Digg

I have never used Digg but I've seen it on various websites. I first saw it on StumbleUpon. After reading the article I stumbled on, it said "Digg this". What is Digg? How do I Digg something?
Digg is a social news website, consisting of letting people vote stories up or down, called digging and burying. The readers get to decide what the stories are by "digging" the story up. Digg was originally popular because of it's creation of other social networking sites with story submission and voting systems. It has inspired other social networking websites, like Facebook, to add the "like" button - which is very similar to digging something.
After finding out what Digg is, I think it would be a great tool for procrastination and boredom, much like StumbleUpon and Facebook.

Facebook

Honestly, I held off on writing about Facebook for this blog simply because I really wasn't sure what to write about.

Levinson's book provides a good overview of what it is, how it works, and who it affects. I could have easily just regurgitated what he has written and commented on how much Facebook has grown since Levinson wrote his book. I could have written about my daily interactions with Facebook and how it's a fun and exciting way to connect and reconnect with people.

I just didn't feel like writing about those nor did I feel like writing about Facebook until I watched the Oscars last night.

I think The Social Network's Kevin Spacey (executive producer) made a very good point in that social media seems to have allowed people to find a voice.

Critics and pessimists will say that it just fuels our narcissistic tendencies and actually creates a disconnect between us and the real world. They will argue that it reduces human beings into brands. Self-branding is at the heart of Facebook. The mere fact that they think that I can define myself into a small box to tell people "About Me" and show my personality based on things I "like" and "people who inspire me" does seem to be over-simplifying how we define ourselves.

Apologists will argue that it has revolutionized the internet. It has brought about new ways to connect with people, it is a new business model, and like Spacey mentioned, it's a way for people to find their voices. It was an integral part in spreading information during the Iranian elections a while back, and it has played an important role (along with Twitter and blogs) in the current goings-on in the Middle East and North Africa.

Perhaps the difficulty I had of writing about Facebook is brought about by the fact that it has been so firmly engrained in my life. It's just a daily occurrence for me that it has provided little inspiration when it comes to writing material. Something crazy happening in my life is a lot easier to write about than writing about how I drink water everyday. Perhaps it is a scary or worrying thing that Facebook has become a regular part of my life that it isn't even a habit anymore. It's something that has become a huge part of many people's lives as well, and it's baffling to see how it only took a few years for this to happen.

Facebook is many things to many people. Sure it has its dark side, but there's no denying the cultural impact it has had in our generation.

THE Social Network

Having just seen the movie Social Network over the weekend, I think this is a great time to express my feelings towards this phenomenon. While I do love Facebook, there are times where I can hate it. I am not a huge Facebooker, but do use the site to keep in touch with friends and people who I do not see too often. It is great for communication but I feel that some people take advantage of Facebook as they feel the need to post things that are of little importance. It is also crazy to see how people react towards things seen posted on Facebook. I have witnessed huge fights break out between boyfriends and girlfriends simply because of a picture or comment posted to the public. It seems that there is a lack of privacy, making things that would not be read or "heard" blatantly viewed by everyone. This is important to understand when displaying information or tagging yourself in a picture in the real world. The wrong person may see a photo of you at a party, not only now, but in the future. I remember when we were applying to colleges, my college advisor forced us to "clean up" our pages, making sure there was no evidence of bad behavior in order to prevent any negative judgment being passed on us. It is very important to understand that as much as you think your page or pictures are private, this information can still be found if one wants to see it. People post much more information on their pages than they would initially tell you in person. Studies have shown that people are much more open to disclose their personal information on a site such as Facebook, then to simply meeting a person for the first time. This is very interesting and I find it kind of sad to see that this is what our society is coming to. People would rather talk through a computer than actually speak with a person face to face. As time goes on, Facebook continues to grow, Zuckerberg gets richer, and people continue the addiction.

I Want My Share

In the business section of yesterday's issue of The New York Times there was an article entitled "Online, A Nation of Serfs" by David Carr. The article was also posted online under the title "At Media Companies, A Nation of Serfs." Currently valued at around $50 billion, Facebook has 500 million users worldwide(as of July 2010). The point of the article was that Facebook's value, the value of other social networking sites, and all sites with user-generated content is created by people for free. As users continue to add content to sites like Facebook, they contribute to the overall value. In Facebook's case, it is being made into an empire by all of the unpaid users. Facebook's value comes from advertising, which continues to "flow toward social and amateur media," which makes "low-cost and no-cost content" the norm.

