CA2 Reflection

1.     What do you think are the two most influential factors that have contributed to Facebook's success today? Reflect on the impact (both positive and negative) that Facebook or any other social networking tool has on your daily life in relation to these two factors. For each factor, provide at least one appropriate example to support your answer. (10 marks)

Many of us have been in the situation before, you’re on your way home, the ride is long and the train is crowded. You stand by the door, as people squeeze their way through the small carriage. “I haven’t seen my friend in awhile,” you think to yourself as you scroll through your phones contacts, “I wonder how’s she doing.” So you pull out your phone and decide to check up on her, but instead of calling like you normally would, you log onto “Facebook” and read her virtual  “wall”.

It is ironic that the basic function of calling someone on the phone is overlooked so easily as people choose to instead surf the web reading updates on their friends lives as though they were products on some imaginary shelf, with giant labels attached to them reading, “I AM SINGLE” and “I HAVE 300 FRIENDS.” 

A person would rather “read “ about their “friends” lives than actually “be” in their friend’s lives. Simply put Facebook promotes social interaction by removing actual social interaction. And this negative trend seems to be gaining momentum as more and more people join “Facebook” everyday.

So ultimately the question we have to ask is “Why?”

I believe that Facebook can attribute its success to two main factors, the first factor being curiosity. People are always going to be curious about what their friends are doing, where they are going and who they have been talking to. It is this natural factor of curiosity that drives Facebook and keeps it’s users returning for more, eventually forming an addiction. 

This simple factor drives not just Facebook but all other social networking sites out there today. Knowing what your friends are doing has never been easier, with a few clicks one is able to retrieve information about a person that would otherwise take weeks or months to learn. This brings us to the second factor, accessibility.

When a person logs onto Facebook, he/she is immediately greeted with a flurry of news updates and notifications designed to provide the user with the most amount of information in the most direct manner possible and in the easiest way possible. This accessibility comes from great flexibility, in which Facebook allows the user to view what he wants to view and not clutter the screen with information he has little or no interest in.

Looking back at the great advances in communications technology, all of it exists to perform a simple task, and that task is to allow two people to connect with each other over great distances, with as much ease as possible. (The Electric Telegraph, the Telephone and the Internet)

The quantum leap in mobile technology has also played a strong role in driving this accessibility. Phones, laptops, tablets and even MP3 players allow for quick access to the web and social networking sites. As a result, anyone from anywhere can view “you” at anytime.  Simply put, accessibility drives connection.

By satisfying the natural need for information (curiosity) by providing an easy method of accessing the desired information (accessibility), a person is able to continuously fulfill that “need” with great ease should the urge arise.

This continuous and frequent process of satisfying their need to know where their friends are, who they are with and what they are doing results in a strong addiction to the social networking site. And it is because of this process; social networking sites have been generally labeled as addictive. In severe cases, this addiction becomes difficult to treat as users become hooked on the site hence coining the term “Face-hooked.” During the peak of my Facebook addiction, I visited the site numerous times a day, on my laptop in school, on my phone in the train and on my desktop at home. It had gotten out of hand. I knew that the only way to curb this addiction was to take action. By removing Facebook from my phone, notebook and desktop I had created a process inconvenient enough to prevent myself from logging onto the site.

However not all aspects are negative, there are some positive aspects that Facebook provides such as a low cost solution for long distance relationships. A prime example would be the long distance relationship between my parents and my elder sister who decided to pursue her further studies in Australia. Facebook allowed them to interact with each other instantaneously even though they were kilometers apart.  It allowed my parents to watch over her and at the same time provide themselves reassurance that she was safe abroad.

To conclude, Facebook is unequivocally a tool for bringing people closer together and the very fact that it is still around and growing larger everyday proves that it’s an efficient tool for connecting with people. However as with any other tool, it has to be used for good and should not be abused. It therefore is the responsibility of every person on Facebook to be disciplined and focused in their use of the site so as to be able to control his or her usage habits and not become “Face-hooked.” 

2.     The movie focuses a lot on ethical issues and responsible use of social networking tools. Briefly describe any one example of unethical/ irresponsible use of Facebook in the movie and discuss your views on it. Provide one example of how you can engage an online community ethically on any one social networking tool of your choice. (10 marks)

The most appropriate example of unethical and irresponsible conduct on Facebook occurred when Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) utilized Facebook to cheat on his final exam. By posting up pictures of paintings he was supposed to critic, he made use of opinions by other students on the social networking site to complete his exam.

The idea itself was brilliant. It showcased Marks creative out of the box thinking and his ability to use technology for his advantage. It was a clear example of how one could easily manipulate technology to serve their purposes even if the purpose is unethical in nature.

This reinforces my point made in part 1. Technology is physically inanimate and at the disposal of the user. At the end of the day, it comes down to the individual. If a person is unable to control themselves in the use of a tool (in this case Facebook) then no matter how good and how much potential the tool possess to do good, it will eventually be manipulated for other purposes. Hence, it requires strong self-discipline to utilize the technology for the correct purposes rather than abusing it.

Therefore, although a brilliant idea which showcased the resourcefulness of Mark, the act of utilizing other student’s ideas on Facebook is extremely unethical. No tool or invention should ever be used to cheat or help cheat on any exam regardless of situation.

On the flipside, there are many ways that one can utilize social networking tools to do good. One such way is to create an online forum with weekly topics for users to engage with other users. Ideas and thoughts can be shared quickly among users with similar interests, creating a strong online community and providing users a platform to connect with others.

In conclusion, there are many ways to utilize a social networking site but people have to decide how to use it in a socially and morally responsible way.