Facebook: Perception vs. Reality
“Humans know the world
through sensation, perception, and conception… A sense of place is created
through humans perceiving and constructing that location.” (Van
Luyn, A. 2013). Perception
seemed to be a reoccurring concept in the last two weeks. In last week’s
reading ‘The Songlines’,
Chatwin stated that “to exist is to be perceived” (Chatwin, B. 1987). I began
to wonder, that if perception determined place, and existence, then how am I
perceived on Facebook? Do people perceive me as my true self, or do I cease to
exist? How do I know what I perceive is real?
Our actions on Facebook are
constantly watched by our peers, and, what they see from us is how they
determine our online identity. Your online profile, or, the virtual you,
becomes the real you in someone else’s perspective. For example, I never
usually post any statues, or photos, or share any videos on Facebook; I just
sit back and watch others, or interact through messaging. I may be perceived as
quiet, or shy by those who I don’t publically interact with, however, the
people I message will perceive me differently. Other people are like this;
where they are perceive different ways on Facebook depending on how they choose
to interact. When people post pictures of their conversations with others on
Facebook, it could be assumed that they are exposing their ‘real’ self, but,
what if it is just another shade of their virtual self? With the constant use
of technology, it gets difficult to determine what is real and what is virtual.
Language use also plays a
role in perceiving a person’s ‘real’ self. Tuan (1991) states that there are
different ways by which language contributes toward the
making of place. For example, warm conversation between friends can make the
place itself seem warm; by contrast, malicious speech has the power to destroy
a places reputation and thereby its visibility. In terms of Facebook, those who
post interesting, funny, or nice statues, pictures and videos make Facebook an
enjoyable place to be when you want to see what people are up to, however,
people who constantly post negative or annoying things could make you perceive
that person as whiney and you lose interest in what they have to post and
eventually begin to avoid them online. However, different people react
differently to the language people use, and how that language creates their
online identity.
In terms of being ‘real’ on Facebook, I like to think that I
am. As I mentioned before, I don’t usually post things of Facebook and in
contrast to real life, I’m not loud, and I don’t draw attention to myself
(often). I prefer to have a chat through messages on Facebook, because if I
need to communicate with someone, I’d do it personally, just like I would away
from the computer screen.
Steve Fox is editorial director of PC World and wrote a small
article called “Facebook vs.
Reality: Who Needs
to Get a Life?”
If you’d like to read the article, go to http://ehis.ebscohost.com
to see how Fox compares reality and Facebook.
REFERENCES:
Chatwin, B. (1987). The Songlines. Chapter 3, pp 11 – 15. London
Tuan, Y. (1991). Annals
of the Association of American Geographers. Taylor
Van Luyn, A. 2013. BA1002:
Our Space: Networks, Narratives, and the Making of Place, Week 5 Notes (PowerPoint). Retrieved from: https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au
Article Link:
Fox, S. (2009). Facebook vs. reality: who needs to get a
life? Retrieved from http://ehis.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=3&sid=624c647c-6882-4dc0-a5ab-8ca213f367a3%40sessionmgr14&hid=8&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=anh&AN=39652688
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