Facebook's Effect on Personal Identity

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The present generation has widely accepted the Facebook website as an essential vehicle for interacting with one another. With this new communication medium, there are marked changes in traditional forms of communication: invitations to parties, birthday notes, all of which were once handwritten and mailed with authenticity, are now being digitally transcribed and delivered electronically. Consequently, personal information is abundantly available and used in this new form of hyper communication amongst peer groups. Facebook enables one to manage hundreds of relationships simultaneously, providing a centralized, convenient repository of known people from different parts of life. An individual’s list of friends on the site often consists of both close and distant friends, family members, and coworkers. Facebook uses algorithms to predict who an individual’s friends may be and displays them prominently in an effort to confirm the relationship. Undoubtedly, the site has an interest in connecting everyone to everyone else. Participation on the site is marginally necessary as merely having an account will ensure shocking encounters with long lost friends or family. Conflict is inevitable as one’s identity from reality is transposed onto a virtual medium where the absence of boundaries reveal unspeakable truths. The efficiencies and practical applications of Facebook are all highly spoken of while the effect it has on identity is seldom mentioned.

Outside of the virtual world, group interactions are different in that there’s a common understanding of what ideal behavior is and how one should act in the company of a specific group or situation. In “Many masks, many selves,” Wendy Doniger describes how our behavior is influenc...

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...n essence, seeing the strings that tie the mask together may cause one to lose respect for an otherwise close friend. Then there’s how you act on Facebook, your choice of words, your status updates, and of course, how much time outside of your real life that you devote to the social networking site. It’s alarming that people elect to spend a substantial amount of time on Facebook, rather than in real world social interactions. It’s easy for one to become trapped inside the virtual Facebook reality where they lose touch with who they are in real life.

With all of these negative aspects of Facebook, it’s not surprising that many people opt to detach themselves from the chaos. Unfortunately, today’s society is very much dependent on social network websites such as Facebook, and in the process of expunging a Facebook identity, one can be ostracized from their peers.

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