Facing down Facebook
Liz Anderson 5:34pm
I always knew I was right not to be one of the 59 million (7 million in the UK) people who have joined Facebook, and Tom Hodgkinson’s article in today’s Guardian has confirmed my prejudice. He makes an extremely convincing case for not wanting to be part of Facebook’s ‘heavily funded programme to create an arid global virtual republic, where your own self and your relationships with your friends are converted into commodities on sale to giant global brands’. Read it — and sign off.
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nullo
January 14th, 2008 6:47pm Report this commenti cant be the only one to have noticed the huge blunder in the guardian article: http://insatiableyucca.wordpress.com/2008/01/14/facebook-uncovered-if-only-trees-and-guardian-columnists-could-count/
Gerry Dorrian
January 14th, 2008 11:41pm Report this commentFacebook's never tried to sell me Coco-Cola. But if it did, I would do something so radical that the author of the Guardian piece appears not to have thought of it - I would ignore the ad.
MrB
January 15th, 2008 1:10am Report this commentWhile it makes some good observations, the article misses the core point of Facebook for me. It is a lazy argument to say that Facebook actually discourages real social interaction. This may be true for some social groups but remember, it was made for students. While at uni, it provides me with an extremely easy and convenient method of keeping in touch with many friends who I may be away from for long stretches of time. That is extremely important to me and as Facebook is the best tool for the job, I will keep using it!
Heywood Yerbloemie
January 15th, 2008 8:49am Report this commentNot sure about the 'neocon conspiracy' angle, which seems the best way to sell a feature to the Guardian. But I agree with Mr Hodgkinson's point about commodification. FaceBook's operators make their money by peddling the illusion of interaction, whereas in fact it is almost entirely passive. It's like pornography in that respect. Also I suspect that employers secretly love FaceBook and the other social networking sites, because they make you feel connected while 'sneekily' using it at work, thus making you think that 'work' is an extension of 'fun': "I can't wait to get to work to check out FaceBook!!"
Daniel
January 15th, 2008 9:48am Report this commentMy goodness! You mean they are selling advertising!!!! What will they think of next - how appalling. Or alternatively, a robust business strategy enabling them to make a profit while allowing me to interact with a broader social circle than I could see at any one time, many of whom are former colleagues, or living abroad and so on. Without Facebook I would lose touch with them, or have to make considerably more effort to stay in touch. There are rather more important things to worry about in the world! Don't like it? Don't join.
Praguetory
January 16th, 2008 8:36am Report this commentReconnected with maybe 10 lost friends using facebook. Benefits outweighing the costs.
Alison
January 16th, 2008 5:27pm Report this commentIt is important to understand the motivations of the people behind any service, as a separate issue from the debate about whether this is deepening and enabling meaningful human connection or not. By choosing not to recognise that our actions empower the Facebook management and investors to pursue other agendas, we are failing to take full responsibility as consumers. It is possible to look at the chain of effect and to recognise the interrelationship and inter-dependencies at play in our [now truly global] world.
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