Does it Really Matter?
Facebook redefines our definition of a community. Even though a user may have many friends, these "friends" can be people they know in real life or people we never met or never will meet. This community allows you to post about yourself and expect everyone wants to know about your recent accomplishments or your thoughts on the latest box office smash. When communicating in person, you are expected to respond to whatever the other person says. However, in a Facebook community, you are not expected to respond to every single post every Facebook friend makes.
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Facebook eliminates cliques existing in an offline community. When you post a status, it goes to every single one of your friends. When you choose to disclose information in an offline community, you only do so with people you feel you are closest to. This equalizes all your relationships on Facebook and eliminates social rankings.
As for status updates, they can evoke empathy and form in-depth conversations. Still, some Facebook updates receive no likes or responses while others receive an overwhelming amounts. Conversations can leave incomplete and people can post about political beliefs so frequently, it causes a person to defriend them. Facebook was created in 2004 and even though 9 years may seem like a long time, the Facebook community has not fully evolved. Facebook constantly updates its features, experimenting with how to keep people connected instead of damaging relationships. As Briggs said when I spoke to him on the social media site, how you act on Facebook reflects how you would act in face-to-face conversations. While posting a status, it is a more thought out process than talking to a person offline. Facebook either has the power to build your professional career or ruin relationships by over analyzing content on another person's page. The choice is yours: how are you going to use Facebook for good or evil?
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