Sam Lane, COP2, Theory into Practice, Written Content.

Contents

The Rise of Social Media The Physcology of FacebookVoyerism FAD (Facebook Addiction Disorder)

QUOTE

With over 950 million users world wide, Facebook is statisticallyone of the biggest institutes in the world.

What is Social Media?

The best way to describe Social Media is to take the two words and break them down to their basic meanings. Social, in it’s purest form, means anything that is relating to society or its organisation. A social gathering would be a gathering organized by the members of a particular group within society. Media is the main means of mass communication (television, radio, and newspapers) regarded collectively and referred to as one. When these two come together, Social Media is created. When reffering to Social Media across web platforms, it is website or application that doesn’t just give you information, but interacts with you while giving you that information. Regular media is anything that you watch , see or read which is one way; directed to you, whereas Social Media givesyou the chance to communicate too, it’s a two way conversation.

What is a Social Network?

A Social Networking Service is an online service, platform, or site that focuses on build-ing social networks or social relations among people who, for example, share interests, activities, backgrounds, or real-life connections. A Social Network often consists of a profile where the user can frequently upload information about themselves to form an ‘online iden-tity’ which can be used to interact with other people on that network. Most networks are used to connect people via email and instant messaging services. Networks also allow users to share pictures, ideas, interests and events with whoever else they feel needs to know.

Facebook

Facebook is the largest social network in the world with 950 million active users of whom 50% log in on a daily basis. So, there is no doubt that this online institution is an integral part of our lives and something that ultimately has effects on our ‘off-line’ lives. Some of the effects might be bigger than first presumed.

Section 1 : The Rise of Social Media

(Infographs)

Facebook Statistics Data

Total number of active Facebook users 900 millionTotal number of minutes spent on Facebook each month 700 billionPercent of all Facebook users who log on in any given day 50 %Percent of 18-34 year olds who check Facebook when they wake up 48 %Percent of 18-34 year olds who check Facebook before they get out of bed 28 %Average number of friends per facebook user 130Average number of pages, groups, and events a user is connected to 80Average number of photos uploaded per day 250

Global Facebook Reach Statistics

Number of languages available on the Facebook site 70Percent of Facebook users who are outside the United States 75 %Number of users who helped translate Facebook 300,000

Facebook Platform Statistics

Average number of aps installed on Facebook each day 20 millionTotal number of apps and websites integrated with Facebook 7 million

Facebook Mobile Phone Statistics

Number of Facebook users who access the site through a mobile device 350 million

Every 20 Minutes on Facebook

Links shared 1 millionFriends requested 2 millionMessages sent 3 million

Section 2 : The Psychology of Facebook

With the global sensation that is Facebook growing bigger and bigger every day, one can’t help but wonder what makes is such a popular Social Networking website and why is it so alluring to the masses. By looking into the Psychology behind Facebook, we can start to reveal what it is that makes it so appealing. This can be achieved by theoretically unpicking the most common activities that occur daily on the website. There is an element of Satisfac-tion that makes us almost addicted to Social Media, and the satisfaction comes from the approval of others...

Updating the Status

The Facebook Status is one of the most common occurrences within the network with 293,000 status’ being updated every 60 seconds worldwide. A status is a short line of text which is generally used to tell the world how you are feeling or what you are doing but can be used to ‘shout out’ anything you want to. This will then appear on the ‘newsfeed’ of all the people who are connected to you, within the Network.

You may wonder why anyone would even care about what you are doing or how you’re feeling? But as social beings, we all have natural tendencies to crave connection with the rest of the world. When we send out a status, we are doing it with the knowledge that nu-merous people are going to acknowledge it and possibly even approve of it, which causes a heightened sense of satisfaction, even if this is all done subconsciously. Deep down, we know that our ‘friends’ will see whatever is written and it is this awareness that makes us want to get as much approval as possible in order to make us feel more secure in ourselves.

