I have always loved to people watch. I like to attempt to draw conclusions based on outside observations on other peoples’ lives. Facebook has made my fairly creepy interest accessible. I am able to look into people’s lives without really getting to know them. I can see what they find important; religion, politics, books, music. Of all those things, the aspect of someone’s profile I find the most interesting are the pictures. They say a picture is worth a thousand words and they couldn’t be more right. I am able to tell so much about someone based on the pictures they post on Facebook. Very rarely do I look at one’s pictures to see what they look like, what I’m interested in is far more personal. I want to see their values and how they portray themselves; I want to see how they project themselves to others.
Because of my interest in other’s pages, I also put a lot of thought into my own Facebook profile although this wasn’t always the case. I started using Facebook the first day of summer after eighth grade – I was officially a freshman and therefore it was socially acceptable for me to have one. I didn’t really know very much about how to use it so I relied on my sister’s guidance that, being three years older, had a fairly strong opinion on what to post. Because of her guidance I mostly used Facebook as a way to connect with distant family and post my brief flirtation with landscape photography.
(One of the first pictures I posted on Facebook)
As I had the opportunity to travel to distant places such as Italy and Spain with my family, my obsession with culture began. Sebastian from the Little Mermaid wisely said “the seaweed is always greener in somebody else’s lake” (Under The Sea, Samuel E. Wright, 1989). I love the way things seem to be more colorful, more culturally rooted, places where people seem to have a better sense of who they are and where they come from. As I became more and more interested in their culture as a whole, I began looking at individuals. As a girl who has always been drawn to fashion, I was not only able to see how people dressed in these wonderful foreign places, I also got to see how what they wore and how they presented themselves and what that said about them. I got to see what they valued whether that was being an individual or conforming to society, modesty or sex appeal. I got to take an intimate look into their lives without ever even speaking to them.
(People watching in Spain, I love this picture because of the color and the vibrance and the man in front of the window almost looks like he is looking at me)
When I came back to the Ohio (where I lived at the time) I longed to be able to recreate that sense of intimacy that I was able to find with complete strangers. That feeling of getting to see what they valued. That’s when I really became interested in how people I knew portrayed themselves to the rest of the world, in a much more permanent way than one day’s fashion choices. The most accessible way for me to do this was through Facebook. I have been able to see the way people I know have changed over time and what they as a person, want the rest of the world to know. Some of the people I know have innocent pictures of themselves with their friends or family, while other people post more provocative pictures of themselves at parties, in compromising situations, or in provocative clothing.
My dad always told me that “the internet is forever” and that I should always be aware of the things that I post and the way they could be viewed by others; friends, enemies, or employers. I feel as if the youth of America finds values misplaced. America’s youth and society as a whole seems to be so focused on sex that every post is made to exude a sense of “I’m sexy and fun and you should want to be with me”, or “look at what I’m willing to do.” I feel that the sense of self worth has dropped so low that this false sense of what is important has inflated self-importance to a new height. According to Mobliedia.com Facebook and other social networks are “creating a generation of people with short attention spans and a need for validation and instant gratification” (Molbiedia.com). This apparent lack of real values makes me really sad because people have lost their sense of personal worth and respect for themselves. ABC News comments on the Most Beautiful Teen in the World Competition that was recently popular on Facebook as “often-provocative photos, many showing boys with their shirts off and girls in bikinis, posing in their bedrooms and bathrooms at home, were then judged by other Facebook users in comments for all to see” (ABC News).
My father is a man who is involved in several personnel committees he has seen his fair share of worthy candidates, but because of the things that are posted on Facebook, they have not gotten the job. According to ResumeTarget.com “53% of employers, according to the statistics of PC Advisor, also check job applicants on social networking sites like Facebook” (ResumeTarget.com). Because of the discussions I have with my dad I have been very aware of the pictures I post and the situations I am found in because no party or cute bikini picture is worth getting passed up for an amazing job opportunity.
(I will not allow my self to be subjected to objectification such as this by post provocative or compromising pictures)
Facebook has provided me a way to continue to people watch although it has also taught me lessons about how I wish to project myself to others. It has been part of the reason that I decided what kind of person I want to be because I have seen what kind of person I don’t want to be because of all of the trashy picture I have seen, not only of people I know but also of people I don’t even know. I think that Facebook has had an impact on the deterioration of our society because it has been a way for destructive behavior to be normalized. Being one with a very strong sense of who I want to be and the morals that I have I find myself less and less interested in Facebook. My disinterest not only lies in other people’s lives but also in my own cyber life. I decided that I would rather live my life than hide behind a camera and witty status updates. I will no longer use Facebook as a crutch to be antisocial by being overly vocal on the site and not active in my own life.
(She needs a real life)
"Facebook Shuts Down ‘Most Beautiful Teen’ Page." ABC News.
ABC News Network, n.d. Web. 09 Sept. 2012<http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/03/facebook-shuts-down-most-beautiful-teen-page/>.
"Too Much Facebook Makes You Self-Obsessed." Mobiledia.
N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Sept. 2012. <http://www.mobiledia.com/news/101191.html>.
"Why Facebook Can Ruin Your Chances of Getting Hired,
and Might Even Get You Fired." Resume Writing Services. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Sept.
2012. <http://www.resumetarget.com/blog/2010/12/30/why-facebook-can-ruin-your-
chances-of-getting-hired-and-might-even-get-you-fired/>.
Digital image. Http://t.qkme.me/1wcj.jpg. N.p., n.d. Web.
Psc230. "2011 Toyota Venza Commercial - Social Network." YouTube. YouTube, 06 July
2011. Web. 09 Sept. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUGmcb3mhLM>. "The Little Mermaid, Under The Sea Lyrics | from "Classic Disney"" The Little Mermaid
Under The Sea Lyrics. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Sept. 2012.
<http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/classicdisney/underthesea.htm>.
In the third paragraph, I'm not exactly sure what you mean by the phrase "I got to take an intimate look into their lives without ever even speaking to them." Was this done just by people watching and being in their country as a foreigner? Perhaps clarify a bit more. Format wise, The only thing I can really say is that I felt as though the essay was a bit difficult to read because the width of the blog is a bit too skinny. Something about the lines being so short tends to throw me off. Mr. Horton said not to give positive affirmations but this is hard. I see you talking a lot about what Facebook is to other people, and how they present themselves (in provocative and comprising situations), but how exactly do you want to portray/ how have you portrayed yourself on Facebook? I see what you don't want to be, but why does that make such a big impact on you? I'm getting a vibe thats less about your Facebook timeline, and more about why Facebook is bad. Perhaps steer away from the negative, and somewhat irrelevant to who you are as a person, and make it relate more to who you are now as a person, who you were when you first made Facebook, and how you've slowly progressed into the person you are today. How were you different when you first started Facebook, and how had you changed at, let's say for example, every two year intervals. You said "I think that Facebook has had an impact on the deterioration of our society because it has been a way for destructive behavior to be normalized." Have you ever given into those impulses that society puts onto you? Why is this statement relevant to your growing identity? I'm not saying these statements are wrong or bad, it might just help a tad bit to elaborate, connect, and clarify some of the points in your essay. Connecting the statistics to yourself a little more might help.
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