When I first logged onto Facebook in December 2005, I was honestly a little perplexed as to why all of my friends were raving about it. With its largely monochrome interface, Facebook stared at me like a blank canvas. I understood the basics of what was before me – a page of my own, other profile pages for each of my friends, and a few pictures and the ability to upload photos. As far as I could tell, the site looked rather placid. Yet within three years of this largely underwhelming greeting, Facebook exploded in a whirlwind of new users and media hype. However, beneath its placid status updates lies a machine which stands to change what its users consider important in their daily lives.
What’s perhaps most intriguing about the development of Facebook is that it seems to offer none of what’s traditionally associated with a “benefit” of the on-line experience. Pre-Facebook, the internet was seen as an escape from the toils of real life – a user could log onto Second Life, create a virtual identity completely separate from their own in reality, and delve into a digital fantasy of their own. It’s easy to see the relation between this newfound anonymity (and freedom) and a surge in popularity, however Facebook succeeded in doing exactly the opposite – dragging real life into the realm of the digital.
Indeed, Facebook reinforces its connection to reality with every aspect of its experience. Uploaded photos beg to be tagged with the name of those who you’ve clearly spent time with in the real world. Friend requests ask politely to confirm that you’ve actually met the person in question. Networks are centered around relatively banal categories – schools, colleges, employers, and geographic locations.
Yet it appears to be this connection with reality that’s made Facebook so successful. It’s not uncommon that I spend hours painstakingly tagging hundreds of photos with the names of my closest friends, or take the time to meticulously update my personal information to accurately reflect my most recent relationship status, musical preferences, and favorite quotations. And most of all, I – and the millions of other users who log into Facebook every day – find these activities enjoyable.
Clearly, these aspects of our lives already exist without Facebook. For many of those who use this prominent social media site, however, the enjoyment comes from the glorification and augmentation of the everyday. Fifty new photos of my dog might not seem so exciting when they’re trapped on my digital camera, but if I can upload them for my friends to see and comment on, they gain a whole new level of perceived importance. The ordinary is now made to seem exciting, fresh, and unnaturally important.
However, this increased self-exposure has another consequence which seems a rather accidental side-effect of the public nature of Facebook – digital voyeurism. Now known to many as the art of “creeping”, Facebook provides the perfect tools to peer into the minute details of others’ lives. No longer am I forced to communicate directly with others in order to gain access to the mundane details of their lives; a plethora of photos, notes, and conversations await me if I should have even the slightest inkling to examine someone else’s life.
And perhaps that’s part of the fun of Facebook. While these voyeuristic implications sound sinister on paper, every user of Facebook’s vast network is surely aware of the inherent publicity their own profile may receive. Users join Facebook to see and be seen.
No longer does the internet attempt to distract us from our everyday lives; it plunges us into their detail with newfound intensity and vigor. While this concept may seem stale, the provocative results – such as the art of creeping – seek to give our personal lives a much different focus in the age of digital social media.
No longer does the internet attempt to distract us from our everyday lives; it plunges us into their detail with newfound intensity and vigor. While this concept may seem stale, the provocative results – such as the art of creeping – seek to give our personal lives a much different focus in the age of digital social media.
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