Comments & Liking

It was found in a recent study, that the single most common activity on Facebook is com-menting on and liking other people’s statuses. (http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/Tech-nology-and-social-networks/Part-2/Facebook-activities.aspx)

A reason for this, could be the fact that we crave this feedback on our own status’ so much, that this subconsciously makes us like what other people have to say as a sign of goodwill, knowing and hoping that this will probably be returned in some way. This is very much linking to Reciprocity, which is a common behaviour within social networks. This works in two ways; in response to friendly actions, people are generally much nicer an a lot more co-operative than initially and conversely, when hostile actions are brought upon them, they become much more brutal with their re-actions.

There are times when you may think that you are liking somebodies status because you genuinely found it amusing, witty or interesting, but you never know that the main reason could be on a subconscious level

Checking-In

Checking in refers to the action that a user takes when revealing their location throughout the day on a social networking site such as Facebook. This is becoming more a more popu-lar with the rise of Smart Phones and the on-the-go culture which means that Facebook is only a click away, no matter where our location.

Even though we know that our privacy is at stake, many users are willing to compromise this in order to let people aware of our location. This action is generally used in an attempt to show off to other friends that might see it online. It proves that you are doing something better than what they might be doing, again causing an unconscious constant battle. As checking-in is something that you are physically doing as well as online, it causes a sense of achievement, but also means that the user is running a risk of, in extreme cases, stalking.

Posting Photos

There are over 300 million photo uploads every day and there is no better way to express and show yourself than through photographs. If we look at checking-in as a better repre-sentation of yourself than a like or status, then a photograph is the next step up. Words can be said by anybody, but a photograph is showing other users what type of person you are in the most believable sense; you can’t really hide anything...

Or can you? Revealing photographs of ourselves, for example, in a profile image, means that we have made a conscious and very deliberate decision of how we want people to perceive us and in most cases, this is to get people to like us. We might want others to view us an intelligent, cool or humorous and we manipulate this by choosing what and what isn’t shown on our profile. Even to the extent that the photographs of us online isn’t a clear representation

The Selfie

The ‘selfie’ is a term used to describe a self-portrait photograph that is often taken with an outstretched arm pointing towards yourself from an ‘interesting’ angle. This is then usually shared through social networking sites in order to gain the same recognition and in turn satisfaction that a status or check-in would.

Self-image is important, and not always in a narcissistic way. It’s how we define ourselves, and present for others to see. We rely on others’ perceptions, judgments and appraisals to develop our social self.

Technology is adapting, providing us with better tools to present our self-image and the selfie allows us to manipulate the image we present of ourselves to as far as an extent as we want to.

The profile picture or avatar is a way for people to present a certain side of themselves. It also puts the person in control of their own image.

“I’d certainly rather post a photo I took as opposed to one someone else took most of the time,”

Has that single chosen image become the most important representation of our online identity? It is the first place the eye is drawn to on a Facebook profile. Studies have shown that the comments on your Facebook profile picture strongly affect your level of perceived physical, social and professional attractiveness.

One of the differences between our self-image in real life and online is more ability to change our look, and also mask our identity. Even when a person posts a photo of you on social media, you can untag, delete or modify the photo to keep social presence more con-sistent with the self-image you want others to see.

Instagram is another example. Filters make any photo look more appealing than what the image actually looks like, let alone what the naked eye would’ve seen. There has been lim-ited psychological study on the app, but one in particular showed active users were con-cerned with both personal production and social reception. A combined search of various hashtags, such as #selfie, #self and #selfportrait, will produce millions of results.

Section 4 : Facebook Addiction Disorder

Believe it or not, There is such thing as Facebook Addiction Disorder, or (FAD) and daily, hundreds more cases are being documented worldwide.

But you might ask, is this addiction real?

In China, Taiwan and South Korea “Internet Addiction Disorder” is already accepted as a psychological diagnosis. Next year it will be included in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM-V), the American “bible of psychology

Facebook and Internet addiction can also have damaging effects on our brains and bodies. An example of this is a massive decrease in our attention span.

