the new applications at the moment but will soon become bored with their glossy opening pages and promises of life-changing experiences. It should consider the example of the free gifts which it offered ‘bookers in the first quarter of last year. It has been a long time since I received a bunch of flowers or a pixelated teddy bear. Evidence if it was ever needed that web users are as restless and hard to please as they are in offline surrounds.
Facebook will always hold a special place in my heart. I have met some special people through it who have had an influential role in my life. I would not even be enrolled on the course without the social networking site. However, if ‘book wishes to continue to maintain it’s popularity, it needs to stop alienating it’s original users and ensure that it provides a satisfying experience for all and sundry.
rachelm08 said,
May 12, 2008 at 2:42 pm
Why I love facebook:
-It’s online networking at it’s best
-You can share crazy photos
-You can talk to friends in far away places – for free!
-You can send gifts – what more could you want?!
-Messenger – how lovely
-It’s unreal – a good thing?!
-Meg loves it. Still! So it must be cool..
liz21 said,
May 14, 2008 at 6:34 pm
I am still sadly feeling the need to log onto facebook ever single day. It’s a useful tool for keeping up to date with old uni mates, mates from home who are still away at uni… and my sister who is two rooms away.
But for me, “Facebook messenger” is taking it to far. I’ve only just got used to the myspace-esque applications and I’m not particularly comfortable with them.
I deleted MSN messenger because I couldn’t stand not being able to log on to my computer in peace. No longer can you quickly check Facebook because THEY KNOW YOU’RE THERE.
Quite frankly, it’s all just a little bit creepy for my liking.
niawilliams said,
May 14, 2008 at 8:13 pm
Facebook has definitely unleashed my inner stalker in a way that made me wonder just how much of a maniac I’ve got potential to be.
When the whole social networking phenomenon first hit I took a stand against it and vowed never to join. I hated the idea of everyone being able to see what I was up to, and the fact that most people carefully doctor their photos to appear in only the most falttering light.
My resistance to joining the social rat race finally crumbled after starting a journalism course in Preston and being told by a certain digital journalism tutor that it was vitally important to be a member of online communities (not his exact words but that was the gist). And now I’m one of them……
Facebook has got me in touch a lot of old friends (although you could argue if they were that important I would never have lost touch anyway) and it has provided me with yet another work-avoidance tactic.
But I’d rather measure my friendships by the quality of time we spend together, not by how often I’m poked in cyberspace.
It’s been fun – but I think the Facebook frenzy may be over for me.
David Cross said,
May 14, 2008 at 9:58 pm
Although facebook has many uses, it is addictive.
But I recently have overcome my addiction after facebook was bombarded with applications and an abundance of people.
I feel like I’m getting invite overload. Ican’t keep track of all my invites.I am getting, both the standard invites and the application invites.
Equally, I can’t keep track of all the applications that all of my friends are using.
Are these applications needed? Do we need facebook at all? I used to love it, but now I grow tired of it.
However, I suppose it is useful for keeping in contact with people who you would otherwise never think of calling. Though this may seem pointless to most people, a journalist can never have too many contacts.