Participatory Culture

Every morning, I roll out of bed to my alarm, turn it off, hit the power button on my computer, then head off to brush my teeth and such. I come back, and my computer is completely ready to go. My internet is connected, my msn is up and running, and I'm ready to check my emails. Almost every morning, I have an email from my boyfriend, then about 6 or 7 from Facebook. I check these, and head off to my Facebook page to see what the daily dirt is.

I am one of the millions of people around the world who has been taken in by the world of Facebook. Without it, my social life would lack, and the amount of gossip I hear about would be significantly less. However, I don't just use Facebook to see who is dating who and who is fighting with who over this person's wall. Facebook is a way that I have been able to stay in touch with friends and family whom I don't get to see very often during that day. I have a lot of family members who don't live in the same province as me, and a lot of friends from the places where I have travelled. Seeing as not everyone is on the same timeline, it is nice to be able to communicate freely over Facebook, and stay updated in the lives of my friends and family.

One thing I love about Facebook is that my parents and Grandmother have managed to get themselves onto this social networking site. My Grandmother came on so she could see weekly updates of her very first grandson, who unfortunately lives in Kenora, VERY North of Peterborough, where she lives. As she puts it, she is able to watch Ben grow, even though she can't often see him in person. Facebook is a networking site that connects people around the world and enables people to stay in touch with those they don't always have the opportunity to see.

Although I am slightly addicted to Facebook, there are things about it that I have learned that somewhat scare me off the site. I learned that my privacy is constantly breeched. In one of my other classes, we were told to watch a video on Facebook, and it really opened my eyes at the what happens at the head of the Facebook network, and what the owners divuldge. The site, http://www.albumoftheday.com/facebook, is a flash presentation that discusses how our privacy is being invaded while we express ourselves in this social networking site.

Even though I see that larger corporations are being sold statistics and information about me and my age demographic, I can't help but to continue to Facebook constantly throughout the day. It helps to relax me when I'm uber stressed, and it is an excellent tool for procrastination... I can always find a quiz that is floating around in someone's notes to do instead of finishing the essay that is currently sitting open on my desktop. Facebook may be something that gets abused and over-used, but it is a great source of networking and keeping people in touch with others around them.