Everyone chooses what they want to post on Facebook. If they want to post pictures, they can choose to only post the cute and funny photos, so it looks as if their lives are something out of a J-Crew catalog. Photos that say, "Look, I'm on the beach!" or "I get to eat the fanciest desserts." No one posts a picture of themselves when they have a bad case of acne or a truly bad hair day on purpose. Usually, people choose the cute and funny photos. What people choose to write gives a false impression of themselves too. When writing a post, people can write anything that makes other people believe they are someone else. For example, I know this woman who completely ignores her children and doesn't care for religion, but on Facebook she writes posts about how sweet her children are and how she has been blessed by God. These posts don't show her true identity, and it is a perfect example of how someone's Facebook page doesn't show their true identity.
In order for people to choose what they post, they need to go on Facebook! If someone doesn't go on Facebook very often, compared to someone who goes on all the time, then their Facebook will have very little information about them, be it true or not. Less information and posts hides a person's true identity even more and what a light user of Facebook shows can be even more deceiving because it's even more selective .
Facebook should not be anyone's only option in learning about a person's personality. It does not show someone's true identity, it only shows how that person wants to be seen.
I think the idea that the representation of one's identity on Facebook is more important than one's actual identity is a powerful and disturbing idea. This component of the postmodern world is extremely interesting, and your analysis of it is thought provoking as well.
ReplyDeleteI think you make a very good point. Although, I think there has to be something said about people who do have a completely different personality on Facebook. Perhaps the split personality shows more truth of our culture than it does the truth of the individual. The split between reality and Facebook is a very real and very true problem. Recognizing this divide alone brings up questions as to what we as society value.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your criticism of "knowing" someone through Facebook. On the other hand, I think that even in the real world, it's hard to completely know someone. Even without trying, I think almost everyone is projecting some image of themselves rather than who they really are, almost as if they are creating a personality just as they create a Facebook profile.
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