Facebook as an Identity Tool

Facebook is the lifeline of many people’s social life. Some use it for the purposes of work, some for school and others use it as a way to escape from the real world. Facebook has provided many with a convenient way for keeping in touch with people. It provides several ways to communicate, which forges a stronger bond. It now has games that can be shared between the members; for example, my sister and I can chat while playing a game of Uno together. That bond is made stronger because we are having fun while sharing and catching up with each other. In the time I’ve spent using Facebook, I have learned that one of the commonalities that most users share, is that although their reasons for initially using the site may vary, they all at some point have begun to use Facebook as an identity tool. Doing so by making different aspects bout their personalities stand out more on the site than they normally would do in reality. For instance, they post statuses saying things that they never would consider saying in reality, and posting pictures that they wouldn’t frame in their homes. For example, some of my friends have posted statuses saying stuff like “ima slave 2 da gun till da bullet sets me free”, statuses like that along with pictures of guns and knives. These are things that wouldn’t be said or done unless they were seeking attention. These users have allowed it to consume them to a point where they must use it on a daily basis several times a day. It has become a common addiction that not only is shared by my peers but even by people who are age fifty and above.

I use Facebook on average about four hours a day, maybe more, since it so convenient to use even away from the computer (i.e. iPhone Apps). Most of t...

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...t’s just bits and pieces of my personality that is posted that some don’t know about and some do. It’s also displayed because I am not on Facebook being someone totally different than who I am, its certain things on Facebook represent the real me and certain things represent things I would like to be.

Facebook has offered several different things to its users. It’s up to you how you use it. Some use it for bad and some use it for good. It’s all about the nature of your usage. I have used Facebook to communicate, to make my community stronger and to diversify my network. I also use it to help those who don’t exactly know certain things about me, get to know me. It has enabled me to make these things possible by giving me the needed space to do so. Is Facebook ethical with all of its values and uses No, but it is a good way to network and communicate.