In Tales from Facebook,
Miller explores several different fascinating aspects of what Facebook is, what
Facebook means, and what Facebook does for different people. Each portrait of a
person that he has interviewed is quite similar to a profile you might see on
Facebook. We learn about their interests, their family or friends, what type of
social life they lead, and what kind of personality they have. For someone like
“Marvin”, Facebook can be seen as necessary for facilitating one’s business or
professional life, while making his/her personal life more complicated. For
instance, Marvin needs to spend a certain portion of his day communicating
through Facebook because it is on Facebook where he can advertise cocoa
products (for his business) and communicate with potential customers.
However, because his wife realizes this, she is constantly looking over his shoulder, asking about any new friends he might have on Facebook, or how he knows this person or that person. In this chapter, Miller explains how Facebook can ruin relationships/marriages because it makes potential threats “more visible” (8). And though Marvin himself doesn’t exactly admit to pursuing other people online, it is clear that he does not prevent certain “clients” from advancing on him. I myself can testify to the power Facebook has over relationships. I had a long term relationship that ended in part because I had suspicions about cheating (which were true). I would not have had these suspicions if it were not for Facebook. Ultimately, the end of the relationship was for the better, but perhaps in some cases Facebook causes trouble where there aught not to be any.
In Chapter 4, Miller interviews a young woman named “Vishala.” This chapter brought to my attention the idea that people are more often going places for the purpose of being seen or having their presence documented through pictures so that those pictures can be put on Facebook. This is significant because it made me think about how more and more people’s identities are matching up with their identities on Facebook. Perhaps one day there will be no difference. If who we are depends on how others perceive us, then maybe our Facebook profiles are just another way to solidify how others perceive us, and eventually there will be no difference between who we are and our profiles on Facebook. Some may even say this is true already, especially for those who are Facebook friends with people they are not “friends” with in real life. Just like how people are gaining more and more capabilities to edit what they say through text or instant messaging as opposed to letters or phone calls, people are more and more able to edit their images to the public. We can choose what we expose of ourselves to the public. We can “untag” photographs or delete comments.
In Chapter 6, Miller introduces “Ajani,” and the concept that by making so much of his/her life public, one can fabricate a kind of buffer against society that makes their lives more private than one would ordinarily believe. Facebook serves as a creative and reliable release for Ajani, someone who must constantly share her thoughts with the world. But at the same time, despite her constant posts and updates, “you could spend a year on her Facebook and have no sense at all of her key relationships” (75). She keeps a good distance between herself and her onlookers.
Similarly, chapters 7, 8 and 10 describe what purpose Facebook serves for others. This includes “Aaron”, a teenager who uses Facebook as a means of after school communication with those from his school or girls from other schools, “Michael” and his wife who use Facebook as a way to spread the word about their Pentecostal beliefs, and a business man Burton, who like Marvin uses Facebook as a way to facilitate his work and make professional connections. In section B of Part II, Miller discusses the overall significance of Facebook, and what Facebook is. I thought it was fascinating that he described each individual as “quite literally a social networking site long before Facebook existed” (165). Does this mean that Facebook is actually a digitalization of what has already existed? The idea that cyberspace is a “place” rather than a thing is emphasized through Facebook. This also makes me think of the movie Tron which, for me at least provided a concrete depiction of what cyberspace would look like if we could see it as another world. Other concepts that were discussed in this section, include Facebook as meta-friend (the idea that we can have a relationship with Facebook itself, rather than just other people—that facebook is there for us at any hour, etc.), and that Facebook changes our relationship with time and space.
However, because his wife realizes this, she is constantly looking over his shoulder, asking about any new friends he might have on Facebook, or how he knows this person or that person. In this chapter, Miller explains how Facebook can ruin relationships/marriages because it makes potential threats “more visible” (8). And though Marvin himself doesn’t exactly admit to pursuing other people online, it is clear that he does not prevent certain “clients” from advancing on him. I myself can testify to the power Facebook has over relationships. I had a long term relationship that ended in part because I had suspicions about cheating (which were true). I would not have had these suspicions if it were not for Facebook. Ultimately, the end of the relationship was for the better, but perhaps in some cases Facebook causes trouble where there aught not to be any.
In Chapter 4, Miller interviews a young woman named “Vishala.” This chapter brought to my attention the idea that people are more often going places for the purpose of being seen or having their presence documented through pictures so that those pictures can be put on Facebook. This is significant because it made me think about how more and more people’s identities are matching up with their identities on Facebook. Perhaps one day there will be no difference. If who we are depends on how others perceive us, then maybe our Facebook profiles are just another way to solidify how others perceive us, and eventually there will be no difference between who we are and our profiles on Facebook. Some may even say this is true already, especially for those who are Facebook friends with people they are not “friends” with in real life. Just like how people are gaining more and more capabilities to edit what they say through text or instant messaging as opposed to letters or phone calls, people are more and more able to edit their images to the public. We can choose what we expose of ourselves to the public. We can “untag” photographs or delete comments.
In Chapter 6, Miller introduces “Ajani,” and the concept that by making so much of his/her life public, one can fabricate a kind of buffer against society that makes their lives more private than one would ordinarily believe. Facebook serves as a creative and reliable release for Ajani, someone who must constantly share her thoughts with the world. But at the same time, despite her constant posts and updates, “you could spend a year on her Facebook and have no sense at all of her key relationships” (75). She keeps a good distance between herself and her onlookers.
Similarly, chapters 7, 8 and 10 describe what purpose Facebook serves for others. This includes “Aaron”, a teenager who uses Facebook as a means of after school communication with those from his school or girls from other schools, “Michael” and his wife who use Facebook as a way to spread the word about their Pentecostal beliefs, and a business man Burton, who like Marvin uses Facebook as a way to facilitate his work and make professional connections. In section B of Part II, Miller discusses the overall significance of Facebook, and what Facebook is. I thought it was fascinating that he described each individual as “quite literally a social networking site long before Facebook existed” (165). Does this mean that Facebook is actually a digitalization of what has already existed? The idea that cyberspace is a “place” rather than a thing is emphasized through Facebook. This also makes me think of the movie Tron which, for me at least provided a concrete depiction of what cyberspace would look like if we could see it as another world. Other concepts that were discussed in this section, include Facebook as meta-friend (the idea that we can have a relationship with Facebook itself, rather than just other people—that facebook is there for us at any hour, etc.), and that Facebook changes our relationship with time and space.
--Winnie Au
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