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| Muhammad Mahdi Karim |
From viewing the interactions over the federal election I noticed that the tables had turned, what had initially (in 2012) started as a very Labor, left, Green etc. majority, had swung at the time of the state election to being predominantly right winged, conservative posters (most anonymous and not on the electoral roll).
This struck me as strange given that the LNP in Queensland were a sure in anyway and that Facebook is hardly the realm of hard-hitting political discourse. But in time I accepted, after meeting a few of the chronic contributors, that it poses as a great way for people who are either home-bound, socially shy or elderly who were either once very much the activist or who always wished they were, to have their say and to have it with colour! One of the magic elements of the internet which I wouldn't begrudge anybody. The conversations of the group even spill into real life conversations (with the odd local MP or Councillor getting into it), while on other occasions your biggest fan or biggest troll ignores you in the flesh.
I have found that frquent users of this post have replaced the real Prime Minister and the real Political Commentator with themselves, forging a whole scope of roles and personalities- all in the know! Is it a detachment from the 'real world' that allows people to feel so at home on Facebook (funny enough while they're at home)? Has a Facebook poke or a trolling rant replaced real life coffee and drama? Has Facebook made professionals out of everyone with caps locks on? Some researchers believe that Facebook not only encourages genuine, 'real life' social loneliness as an alternative to interpersonal interaction, but it can also be a refuge for people who otherwise were.
Internet: a world for people to be with hundreds if not thousands of friends online but barely two to rub together in the real world, a world where people are in the know and want to let you know that they know.
Blogspot friends, please respond to trolls with kindness, like dating site stalkers they may be completely unlike the persona they seem to display online!
References
Spencer, R. (2012, April 21). Facebook and loneliness: our readers respond. The Guardian, Australian Edition. Retrieved from http://http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2012/apr/20/facebook-loneliness-peoples-panel
Mehl Ph.d. Assoc. Prof. Psychology Univ. Arizona, M. (n.d.). Does Facebook Make You Lonely? [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/30/facebook-loneliness_n_3839003.html
'Warm conversation between friends can make the place itself feel warm; by contrast, malicious speech has the power to destroy a place's reputation and thereby its visibility' (Tuan, 1991, 684).
ReplyDeleteYou might wonder where I am going with this quote but I can see the link of what you are staying to Tuan's quote. I like how you touch on the idea of connection through Facebook, that people who feel detached from the real world yet feel at home on Facebook. I think this links in the Tuan's quotes as its about the conversation. It may not be a face to face interaction but the power of the words spoken creates a place, whether it be face to face or online. You see if there is warm and friendly talk between friends 'it makes the place feel warm' (Tuan, 1991, 684) which ultimately make a person who feel disconnected have connection.
In saying this the section of the quote 'malicious speech has the power to destroy a place's reputation and thereby its visibility' connect with your idea of a peaking order. It is generally malicious speech that disconnects people from spaces such as Facebook, of which puts them at the bottom of the Facebook social order, making them feel more disconnected.
I think your argument is great and could really be enhanced with looking at specifically week 5 readings Tuan's: Language and the Making of Place: A Narrative - Descriptive Approach...specially with quote on the power of language.
Great blog !
Wow I love the picture you posted with your blog! It's so unashamedly true but also casts a shadow over our on-line interactions. I remember being at high school and literally having one's popularity judged by how many Facebook friends you had. I felt so 'unloved' because I only had 200 friends then who I rarely interacted with. Now have over 500 and I doubt I've even talked to half! Yet as Buchanan(2002) discusses in great detail in terms of ecosystems and social networks, I agree with the statement that 'bonds between good friends are not the same as those between weak acquaintances'. Speaking from my own virtual experience, by no means has my coffee dates been replaced by facebook Pokes(and God help me if I become that socially deprived!) but in a sense a combination of real life experiences and on-line communication can enrich my social experiences as a whole. Obviously those I have a coffee date with are close friends but a status on facebook and the tagging of friends from boarding school in Brisbane can maintain my bonds with them and and inform my other 'friends' of my activity; thus contributing to the creation of my on-line self. And, since we're being honest, I don't mind a little facebook stalk of my 'enemies'. haha oh god, people. we really are not so different from dogs or cattle are we! We're still part of the natural world's ecosystem. You definitely see the animal instincts come out at Election time!
ReplyDeleteAPA Reference List:
Buchanan, M. (2002). Tangled web, in Nexus: Small worlds and the ground breaking science of networks (pp. 138-155). New York, NY: W.W. Norton.