Recently, I read this article whereby this lady was so obsessed over the number of likes/comments she got on Facebook when she posted pictures or shared status updates. This eventually began to affect her social life as she felt that with more than 400 friends on facebook, at least SOME should comment on her statuses/ like them, at the very least.
I remember sharing her experience once. The amount of likes/ comments that I received from my friends on photos or status updates was something that could, literally, make me like a person more, just because he/she liked a status of mine, or commented on it.
That's what set me thinking. Facebook, and along with its menaces of addiction, such as resulting in facebook being a time-waster and losing precious working hours because one is so addicted to facebook has long been a hotly debated topic- possibly on the verge of being cliche. But perhaps I'd like to look at the menaces facebook offers not so much as an economic disadvantage, but rather, a social one.
I think Facebook runs on a very different social code from that of real life. Limitations of the internet result in one action having many different meanings. While on the surface, it looks fairly simple- share a photo, tell your friends what's happening to you, but perhaps it's the implications that underlie it that matter more. Liking 'liking' a photo, for example. Maybe that person truly 'likes' what you post. Maybe he thinks it's funny. Or the contrary- maybe he thinks it's ridiculous or stupid. The list goes on. And when we actually start to decipher the different meanings as to why someone likes a photo, posts a comment or merely ignores whatever you've posted, I think that's when Facebook actually becomes menacing. When we're obsessed with gaining validation not from real life, but via the internet. When it becomes a cause for concern- when we benchmark our social lives based on interactions on Facebook, of all things.
That's why I believe otherwise- I think that having someone 'like' your photo isn't a big deal. A photo of 2 supposedly hot girls get a thousand likes? Big deal. A mundane status update/photo (which sometimes borders on the verge of appearing narcissistic) which gets 20/30 likes? Right, so people are just that superficial. And sometimes, having 20-30 likes could be a greater source of concern- why are people even liking my photo in the first place? They're laughing not with me, but AT me? More worries. Having true, proper friends are perhaps a much better social validation than anything facebook could ever offer, if at all.
I remember sharing her experience once. The amount of likes/ comments that I received from my friends on photos or status updates was something that could, literally, make me like a person more, just because he/she liked a status of mine, or commented on it.
That's what set me thinking. Facebook, and along with its menaces of addiction, such as resulting in facebook being a time-waster and losing precious working hours because one is so addicted to facebook has long been a hotly debated topic- possibly on the verge of being cliche. But perhaps I'd like to look at the menaces facebook offers not so much as an economic disadvantage, but rather, a social one.
I think Facebook runs on a very different social code from that of real life. Limitations of the internet result in one action having many different meanings. While on the surface, it looks fairly simple- share a photo, tell your friends what's happening to you, but perhaps it's the implications that underlie it that matter more. Liking 'liking' a photo, for example. Maybe that person truly 'likes' what you post. Maybe he thinks it's funny. Or the contrary- maybe he thinks it's ridiculous or stupid. The list goes on. And when we actually start to decipher the different meanings as to why someone likes a photo, posts a comment or merely ignores whatever you've posted, I think that's when Facebook actually becomes menacing. When we're obsessed with gaining validation not from real life, but via the internet. When it becomes a cause for concern- when we benchmark our social lives based on interactions on Facebook, of all things.
That's why I believe otherwise- I think that having someone 'like' your photo isn't a big deal. A photo of 2 supposedly hot girls get a thousand likes? Big deal. A mundane status update/photo (which sometimes borders on the verge of appearing narcissistic) which gets 20/30 likes? Right, so people are just that superficial. And sometimes, having 20-30 likes could be a greater source of concern- why are people even liking my photo in the first place? They're laughing not with me, but AT me? More worries. Having true, proper friends are perhaps a much better social validation than anything facebook could ever offer, if at all.
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