“i only B-leev what i read on teh internets”

Knowing very little about each other, being weak links and all, Sean and I decided to learn about one other through our facebook profiles before having an in depth discussion. We wrote down assumptions and conclusions gathered from information on each others profiles, and talked about how accurate they were.

Facebook First Impressions
Impressions of Hannah, by Sean:
Friends in common: I would guess that she is pretty relaxed and easy going, or that she lived on a freshmen hall with a handful of my good friends, probably more likely the latter since I did not meet her through any of my friends.
Concentration of Visual Art and Engineering: Maybe she is into architecture? Doesn’t seem like a typical pairing?
Music: Very eclectic in taste, seems to like alternative bands
Movies: She likes the smaller name blockbusters or ones with good color composition, a la Moulin Rouge and Sin City
186 total friends: doesn’t friend just anybody
Bakery application and banana stand group: has a goofy but somewhat tame sense of humor
“I’ve made a huge mistake”: Either really likes classic movie quotes, or has low self-esteem?
About me section: I only believe what I read on the internet.
_________________

Impressions of Sean, by Hannah:
Picture: Sean in neon sunglasses and a tux- he must be pretty goofy, and have a sense of humor.
Friends: 158 – he must be pretty popular, or outgoing
From Mass: Probably gets to go home a lot.
Classes: He’s taking VA10- that’s the only class we have in common besides MCM, who does he have? I want to see some drawings…
Activities: Transfer Student Counselor- is he a transfer student? Either that or he’s really nice and has time to show people around.
Quotes: Better than most, not all lame inside jokes.
Art App: Profile doesn’t have a ton of stupid applications, just this art one- that’s a good sign. I don’t have to feed his werewolf or whatever.
Concentrations: MCM and Literary Arts? ‘nuff said.
Groups: Freerice! Likes learning vocabulary words and feeding the hungry. Cool.
__________________

Then, we talked for real:

Through this quick experiment, we discovered that many of the assumptions we make from “facebook stalking” become a fake signifier of the individual’s personality, and more a factual signifier to the reader of disembodied characteristics of a profile person and not a physical person.

Hannah: For example, Sean misinterpreted my quote (to be fair, I didn’t cite it) to be from a classic movie, and assumed I like classic movies. I’m not a huge fan, really, and the quote is actually from Arrested Development. However, I can assume from his assumption that he must like classic movies….

Sean: Hannah misinterpreted the amount of time I would spend at home or would be able to. I only go home on breaks, even though I live very close to campus. Just because my hometown is close does not mean I spend less time here than most people. From her assumption though, I can assume that maybe she wishes she could spend more time at home?

By engaging this experiment and further discussing the article and our own past experiences with MySpace and Facebook, we came to a conclusion about social networks which challenged Boyd’s conclusion about how online social networks are essential to helping teens learn social cues and rules for an adult world while still existing in an adolescent sphere of crises. We don’t think that social networks are preparing teens for the societal constraints of adulthood, rather they are simply a microcosm mirror for their everyday life in high school, a fancy accessory to extend non vital communication beyond lunch and study hall.

Teens spread gossip, cause drama over wall posts and comments, and can verbally attack others in order to claim social status. This is all caused by their acknowledgment of participating in a networked public, but appropriating their adolescent high school social rules onto that networked public instead of acknowledging it as an adult space that might overall have different social cues and controls. Therefore, being fluent in MySpace is not actually crucial to adolescent development because the way it’s used lends itself to trivial gossip and meaningless exhibitionism. Perhaps it’s better in the long run for teens to avoid it, giving them a chance to learn how to interact socially with people in real life instead of virtual life. Real world communication skills translated into a virtual context are far more successful than applying online colloquialisms into real life professional situations. Although it should be obvious when it’s appropriate to say ‘lol’ in conversation, it seems to be used more and more outside of casual text based communication. Further, the move towards publicizing one’s life through online journals or profiles can be increasingly detrimental as a person becomes older, since this information can never be completely erased. Everything is cached. This blurs the line between what is private and what is not, as people generally have trouble accepting the networked public as totally and completely public. They know anyone can see what they write as comments, but at the same time want to forget the fact that others, whom the messages were not intended for, can read those messages and store that information in their brains. The problem comes with the assumption that in public people will “mind their own business,” but why would you ignore what someone has made so easily available?

-Sean H. and Hannah S.