Facebook and Personal Networking

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the main elements of Facebook, which, according to the paper, are the voyeuristic and exhibitionistic tendencies that attract the youth. The paper explains how publicly and socially, Facebook gives young, inexperienced users an opportunity to connect and expand within their social network and present a public face to other users. The paper points out that Facebook is also essential to networking, with the distinguishing quality being that its privacy boundaries are more restrictive than that of Myspace or Friendster. The paper concludes that while Facebook has many positive implications, we should be wary of allowing the site and sites like it to replace integral socializing in real life, especially in the lives of youth.

From the Paper:

"My first experience with personal networking websites began during my Bachelor's study, like many other students, with Facebook. The opportunity presented by the site was a whole new world to me. The truth in Watts' statement is undeniable. At first I thought of the sites as frivolous, indulgent, and certainly exhibitionistic; but the fact is that we all have a voyeuristic and exhibitionistic side to us, and I am no different. I spent a lot of time creating my profile, reveling in the idea that I could choose whatever pictures, colors, music, quotes, and facts about myself to share with the Facebook community. Today I have a Facebook account and a MySpace account, both of which I use for different reasons."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Arendt, Hannah. The Human Condition (2006). Second Edition, Lightning Source Inc: NewYork.
• Calore, Michael. "Facebook Chat Launches, Site Gets Even Noisier". Wired Magazine.April 7, 2008.
• Cassidy, John. "Me Media". The New Yorker. May 15, 2006.
• Hass, Nancy. "In Your Facebook.com" The New York Times. January 8 2006.
• Watts, Duncan. Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age. 2003. W.W. Norton andCompany: New York.

More papers on Facebook and Personal Networking:

• Term Paper # 140159 : "Facebook and Personal Identity"
• Research Paper # 140965 : "Online Social Networking"
• Research Paper # 113053 : "Social Networking"

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