I too seem to have missed the announcement about partnered blog postings somehow, so I apologize for that. Also sorry this post is so late, this is the first time I have been home for more than ten minutes today.
Danah Boyd in her article “Why Teens (Heart) Social Network Sites” makes reference to people who consciously object to using social networking sites. Formerly, I refused to use facebook or myspace or any similar sites. I had neither AOL instant messenger nor MSN messenger nor even a cell phone for quite some time. Some kids are simply “too cool” says Boyd. I was one of those kids, but upon further investigation of my motives for refusing to use these social devices I have found that I actually had quite a few things right. One thing I would constantly say when asked why I did not use myspace or facebook was, “Facebook and myspace are for people who want to think they have more friends than they really do.” There is a lot of truth in this somewhat brash statement. How many of your facebook friends are people you see or talk to on a regular basis? How many of them would you actually refer to as friends in the real world? Probably many less than you have on your page. I have about 120 people on my "friends" list, which seems to be a modest number in comparison to most other people. I know that I probably talk to less than half of these people, much less are truly my friends. In fact there are some people whom I talk to almost solely on the Internet at times. Perhaps they should change the label to acquaintances.
Another objection I had was that social networking sites actually pushed people further away rather than bringing them closer together. Though it may be convenient to use facebook to contact people it is certainly not the most personal method of communication. Facebook makes it a lot easier to talk to people without ever having any significant contact with them. When people write on each other’s walls there is no real conversation going on. It might be easier to message you friend on Facebook then to call them. The idea that social networking brings people closer together is a façade. It merely makes it simpler to contact and keep track of people without having any true human contact with these people. Social networking sites further separate people from their own humanity and reduce the personal aspect of human relationships.
I never actually considered the political aspect of Facebook or myspace too thoroughly (though I know at least one person who refuses to use facebook on this basis). Not having a Facebook or myspace profile certainly reduces certain social opportunities, but I believe that refusing to have one increases the quality of social opportunities. As with everything, there are pros and cons. Had someone not made a myspace profile for me, however long ago it was, I might still be the social networking cynic that I once was. I still am to a degree, but I have a facebook account that I check regularly. There is no denying that it is an addicting concept. As these sites become more and more pervasive we must keep track very closely of how they may alter our relationships, making sure not to lose the things about these relationships that we value so greatly
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