Monday, April 5, 2010
The Social Networks We Use
We are "Generation X", which means we have more access to technology than any other generation before us. We use the web to log onto social sites such as Twitter and Facebook everyday and think nothing about it at all. But who would've ever thought that people use Facebook almost as a blogging site to get their points and views across? As crazy as it may sound, it's true. Social sites give people a persona to develop and portray to hundreds of thousands through the World Wide Web. You can develop opinions about things you feel passionate about at the same time as telling people what you are eating for dinner. If you have ever made a status on Facebook about something that everyone may have an opinion on, you may have tried to persuade others to think like you. Even when you get a handful of people to comment on that particular status, in a sense, you have become a "blogger" and you have a post that people either agree or disagree on, or are indifferent about. Crazy right? Well it's true in a crazy way. We use these sites everyday and if we used them in a "blogging" kind of way, we could inform people of the problems of the world and also get messages across quicker. Plus, the words won't get mixed up because it's not via mouth =).
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I find my friends updating their status so many times (sometimes to much). Some people even put quotes from readings or movies or songs. It sometimes is an easier way to express how you feel. Recently, the "like" button has been getting used a lot more. So, the people who "like" your status either agree with what you have to say or feel the same way!
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ReplyDeleteI totally agree! Even though I don't usually like to have a Facebook status at all myself, most people on Facebook are changing their status to how they feel and expressing their opinions. It's a little bit ridiculous how much information people are willing to put on their Facebook profile and status to develop their persona to hundreds of people, some of which they might barely know.
ReplyDeleteSo true. People use social networking site to get votes for elections and to try and persuade people for their good. That, or they creep on you. One of the two. I like the message that you are sending though.
ReplyDeleteI never really thought of Facebook or any other social networking sites that way before but, you are 100% right. People do try to impose their views on others through Facebook. I can not even try and keep count how many groups I have been invited to, with "Keep Evan Turner At Ohio State"(that group failed) and "Show Why Ohio State Is Better Than Michigan" being my favorite two.
ReplyDeleteGreat view of blogging. I never realized that I am already a "blogger" through facebook. However, I think this blogging site allows you to voice your opinion without your whole life attached to it like facebook. This sort of blog gives you an anonymous persona that may or may not give you more freedom to express what you feel and take criticism as the "blogger" and not "you"(whatever facebook displays). Great blog though!
ReplyDeleteGreat blog, Tacoi! And I love your realization that FB is like blogging in its own way. I also appreciate that you are raising everyone's attention about the rhetorical nature of FB--it often is a space used for persuasion and certainly for communication more broadly.
ReplyDeleteLike Taylor alludes to above, I wonder how this blog will feel different than FB? Is it somehow less "you" than FB? Somehow more anonymous? What might you post here that you'd never share on FB? And vice-versa? How does audience affect each online writing space? You've definitely got me thinking about this stuff in a whole new way, so great post!