Facebook: The Final Boss Battle

The first time I used Facebook, like all my pointless misadventures, it was to try and talk to a guy that didn't know I existed. I got about twenty emails from other classmates before I got the email from him that changed my internet experience. I didn't know it at the time but my email from him was from an automated system that ran through a users email address book searching for people to invite. The younger version of myself took it as a personal invite rather than spam. Like a Trojan virus that infects an inbox when I joined Facebook it did the same thing to me. Facebook uses the same effective strategy that teenagers use at parties: peer pressure.

According to the authors of A World I Don’t Inhabit: Disquiet and Identity In Second Life and Facebook, Stuart Boon and Christine Sinclair this type of marketing campaign is what made Facebook grow into the huge network it is now. “As such, the application’s reach is global,” the article reads, “and its method is viral: you might not be looking for Facebook, but Facebook is likely looking for you.” It was this very strategy that first drew me in.

Currently, I now use Facebook to keep in touch with friends from High school and play another addicting game called the Sims social. I find that Facebook's networking ability is what draws me back to it. I used to struggle to keep a few close friends that I talked to daily now I find it easy to manage a network of hundred of friends by simply liking comments.

Despite my lack of exploration of the site, Facebook offers many mediums for companies and celebrities. For companies group pages can be a great way to meet together and discuss policies or changes in the company. Company public pages can also be a great place to offer deals to consumers or get consumers excited about a particular event. Since getting a follower is as simple as getting a customer to click “like” companies can amass a large following of potential customers in a few short days.

Public relations is another benefit of Facebook. According to TopRank Online Marketing's article, Why Use Social Media for Public Relations, the personal appeal of social media is what makes it so potent for PR. “We crave authenticity – and digital channels reward it higher than traditional,” the article reads, “This is because they are personal versus the fact that traditional channels produce content as the result of a polished, refined process.” In short, Rihanna's tweet about her new puppy is a personal appeal to her audience. “Look at me! I'm just like you; I have a dog,” this message implies to the viewer. This indirectly effects her record sales as it changes Rihanna from untouchable pop sensation to “that-woman-I-follow-on-twitter-with-the-nice-dog”. The same can be said for companies as well. Burger King is no longer just a franchise of restaurants but a “Facebook friend” who posts the “Burger King Prank of the Week” to make you laugh every weekend.

Given all the resources on Facebook I can see why our professor wanted us to make separate accounts. Facebook is a lot less fun without friends but a lot less distracting. However, I do feel like my projects would have been more interesting if I had my friends to add to my group pages.

For my personal Facebook page I set much of it to public simply because I don't feel I post anything interesting anyway. However, according to Joy Peluchette and Katherine Karl, authors of Examining Students’ Intended Image on Facebook:“What Were They Thinking?!”, this idea is more of a generational question. “Although some studies suggest that users’ comfort with revealing intimate details about themselves comes in part from a perception that their postings are somewhat private (Lupsa, 2006),” the article reads, “others have suggested that young people today have a “willingness, bordering on compulsion, to broadcast the details of their private lives to the general public” (St. John, 2006, Section 9, p. 8).” I find this idea really fascinating. It seems especially true for me and my friends. If it didn't get posted on Facebook afterwards, it's like it never happened.

That being said while I believe Facebook has no rules I do believe there are some rules of etiquette that site users SHOULD follow. Firstly, profile information should be true and realistic. Setting your employment history to say, “Death Star Janitorial Service” is only funny the first time someone reads it. If that person is trying to identify you this information is just irrelevant. The same can be said for being married to your best friend Grandma, and dog and listing every member of your cheer squad as your sister. It's just weird and it takes up space on the news feed. Speaking of news feed, another rule should be that if you have to post a semi-nude photo of yourself with the caption: “Am I Pretty or Ugly, Tell Me the Truth” you are a hideous ogre with nothing to look forward too in life but the cold embrace of death. On the subject of death trolling should be something responsible users abstain from. Yes it's fun to be a bully but it's not fun to be bullied. Another rule should be that Facebook games should be illegal. They're like being addicted to Heroin and will ruin your friendships as people get sick of the constant posting asking for “help”. Facebook should ask when you first create an account if you actually have a computer. Users who use Facebook solely from a cell phone and then complain when they get trapped in a Facebook conversation application they can't get out of because they “don't have a computer” are a cancer that deserves to be cured before AIDS and world hunger. The final rule that should exist for Facebook etiquette is that you should never say anything online you wouldn't say in person. Trust me, if more people accepted this rule internet drama would decrease tenfold.

That being said there are no etiquette rules on Facebook because they are impossible to enforce. In fact, even if someone posts a naked photo with a bong and a gun outside of an elementary school chances are that photo will never be taken down because there is simply too much information for anyone to enforce.