In New New Media Dr. Levinson says " the new new medium is not ours completely" (132). Facebook and all other sites which users can contribute to are owned by other people or companies. We have the right to supply content, but we don't have control over the layout, advertising, the code, etc. Referencing the same point, Carr cites the Tumblr of Anthony De Rosa. “We live in a world of Digital Feudalism,” he wrote. “The land many live on is owned by someone else, be it Facebook or Twitter or Tumblr, or some other service that offers up free land and the content provided by the renter of that land essentially becomes owned by the platform that owns the land.”

Everyone with a profile helps make Facebook a media outlet, a news source, and a social network at no cost. With every video posted on someone's wall, every link to another website, and comment on a status, Facebook becomes the one place to do everything. Carr thinks content can "remain bifurcated into professional and amateur streams, but as social networks eat away at media mindshare and the advertising base, [he's] not so sure." If sites with user-generated content offer free information, then why pay? I think there is value in paying for news created by journalists or reporters, but more and more people seem to disagree. I hope that in the year 2157 there isn't a site that runs a monopoly on all news and media provided by users. It hardly seems fair that the people running Facebook own something worth $50 billion thanks to user content, and at the same time newspapers, with content written by journalists, are dying.

FaceAddiction

It's weird to think about but it was around five years ago, when I first made my Facebook profile. In those past five years a lot has changed. Facebook has made drastic changes to keep things new, interesting and more convenient/efficient. Mark Zuckerberg, the creator of Facebook has started a craze that has shaped social networking, and communication forever. Although there have been other social networking websites before Facebook like Myspace or Friendster, Mark Zuckerberg perfected the idea of a free social networking website and made Facebook the most popular social networking service in the world.

I frequently use Facebook throughout my day, for many different reasons. I check to see if anyone has messaged me, friended me or wrote on my wall. Facebook has become one of my main ways of communication. If I ever need to ask a question to a friend about anything, even homework surprisingly enough, I can almost guarantee that my friend will get back to me later that day because it is fair to assume that almost everyone checks their Facebooks' during the day. Facebook can be used for other resources as well. I can post a picture of myself, that I think makes me look good and portray my image as almost better version of myself through my Facebook. Facebook allows the user to put up all the good qualities about themselves without sharing the flaws or other embarrassing details about themselves. Facebook allows people to delete things that are on their profiles so that cyber bullying and embarrassing posts do not have to be shown to all of your viewers. Creating this new and better virtual persona also comes in handy when getting in touch with an old friend that you haven't seen in years.

Thanks to Facebook I am able to not only talk and communicate with old friends and relatives, but I can also check in and see what they are doing and what they look like. Facebook has made stocking easy and acceptable. I can communicate with a girl that I am attracted to through Facebook and start a relationship because of this useful tool. Facebook came up with the idea of a chat room. It's very similar to that of AIM or Ichat, except I just have to be friends with this person on Facebook and I don't have to worry about their AIM or Ichat adress. Whether you disagree with this new style of building or starting relationships, it has become part of the new world and although it replaces traditional ways of starting relationships, we have to realize that times are changing and just like our profile pictures, our relationships and ideas will change as well. In summation, Facebook is a very important source for information, and communication. Facebook is the best form of social networking in todays society.

Social Media

In society today, social networking and social media have become a crucial part of our environment day to day. Whether a person likes it or not, even small references to phenomena such as Facebook and Twitter come up frequently throughout the day. These references may be by the computer, radio, or simply seen visually by the individual. Hard to avoid, social media seems to be embedded in the lives of everyone. Whether someone chooses to use these advances in technology frequently or not as much, they are at the disposal of basically all individuals.

Facebook is a form of social networking that everyone is familiar with. Whether you are checking your notifications for a mere 5 minutes or spending endless hours on profile pages instead of studying for exams, it is a site visited by all. People of all ages enjoy this site which helps people stay in touch and communicate information quickly and easily.

While social networking can be very nice to keep in touch with relatives or old friends, some people seem to abuse the site in my opinion. Certain people may update their statuses numerous times within a single hour and upload things that are of little importance. It is also interesting to see things that people choose to display on their own pages. While people may be shy in person, this cyber network makes people think they can share more with others because they are not necessarily talking to them. Because it is through the computer, they may portray certain things that they would never say in person or choose to tell you face to face. I find this very interesting, that people seem to be more open through social networking even though many people are able to access this information. While this seems like a negative aspect of social networking, overall I think this area of communications is brilliant and hope to see it grow into more as years go on.