I am a regular user of social media. My favorite site is Facebook, but I’m also an active Instagram user. I have a Twitter account, but I don’t even know when the last time I used Twitter was (apparently, my last post was on September 28th, 2014). I try to keep my E-dentity relatively private, excluding strangers from viewing my profiles.
My posts mostly revolve around school, friends and family, and religion and politics. As a Facebook friend, one can find out that I am a single, Democrat, Lutheran, English-speaking female who grew up in Bettendorf, IA and goes to Augustana College--but they probably already knew that.
One could find out my
birthday (minus the year), who some of my family members are, which books I have read,
movies and TV shows I have watched, pages I have liked, and music I enjoy.
These things all say a lot about a person, and by posting these things I’m
allowing my friends to draw conclusions about me. For example, one might see
that I have liked the pages Being Liberal and Conservative Daily. Or one might
see that I’ve watched Dead Poets Society,
Star Wars, and Legally Blonde, and Parenthood,
Madmen, and Grey’s Anatomy. Or one might see that I have read 62 books
including Harry Potter, 1984, Candide, A History of God,
and A Thousand Splendid Suns.
This information informs the opinions of my Facebook friends. These things are not a fair representation of my person as a whole, but one could get a pretty good idea of things that I enjoy and support. But these are all things that the people on my friend list certainly know or things that I would certainly tell them if they ever asked.
Is sharing this
information about my life and myself as a person a bad thing?
When I
look at my public profiles--like Twitter--I see virtually (pun intended ;) ) no problems. I might worry about strangers viewing my profile picture, but honestly,
I’m not very bothered by that. The picture is pretty generic--it could almost be a stock photo. However, one facet of my E-dentity that I hadn’t
really put much thought into was the amount of information available to my
Facebook friends. Yes, they all know me—most of them know me fairly well. I would
discuss any of the subjects of my Facebook page with any of them—religion,
politics, books, movies, TV shows, etc. But that is not what is concerning to
me.
What is concerning is that I haven’t talked to all of my 511 friends about these topics.
By removing that person to person connection—by merely reading about our friends’ lives and interests—we can eliminate the chance to learn these things about our friends genuinely. For example, instead of asking me about my spiritual beliefs, Facebook friends make assumptions about what I believe. People make assumptions that I believe certain things simply because I’m a listed as a Christian. And yes, this is true, but my beliefs are very nuanced. Just saying “Hannah is very Christian” does not tell the whole story of what I believe. Just saying “Hannah is a Democrat” does not tell where I stand on many issues. It reduces the complexity of my thoughts and interests to a binary, black and white, understanding of who I am.
I think Facebook, Instagram,
and Twitter are great ways to keep in touch with family and friends who live
far away and to share pictures and ideas with friends. However, Facebook should
not be sealed off from the rest of our experience. We need to ask our friends
about their beliefs and interests. We need to discuss these things face to
face. Our friends are more than data on a page. We are not the composite of
these binaries that Facebook—and our culture as a whole—creates (are you male
or femlale, Democrat or Republican, religious or secular, etc.). So it is our
job, as friends, neighbors, family members, and fellow human beings, to attempt
to see a more complete picture of the humans with whom we interact. Let’s ask each
other questions and have face to face discussions with other people as we
navigate the twists and turns of the human experience. Sound like a plan?
Sounds like THE PERFECT plan! I completely agree with you on the issue that it is possible for our friends, family members, strangers, and those who we know but don't really know to generate an accurate description of who we are just by viewing our social media profiles. Let's face it, sometimes our virtual profiles tell more about us than we actually do in our human form. Why is that? Why is it that our E-dentities have the ability to essentially "talk" more than our voices? Having a social media account, such as Facebook, is great as you pointed out, but sometimes we, as almost a social media based generation, have to learn how to "verbal" with each other before we learn how to walk. Your post is really good and it generates positive discussions with "twists and turns of the human experience."
ReplyDeleteParenthood tonight!!! ARE YOU READY?
It is interesting and bothersome that sometimes we take more time telling ALL of our Facebook friends about out interests instead of cultivating those relationships in person. I think that it comes partly from a desire to have lots and lots of friends. This seems to be a natural desire. But maybe we would have more healthy and intimate friendships and relationships if we focused more telling these things to a select few rather than telling everyone. Instead of creating unique and complex friendships, Facebook allows us to almost mass-produce relationships. Maybe this is a product of the consumeristic nature of our country? I don't know. I'm kinda thinking on the spot right now.
ReplyDeleteAND YES! 2 MORE EPISODES. AHHHHHHH