Dear Facebook,
BA1002 Kendall Munro Monday 3pm
BA1002 Kendall Munro Monday 3pm
This week’s
McNeil (2011) reading suggested that social networking sites were the modern
day diary. Over my years as a Facebook user I have noticed the way in which
people are “writing and publishing serial chronicles of daily life” (McNeil,
2011, p.313) and how I, at times, also take part in documenting my daily
routines. However, McNeil (2011) also notes that the 20th century introduced
the common notion that a diary is “intensely personal and confessional, the
sorts of secrets that should be hidden away under lock and key... meant only
for the diarist’s eyes” (p.315). Looking back to the week 3 lecture, Van Luyn
(2013) described the way in which it was common for people to portray a
positive image, such as wealth, success, and happiness, through social
networking sites which may mislead people into creating a false perception of
us. With this in mind, I believe that social networking sites resemble a
timeline of an individual’s daily activities and significant life events rather
than a diary, as human nature persuades us to keep the deeper, personal aspects
of our lives from the public’s view.
The urgency
to keep private matters behind closed doors can be seen through the Facebook
profiles of politicians Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott in the lead up to this year’s
election. Although this is on a much larger scale than everyday people, it does
reflect the way in which people will be more inclined to share the positives
and how they will actively defend them self when they are challenged or
sensitive information about them is shared. Both parties would share details of
their government policies and the positive effects they will have on Australia,
and rarely shared any negative aspects of their own policies. However, they
would readily share the consequences of electing the opposite government into
power. Facebook profiles are
autobiographies, edited, updated and published on a daily basis; only ever displaying
the details we decide will influence our readers to perceive us in the way that
best suits us.
The
following video clip mocks the way people use Facebook to document their daily
activities: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0E8QkHwK1s
Reference
List:
McNeill, L. (2011). Diary 2.0?: A genre moves from page to
screen. In Language and New Media. (C.Rowe & E.L Wyss, Ed.).
Creskill, NJ: Hampton Press Inc.
Van Luyn, A.
(2013). BA1002: Our Space: Networks, Narrratives and The Making Of Place,
Lecture 4: Narrative. [Notes] Retrieved from: http://learnjcu.edu.au
Image Credit:
http://cdn.socialnewsdaily.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Facebook-and-Diary-Confusion.jpg
Hi there!
ReplyDeleteI like the comparisons you make using our politicians, what a perfect example of the sharing of specific information in order to create a perception. My virtual network of Soundcloud allows only limited texts to be written, and more specifically the text written would be about music and so it restricts this idea of social media as a tool to persuade by influence. The music itself on the other hand, is what does the persuading. McNeill (2011) speaks of the way the diary as evolved through time and indeed into the virtual world and the differences that obviously stem from this come from the fact that there is an audience. Though Facebook and Soundcloud seem different there are similarities, as the users of Soundcloud upload music that reflects a certain aspect of themselves, the aspect they want people to hear. This could also be reflected through their profiles and the information they display there. An interesting comparison indeed, Facebook, Soundcloud and politicians - really not that different!
Cheers!
Lunar (Vivian)
References:
McNeill, L. (2011). Diary 2.0?: A genre moves from page to screen. In Language and New Media. (C. Rowe & E L Wyss Ed.). Creskill, NJ; Hampton Press Inc.