In fact, since 2000, our collective attention span has decreased by 40%. It also has damag-ing effects on workflow and productivity and it has been reported that depression and Internet Phobia in girls has also been linked to Facebook Addiction.

Unbelievably, a hit of dopamine, a chemical neurotransmitter which is triggers motivation and sense of feeling good in our brain, is released when recieving notifications of Facebook.

It is proven that Social media notifications has the same addictive effect as Sex or taking drugs because these activities also release large amounts of Dopamine into the brain.

While this might be looked at as extreme cases effecting a selct few of naive people, it is already being treated as “A Grave National Health Crises” in some countries and is started to effect people of all ages and from all walks of life. Who knows, maybe you could be next in line to be hit by the desease?

Conclusion : Are you addicted to Social Media?

The power relation between Facebook and the user is not one of discipline, but one of co-ercion.

Facebook, along with other forms of expanding, extreme surveillance is slowly creating “a utopia of a perfect governed city.” One in which, we are constantly trying to please each other, and inadvertently, the bigger institutions, in a way that can give us a false sense of security, in our false online lives. It’s important that you don’t get trapped in the world of Facebook and that you think carefully before sharing personal information or pictures with complete strangers.

Facebook is often reffered to as the ultimate panopticon of teh 21st century and you can clearly see why. We are under the strict surveillance of Social Media, whilst the people above can easily keep tabs on us, by letting us do their job, keeping tabs on each other. More importantly, we self-regulate. There doesn’t have to be a figure of power above us because we take on both roles without being asked or forced to.

Some people may argue that we are our own enemies by being sucked into the whole so-cial media movement and this is different to being locked up in a prison like structure, but the same principles are plain to see working in a completely different, modern day context so the question you need to ask yourself is are you being vulnerable? Are you being sucked into the greatest panopticon at all?

Glossary

Social Media : A website or application that doesn’t just give you information, but interacts with you while giving you that information.

Social Network :  An online service, platform, or site that focuses on building  social net-works or social relations among people who, for example, share interests, activities, back-grounds, or real-life connections.

Selfie : a self-portrait photograph that is usually taken with one outstretched hand, pointing the camera towards yourself.

Facebook :  The largest social network in the world, with 950 million active users.

Facebook Status : a short line of text which is generally used to tell the world how you are feeling or what you are doing but can be used to ‘shout out’ anything you want to. 

Facebook Stalking : The act of digitally tracking somebodies online presence in the way that a stalker might do a person in real life.

Checking-in : Revelling the physical location you are in the world on a social networking website. 

Reciprocity : A behaviour within Social Networks. In response to friendly actions, people are generally much nicer an a lot more co-operative than initially and conversely, when hos-tile actions are brought upon them, they become much more brutal with their re-actions. 

Instagram : Another popular social network which is based around sharing photos whereev-er you go with your chosen followers.

Sources

Michel Foucault. (1977). Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. London : Penguin. 62, 63, 65, 156, 170, 201.

Nicky Marshall. (2012). Facebook and Panopticism. Available: http://michelfoucaultotago.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/facebook-and-panopticism.html. Last accessed 20th Jan 2012.

Kennedy Mary Catherine. (2010). Facebook and Panopticism: Healthy Curiosity or Stalk-ing?. Available: http://etd.ohiolink.edu/send-pdf.cgi/Kennedy-Mary-Catherine.pdf. Last ac-cessed 19th Jan 2012. 85. 202.

Nicole B. Ellison, Charles Steinfield, Cliff Lampe. (2006). The Benefits of Facebook “Friends:” Social Capital and College Students’ Use of Online Social Network Sites. Avail-able: http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol12/issue4/ellison.html. Last accessed 20th Jan 2012.

Clifford Jackman. (2011). Social Media and the Panopticon. Available: http://loveandfiction-publishing.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/essay-social-media-and-panopticon.html. Last accessed 20th Jan 2012.

Tom Allen. (2013). Panopticism and Social Media. Available: http://www.telega.org/2013/01/panopticism-and-social-media/. Last accessed 20th Jan, 2012.