Blog 3

Facebook: Space or Place?

Facebook Chat: image retrieved from http://logo-studio.blogspot.com.au/2011/08/facebook-chat-icon-vector.html

        Dr Ariella Van Luyn (2013) stated in her lecture that “space becomes place through humans imposing meaning on it.” The online space of Facebook becomes a place because its users give it power and meaning beyond that of a simple webpage. Its sheer prevalence in our everyday life is a testimony to how much it means to us. A recent survey by ReadWrite.com (2011) found that most people check their Facebook around 4 or 5 times a day, with some people having it permanently open on their computer while they work. Many people noted that, for them, Facebook has already replaced email. Staying in touch with our family and friends has never been easier than it is with social networking. Our desire to stay up to date and ‘in the loop’ has caused us to give enormous meaning to the Facebook website, creating a strong sense of place for many people.

But how exactly does this sense of meaning transform space into place? Yi-Fu Tuan (1991) states that while language alone is unable to physically transform a place, “it can direct attention, organise insignificant composite wholes, and in so doing, make things formerly overlooked - and hence invisible and nonexistent - visible and real.” This theory applies especially to the online social network Facebook. Language plays a huge role in the transformation of Facebook because Facebook is not a physical place. While language is merely a tool to direct attention to a physical place, in the online world it is everything.

References

Tippins, R. (2011). Big Question (Answered): “How often do you check Facebook?” Retrieved from: http://readwrite.com/2011/11/22/big_question_answered_how_often_do_you_check_faceb#awesm=~ofYdUzMrPd5XGJ

Tuan, Y. (1991). Language and the Making of Place: A narrative-descriptive approach. In Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 81(4), 684-696.

Van Luyn, A. (2013). BA1002: Our Space: Networks, Narratives and the Making of Place, Lecture 5: Stories and Places. [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from: http://learnjcu.edu.au

Image Credits

Vector Logos (2012). Facebook Chat Vector Icon. Retrieved August 20, 2013 from http://logo-studio.blogspot.com.au/2011/08/facebook-chat-icon-vector.html