I chose to analyze Facebook for my topic
analysis. The theories that seemed to relate the best to my topic were icons,
cult of the celebrity, formulas and rituals. I would consider the social
network is an icon of popular culture. Facebook has become one of the leading
social networking sites in just a few years and it is versatile which makes it
easy to be used by people of different ages, cultural and educational backgrounds.
Businesses also use it to create a demand for their products through
advertising.
Many users on Facebook use the website
because it gives them a false sense of being celebrities themselves. For
example, posting pictures of events they went to on Facebook and having lots of
comments on them can make them feel like they are constantly being watched by
others and that other users have an interest in their lives. Users also get
this false sensation of stardom by having as much friends as they can on Facebook
to follow their every move.
The social networking site depends on
formulas to maintain its success and to keep on growing. Formulas working on
the backend of the website make it possible for posts to become public, for
people to be able to block other users, for birthday alerts to pop up exactly
at the right day, etc. the creators of Facebook also used a formula to create
the website i.e.- idea, growth and development of idea, innovation of idea,
survival of idea.
Every Facebook user has a ritualistic
habit of checking their notifications, weather they do it before they go to bed
at night or the first thing in the morning. Personally, when I was on Facebook,
if I went to bed without checking my messages and notifications, I would wake
up and go check it. It has become a part of the daily lives of a lot of its
users to where they cannot function without it.
I find it interesting that Facebook is
actually a celebrity. The name sells the image, Mark Zuckerberg will always be
known as the guy who created Facebook and it seems to me like the website is an
even bigger celebrity than he is! After all of the analysis, I still think it
was a brilliant idea and I am still a big fan of how it was created and all the
determination and hard work that went into the creation process however, at the
end of the day, my account is still deactivated and I have no intention of
reactivating it any time soon. Of course I have nothing against Facebook; I
just think that the way people are constantly glued to it is a waste of
precious time. It is a good tool of communication for people that are too shy
to communicate face-to-face however.
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