Computer Science 408 - Navitas, Living in a Networked World

...

On top of that, here is another story, and the title is “Time Suck”. There is a man whose name is Aaron. He usually spent 12 hours a week doing Facebook. What’s more surprising was when the author studied the relationships between Facebook and Trinidadian, it was hard to have computers, which could connect to access of the internet. Realistically speaking, as someone with no internet connection, it was impossible to log on the Facebook, and spend 12 hours a week doing Facebook. The secret he could have access to the internet, and log on the Facebook was the cultures of Trinidadian. He could use the internet access in the upmarket homes which had more than 6 computers unless he used the computer quiet and unobtrusive. The author, Daniel Miller, said the attitude was perfect for his research because all Trinidadian didn’t care much about him observing their lives. Even when he observed Aaron’s lifestyle for a few days, Aaron also didn’t care about being observed and the presence of Daniel. It was more like he appeared oblivious to his presence. Of course, he could use computers in the library waiting his turn. When he studied the internet access in Trinidad, Trinidadian felt they were connected with the neighborhood, if one person had the internet. At this point, we can’t hardly wonder how Aaron spent 12 hours a week only by doing Facebook. Actually, there are lots of “time suck” things to do with Facebook. By and large, people spend their time doing online gaming, communicating, and cultivating their profile. In the same way, Aaron spent 12 hours a week doing online gaming, communicating with his friends, and cultivating his profile. However, the more he got used to using Facebook, the more he lost his time to do his homework. At the end of the semester, he came to know that his grades were getting worse and worse. As a result, his averages grade became lower than C, so that he had to decide to retake all three courses he had taken before.

Last story is about woman, Nicole, who thinks that Facebook is a kind of documentary which shows her chronicle of life. She was students of Harvard University, so she had a chance to use the initial version of Facebook. At that time, the Facebook was only used for the students, helping student to organize parties, to share university news, and to offer academic information because the function was usually focused on communication system. When she used Facebook, no one was likely to cultivate their profiles. She didn’t post exaggerated photos, or fake profiles. However, after Mark Zuckerberg released Facebook, and started to change the original format, lots of people began to use it differently from what it had been used to. Her friends posted photos which made her look attractive and powerful. In other words, with Facebook, people could make pretentious self. In this period, she could also try to make herself look attractive to her boyfriend. She liked to post everything such as her feelings, and photos related to her couples. However, when she got married, and gave birth to her baby, she didn’t have much time to do Facebook. In this period, she felt so lonely that her posts on Facebook were all about her feelings after giving birth, and marriage. It didn’t mean that she hated raising her baby up, but mean that she wanted to take some time for her, not for her baby. One day, she happened to see her profiles and think about her life. She realized that as her circumstances changed, frequency in use of Facebook also changed. She also realized Facebook has been no less than her photo album that shows her life. By seeing her profile, she could keep thinking back to her past, and expect her future.

These for stories show how human beings are adapting to new technology to communicate with other people, form social relationships or communities, and Trinidadian used Facebook in their own way. It seems like social networking or community are declining because people are getting used to nuclear family phenomenon, and the indifference of the neighborhood. However, this book shows that by the virtue of the development of social network site such as Facebook people are getting closer each other, and express their feelings more freely. For me, this book gave me new perspective to see the world, especially as to how Trinidadian use Facebook. I realize there are some similarities and differences about using Facebook, even though Facebook is always same. It occurred to me that the differences of using Facebook from countries to countries let us know how cultures merge. Also, I think it was a great chance for me to know the nature of human beings and Facebook.

Reference

Miller, D. (2011). Tales from Facebook. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.