The Facebook Network: Who Builds Your Identity?
By Emily Venema
Image retrieved from: http://www.firstcovers.com/
By Emily Venema
As each of us scroll through our Facebook news feed, how often do we actually stop and think about the posts we are reading in an entirely different light? After experiencing this week's lecture and readings, it has been made clear to me that the narratives we view from day to day are influenced by a significantly larger picture. Of all of these networked narratives, which is myth, which is fiction, and which is truth?
When I post on Facebook, I believe that what I say builds and transforms my online identity as seen by others. However, there is much more effecting your online self. In this week's lecture, Ariella mentioned that "You are not the only person constructing your identity." (Van Luyn, 2013). This is the case because as you post a status, for example, the way it is received by your fellow Facebookers affects how it is portrayed in your overall 'timeline'. And it could be said that this 'timeline' contributes greatly to your online identity. Let's say I post a status to say that I finally got my driver's license, and this status was liked by one hundred people, and commented on by several. When I review my timeline several months later, this status would be presented on my timeline as a result of its popularity, in comparison to a photo I may have posted that received only two likes (which would not be visible on my overall timeline). So, in reality it is quite true that there is so much more assisting in the development of your identity than just yourself and what you choose to portray. Laurie McNeill described it perfectly: "On Facebook, the software itself and other people are producing your online self." (McNeill, 2012).
Whether online or offline, people often do put a lot of effort into being original, because I think it is safe to say that most people want to be just that little bit different to everyone else. But is it true that in today's age, originality is maybe lost? If you come up with an idea that you think is just so amazing, and believe that it has never been thought of before, the chances of it being entirely original to only you are extremely slim. This is the sad reality. There are almost seven billion people on this planet, and it seems that no idea is original these days. So furthermore, this explains why on the internet specifically, the majority of things you read and view are influenced by another person's ideas, and are essentially just collaborations of a long link of several people's opinions and thoughts. In fact, I recently read a blog that basically encouraged readers to ditch originality and simply 'steal' other people's blogging ideas!
When I post on Facebook, I believe that what I say builds and transforms my online identity as seen by others. However, there is much more effecting your online self. In this week's lecture, Ariella mentioned that "You are not the only person constructing your identity." (Van Luyn, 2013). This is the case because as you post a status, for example, the way it is received by your fellow Facebookers affects how it is portrayed in your overall 'timeline'. And it could be said that this 'timeline' contributes greatly to your online identity. Let's say I post a status to say that I finally got my driver's license, and this status was liked by one hundred people, and commented on by several. When I review my timeline several months later, this status would be presented on my timeline as a result of its popularity, in comparison to a photo I may have posted that received only two likes (which would not be visible on my overall timeline). So, in reality it is quite true that there is so much more assisting in the development of your identity than just yourself and what you choose to portray. Laurie McNeill described it perfectly: "On Facebook, the software itself and other people are producing your online self." (McNeill, 2012).
Whether online or offline, people often do put a lot of effort into being original, because I think it is safe to say that most people want to be just that little bit different to everyone else. But is it true that in today's age, originality is maybe lost? If you come up with an idea that you think is just so amazing, and believe that it has never been thought of before, the chances of it being entirely original to only you are extremely slim. This is the sad reality. There are almost seven billion people on this planet, and it seems that no idea is original these days. So furthermore, this explains why on the internet specifically, the majority of things you read and view are influenced by another person's ideas, and are essentially just collaborations of a long link of several people's opinions and thoughts. In fact, I recently read a blog that basically encouraged readers to ditch originality and simply 'steal' other people's blogging ideas!
References
Duistermaat, H. (2012).
Retrieved 2013, from The Sin of Originality (and the Truth about Building a
Popular Blog): http://boostblogtraffic.com/sin-of-originality/
Luyn, A. V. (2013). Week 4 Lecture .
McNeill, L. (2012). There is no "I" in Network: Social
Networking Sites and Posthuman Auto/Biography. Biographical Research
Centre , 18.
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