So when we met last and were talking about the effects of new new media on our lives, Professor Strate seemed shocked to find out that I wasn't connected to the Facebook community. That experience made me wonder, is there something intrinsically important about Facebook? Is it now not just "what all the cool kids are doing", but actually necessary for social survival?
I had simple enough reasons for wanting to disconnect from the Facebook community: being a private person, finding it very "high school", all the common, run-of-the-mill stuff you hear from people who are unreceptive to being on the grid. However, the new privacy/ownership policy that Facebook instituted really pushed me over the edge and into cyberspace limbo.
I'm a sports broadcaster. Not big time or anything, but I've been blessed with a number of awesome opportunities to be actively involved in the New York sports scene, from the NFL Draft to rubbing elbows with the New York Jets in their locker room to interviewing the New York Rangers in theirs. I've covered boxing, NASCAR, college sports, the whole gamut. In short, a lot of cool, really neat stuff that I hope I can parlay into a full-time job someday. And I thought one day, while updating my status and doing the usual Facebook stalking routine, that using the site would be an awesome way to get my name out there and post my demo tapes, and basically take the next step in my career though cyberspace.
Something told me to wait, and check the privacy policy on Facebook. I had heard someone talking about some new issue with it, but I decided to read it over. BAM! Good call, Joe. I read that if I was to put, say, my play by play broadcast of the Fordham Women's Basketball Game on Facebook, it's no longer mine. That's right, added to the vast Facebook empire. Everything, posts, pictures, music, anything that you put on the site, you lose all rights to. Sorry architects, artists, everyone who does anything creative and innovative, you just lost your ownership of your work. In exchange, enjoy your "Like" button.
I'll open it up to cyberspace, make it an interesting little debate. What do you think? Am I taking this too seriously? Is this really not a big deal? Or is it another example of a moneymaking scam hidden behind an illusion of belonging and acceptance? Get at me Interweb.
Until next time,
JT
To answer your question, yes you are. Just kidding, of course, and in fact I know a number of people who find Facebook's policy's intolerable and stay away from it, while embracing other social media such as Twitter. My surprise is simply on account of the fact that almost everyone in your age group, that is from teens to early twenties, seems to be on Facebook, and using it regularly.
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