Since Facebook’s launch in 2004, it has grown in features, “search-ability,” and popularity. According to Wikipedia, facebook is the sixth most visited site on the internet. With the new application feature, there is no limit to the kinds of information you can present on your page.
Some have learned the hard way that one use of facebook could be for high schools, colleges, and companies to search for its students/prospective employees and see how they present themselves. With recent news that facebook will soon be making profiles available on search engines, this use will become more prevalent than ever.
I believe many users employ selective self-presentation tactics of the hyperpersonal model to appear more attractive/funny/etc in profiles. For some people, the way they want to be perceived by their peers is drastically different than how they want to be perceived by prospective employers, school administration, and parents. With that in mind, I wonder how the majority of users create their profile/pictures. Do most “tone it down” just in case someone besides their peers views it? I also think aspects of behavioral confirmation also come into play with the comments left by others on the Wall.
For this assignment I asked one of my friends who visited me this weekend to rate her profile in the same way Catalina had others rate their dating profiles. Some interesting points were that my friend rated her “status
” with a 2. The reason was that she was upset her car was totaled, and doesn’t like her new car nearly as much. When I asked her why she posted it, she “guessed” that she wanted people to think she had some great new car. She rated her school network with a 4 because even though she has to stay an extra year and graduate in ’09, she didn’t want anyone to think of possible “bad” reasons why that is. She rated most of her interest areas as I would expect; mostly 4’s and 5’s. The ones she listed less than a 5 she explained that at the time of posting those were her interests that have faded a bit since, but she still wants people to think those are her favorites. She rated her quote with only a 3, with the explanation that the quote describes how she wishes she could lead life, when in reality she is not as ”badass.” All of these fall in line with the selective self-presentation portion of the hyperpersonal model.
The aspect I found most interesting was how she rated her relationship status section. She is seeing someone regularly (who, oddly enough, is not on facebook), but “keeping her options open” by using deception tactics and having people from her network believe she is completely available. In class, we learned that people are honest about relationship status nearly all of the time. I also looked at my friend’s myspace page (which is viewable even if you are not a member) it listed that she is in a relationship.
The last aspect of my friend’s profile that I want to comment on is her photos. She has hundreds of photos posted; some of which I don’t think represents who she is. She posts pictures that many would find to be inappropriate. I believe behavioral confirmation plays a part in this. When I looked at most of her Wall comments, people comment on how “crazy/sexy/etc.” her newest pictures are, which I believe lead to her posting more photos like that.
http://comm245yellow.blogspot.com/2007/09/assignment-4-lying-to-friend.html
http://comm245yellow.blogspot.com/2007/09/assignment-4-impossibility-of-knowing.html
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