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This New York Times articles discusses the Website FakeYourSpace.com which essentially sells its clients “friends” on social networking sites like Friendster.com, Facebook.com, and MySpace.com. The fact that this service exists illustrates not only how ubiquitous and popular social networking sites are but also how important they are to users. People will actually pay to appear more popular to those who might be checking their profiles online. Clearly, these networking sites have become an integral part in the identity formation and subjectivity of their users. The reason that this particular site was in the news was because they used pictures (of the “fake” friends) without a license to do so. The photos came from iStockPhoto.com and that company asked the founder of FakeYourSpace.com, Brant Walker, to stop using their photos. He complied and the Website was only down for 4 days. This is not the only site of its kind, nor are these types of services restricted to online social networks. One can also pay a fee to have messages left on his cell phone from “friends.”
This article highlights not only the interesting phenomenon of attractive “friends” on an online network increasing one’s value in the virtual and real world, but also the moral ramifications of such fakes. As long as the photographs are legally licensed, there are no legal problems, but the clients still have to see the falsity and superficiality of what they are doing. The service only costs 99 cents per month, so if it became popular enough (it already has 50,000 hits per month) , it ironically could actually negate the distinction between what the article calls, “cyberlosers” versus “social-networking magnets.” I wish the article had included quotes from actual users saying how they felt about the service (how frequently they use it/how many "fake" friends they have, how satisfied they are with it, do they feel it actually makes a difference in how their actual online friends perceive them).
belongs to Social Networking Communities Online (e.g. Facebook) project
tagged facebook.com identity_formation online_popularity social_networks virtual_friends by rachee ...on 10-MAR-07
tagged facebook.com identity_formation online_popularity social_networks virtual_friends by rachee ...on 10-MAR-07
Girl wide web : girls, the Internet, and the negotiation of identity / edited by Sharon R. Mazzarella. [0820471178 (pbk. : alk. paper) ] New York : Peter Lang, c2005.
Call#: Van Pelt Library HQ798 .G525 2005
Call#: Van Pelt Library HQ798 .G525 2005
Looking specifically at the scholarly article entitled, "The Constant Contact Generation: Exploring Teen Friendship Networks Online." By Lynn Schofiend Clark. Pp. 203-221.
This essay examines how teenage girls are using the Internet and online social networks to stay constantly connected to friends and exert power over their social lives, even as they are confined to their parents’ homes. The author cites Giddens’ theory of using new technologies to minimize risk and applies it to how teenage girls use the Internet: They want to bring stability to their social status and peer groups (which is utterly important at that age), and they try to do so by remaining in constant contact. The author interviews teenage girls and attempts to find out, “how young people themselves explain what is important to them about their new media use” (208). What she found was that, as the essay chapter implies, what is important to them is to be always interacting with their peer groups and to get a private space to communicate with friends even within the public space of their home (online is private even when family members are in the same room, as opposed to the telephone). The author also asserts that online networks are a way for teenagers to approach peers and subjects that they might not feel comfortable confronting in person. This is another way in which social networks and online chatting can minimize risk.
Beyond this though, another major function of social networks is to “quantify, measure, and verify one’s popularity with one’s peers” (214). That one is the most problematic to me, as networks become popularity and attractiveness contests – this is definitely seen on facebook.com and MySpace.com. One of the most popular features of these two social networking sites is the ability to upload and tag pictures. In that way, not only can young girls choose pictures that frame their identity in a certain way, but it is also a way to show off what one did the previous weekend and who one’s friends are. Clark discusses the fragility of this age, but does not directly address the physicality that is brought to the forefront in many social networks. However, she does discuss the important element of “control over one’s environment” (216) which expresses itself in the formation of identity and the presentation of an edited/deliberate version of the self. As a side note, there are some other interesting essays in this collection (there are 11 total in this volume) which deal with the gendered nature of Internet interactions and how teenagers take part in fan culture.
belongs to Social Networking Communities Online (e.g. Facebook) project
tagged gender instant_messaging new_media online_popularity privacy social_networks teens virtual_friends by rachee ...and 1 other person ...on 10-MAR-07
tagged gender instant_messaging new_media online_popularity privacy social_networks teens virtual_friends by rachee ...and 1 other person ...on 10-MAR-07
Barnes, Susan B. . Online connections : internet interpersonal relationships / Susan B. Barnes. [1572733756 (cl) ] Creskill, NJ : Hampton Press, c2001.
Call#: Van Pelt Library HM1106 .B37 2001
Call#: Van Pelt Library HM1106 .B37 2001
This book examines online personas and how people are perceived online versus in person. It also focuses on the discrepancies between those two identities and how relationships change when people who have “known” each other online meet face-to-face. The book does a sweeping study of the internet and relationships, both online and offline, discussing how the internet has changed our interpersonal dynamics. The chapters I found the most useful were : Ch. 3, “Internet Discussion Lists and Forms of Address” which examines group dynamics in social networks and the trends of lurking and flaming, and the different implications of oral speech in person versus written speech on the internet; Ch. 8, “Changing Social Concepts of Community” which provides a case study of a social network which decided to meet face-to-face and how that changed the group dynamics; and Ch.11, “The Presentation of Self in Internet Environments” which defines a person’s net persona and how it may differ from his actual self, highlighting the performative aspect of social networks when presenting the self.
The book at times is a little too general, presenting ideas that are a little obvious, but Ch.8 was especially useful for me, as I am looking into identify formation online and how that affects one’s perception and performance of self. This chapter looks at the VC-L social network, a small group of people who belonged to the online network to discuss politics. After deciding to meet, the dynamics of the group changed dramatically. Popularity politics and insecurities came out which were never present before. After meeting, people were disappointed by their expectations of what certain people would be like. The social network was not the same afterwards and suffered from smaller membership. I am interested in how this might apply to current social networking sites on a larger scale, like Facebook.com. Facebook is an interesting hybrid because people often meet before becoming Facebook friends, but one may learn more about the new “friend” by his Facebook page than by the actual face-to-face encounter. The same dynamics of popularity, self-consciousness, and expectation come into play here. Ironically, they could also be reversed in the case of Facebook. A person might meet someone, Facebook “friend” them, and then be disappointed by their lack of other Facebook friends or lackluster profile. This book brings to the forefront the ideas of identity formation online and the conflicts that can occur when online and offline relationships collide.
belongs to Social Networking Communities Online (e.g. Facebook) project
tagged computer_mediated_relationships group_dynamics identity_formation online_communities online_popularity social_networks by rachee ...on 07-MAR-07
tagged computer_mediated_relationships group_dynamics identity_formation online_communities online_popularity social_networks by rachee ...on 07-MAR-07