Facebook is a tool of ” escapism”. We all want to get away from our busy and frustrating lives. Facebook is a tool which more than 500, 000, 000 people use on a daily basis. This is not surprising news. Seriously, we have all been thinking the same thing. It is one of the many ways of passing time. It also gives us an excuse to spy on an unserious boy/girl friend. The article by Alice Mathias reveals some real truths about the social site. It also uncovers some embarrassments about the direction of our social lives. An embarrassment because it says that we are idle and holds a certain cowardly quality of spying. The article is well researched, and I believe it is accurately examined.
This is very appealing because it reveals a certain character of modern human personality that we would otherwise ignore. It is also disturbing that we would want to ignore despite its continuous development. Who wants to admit that they would rather research on someone’s personality online before getting to meet him or her? This is so that they know everything about them before hand to avoid any embarrassments or awkwardness. Are we that self-preservative? Mathias meant to say that rather than use the site for connectivity, we prefer to use it as a place for personal uses and spying. The author lacks to show the opposing view of facebook. She does not mention the positives that may come from a social network site such as facebook. Now days, Facebook is used in so many other ways. Businesses use Facebook as a tool for advertisement. We also have to remember that not all people use this site to ” spy”. Many users such as me use the site to keep in touch with friends and family members whom we cannot see or talk to on a normal basis.
The author’s position seems to be qute a valid on a number of issues especially on a theory that she presented. The theory stated that the site was popular simply because we could visit other people’s information anonymously. If someone found us ‘sitting in their audience’ then we would be exposed. Facebook would turn into a ghost town. . With thousands of user adding every month how soon till regulations need to be put in to better control of our privacy We only enjoy the pleasure of watching others just so long as they do not find out. It may be cowardly and wrong but we all do. It is a fact, but we enjoy looking at how others live their lives. But a question arises would we all not want to know who visited our profile and in which category?
The writer concludes that the youth usually use facebook site in a different way from how the older generation uses it. From my opinion it is not about the age when dealing with facebook but the intention that the user had when logging in the site. Some old are in facebook for fun and they do not take it as a social referencing director hence Alice’s conclusion is invalid as people of same age behave differently and have different preferences.
On the authors theory that our entire facebook act do tell others about us is valid as the update people put really depicts what is on their mind and those who comment on such updates either like it or despises it hence telling if their thinking is in line with the owner of the comment. Moreover, picture put in the album and the relationship status do really add on the person’s intentions and what he want others to see hence justifying the author’s theory.
From the start the author clearly knows that the article do just represent the view of a few who are in different schools of thought and moreover they do not represent all peoople’s decisions. Hence it is right to conclusively conclude that this article is just his opinion and that of his friends and not of all users of facebook. On his point that people wear masks when they Edit Profile page and they show about thing that they like but in real sense they love other thing hence deceiving others about themselves.
The author views all that youth do in facebook as just like comedy, in that they upload and update stuff that will make others laugh or joke about it. But in real sense some youth do go in facebook to chat and share ideas with other people from far away countries or places. The point on humor revealing more of interests and personality that real honest answers is a valid point because the interesting thing people update shows what is on their mind hence their personality and what interests them.
On the other side of the point of jeopadizing of the facebook privacy and it effect of leading to facebook turning to a ghost town is somehow invalid in that some people do not care at all of what others see about them. On the point of comparing relationship on facebook and a physical relationship is and naming online relationship as a cowardly and utterly alternative is also true as many youth do thing in facebook that they cannot be able to do in real lives.
Alice, did greatly outline the way many people look at the facebook and also that the old people do use facebook for a different reason with that of young people. She also did elaborate on many reasons why facebook have become so widely used than other sites and her arguments are valid although not fully conclusive. From my own point of view the article is more truthful and talks more of what facebook is all about in this generation we are in called ‘the facebook generation’.
