What exactly are we saying about ourselves on social media? Are we telling a story? Are we writing in our digital public diary? Do we even realize that once something is posted, its out there forever? These are all great questions to ask, and all questions this week's articles seek to answer.
Social media and social network sites (SNSs) have created a new culture in our world. Before you have time to pick up the phone to chat with a friend you can know exactly how their day has been, via the social sites. What does this mean then? Where did all of this begin. Boyd and Ellison answer this question for us in their research, "Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship." They define SNSs as web-based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system." They discuss that through the first major social sites like Friendster and Myspace, this culture was born.
Everyone totally remembers when the only thing that mattered was who was in your top eight, who's top eight you were in, and what song was playing on your profile. Growing up in this era, a new culture was created where there was a new way to interact and socialize. Then, after moving away from being a college only site, all of the previous Myspacers moved to Facebook. Boyd & Ellison along with Page, Harper & Frobenius discuss what exactly our profiles say about us, what story they tell.
From 2008 to 2012 the range of limitations on what Facebook users can do has grossly expanded. Only a few short years ago we could only write words in a box, now we can tag, tweet, link, check-in, add pictures, and all but create a hologram of ourselves to these updates. So what does what we put on our profiles say about us? Page, Harper & Frobenius discuss in-depthly the narratives we portray about who we are and how we feel through what we post. Cultures and niches are formed throughout the social networking world and they truly mimic our lives. Andre Brock writes about African American culture on sites such as twitter. These niches created by certain races or cultures only mirror our lives. As human we stay in our comfort zones, we follow or friend who we know or would like to know, celebrities or athletes we admire, and the companies we support. To me it has little to do with race and a lot to do with the story we are telling about ourselves, whether that be who we actually are or who we want people to perceive us as.
Social media and social networking sites, if not already, will soon take over how we look at the information we give and receive. To that, there is much need for research to be done in these fields about how to capture an audience that is so 5 minutes ago.
I think you make an interesting pint about how research needs to be done on "an audience that is so 5 minutes ago." Our generation really does move quickly, and I think that is in part to our deep connection to social media. I know about the latest trends and celebrity gossip because of the various news sites I follow on my social media sites. I think it's important that we consider how quickly we move, and maybe, just take a chance to slow down and enjoy it.
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