Essay

Social networks such as Facebook, Myspace and Twitter have dramatically changed society’s understanding of individual identity by blurring the definition of what a ‘friend’ is. Today’s society is so closely entwined with the way in which it uses social networking sites. Because of this, privacy issues and social identity have become pressing issues which are still in the progress of an effective solution being found.

Many terms and phrases have been lost, or had their meaning changed because of social networking, so too has the aspect of the word ‘friend’. dictionary.com defines a friend as “a person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard. This traditional meaning has been completely lost in the modern world of social networking. On Facebook, to have someone as your friend basically means nothing at all, it simply means you have access to each others information and photos. Marc Meyers states the new definition of “friend - means absolutely nothing anymore. All it means is that we have allowed the other into our networks, or vice-versa. Soon we will have to qualify what kind of friend you or they actually are.” He also believes because the definition of friend has been modernized, so has the definition of “relationship - the definition of the relation connecting or binding participants in a relationship would seem to closely align itself with today's social networks. However, some now think that relationships can be built on the thinnest of determinants.” Meyers believes the culture has changed so much because of the introduction of digital media and states “Like it or not, Social networking is redefining terms of “social endearment. It's forever changing the etymology of commonly used words; and I would say easily within a few years it will completely alter their understanding and perception as younger generations continue to evolve as digitals' new natives.” The use of social networking has created a whole new culture within the new generations.

There have been many cases, particularly on Facebook, where individual identity has been destroyed or used for irresponsible purposes. One such incident was the concoction of Kate Miller’s party, you can check it out here. Basically, a Facebook invitation was made for Kate’s birthday, the invitation however, was left open and not made a private invitation to only Kate’s friends. People then began inviting themselves and inviting their friends to this event. Before the event page was taken down the number of attendees had reached 60, 000. This caused major media attention and coverage over the internet and on television, even the police in Adelaide were preparing for 60, 000 people to arrive in the area the party was planned. Luckily only a few bored teenagers ended up arriving at the address, which was the best case scenario. Although there was no person named Kate Miller and the event was just a hoax by Adelaide prankster, David Thorne, exposing the flaws of Facebook’s privacy system, it just as easily could be real. The incident spawned hundreds of pages about Kate such as “Ted Mosby met your mother at Kate's Party.” “What happens at Kate's, stays at Kate's” “I need to go tracksuit shopping for kate's party” and “Sorry Kesha, The party actaully starts when Kate walks in.” Facebook absolutely ruined the individual identity of “Kate Miller” in just a few days. If she was a real person, she would never be able to get away from that incident with hundreds of the mock pages and such available for viewing on Facebook.

Another contributor to the way in which individual identity is changed and damaged because of misuse on social networking sites is Twitter. Stephanie Rice is an example of recent of damaging individual identity because of a social network. The Hearlad Sun reported that “Remarking after the Wallabies' two-point win over the Springboks in South Africa on Saturday night, Rice - who has left the Commonwealth Games team due to injury - tweeted: "Suck on that f--gots," adding: "Probably the best game I've ever seen!! Well done boys." This Tweet gained Australia wide attention and put the spotlight on Rice and her image. This ill-intended Tweet has cause major controversy for the Olympic athlete. A majority of the controversy came from Ian Roberts, an openly gay athlete and “one of only a handful of openly gay athletes and a devoted gay-rights advocate, dismissed it as "inexcusable". She is an idiot ... and anyone who continues to endorse her as an athlete is an idiot as well," Roberts fumed. "And I say that with a very sad tone in my voice. What a fool. And if her sponsors don't do something about it, they're fools as well." The controversy created has cause sponsor Jaguar to drop Stephanie Rice which will cause a blow to her current financial standing. All of this because of one little message posted in the heat of the moment, with no harm meant, can totally alter the publics opinion of an individual identity.

Social networking websites let a person become whoever they want to be. That’s what many people find so alluring about it. But many people do not think about or even register the risks involved when using a social network site. Social networking sites have the ability to change, destroy or create individual identity through many ways. This is why users must be smart and careful when using individual identities because they can easily be targeted as what you say on the internet will be there forever.

References:

<www.dictionary.reference.com/browse/friend

Meyer, M 2010, Social networks are redefining what a friend or a relationship really is, viewed 20 October 2010, http://www.socialmediatoday.com/SMC/203682>

Ramadge, A 2010, Kate's party hoax takes aim at Facebook privacy, viewed 19 October 2010, <http://www.news.com.au/technology/kates-party-prank-takes-aim-at-facebook-privacy/story-e6frfro0-1225858792605>

The Herald Sun, 2010, Ian Roberts slams Stephanie Rice's anti-gay twitter comment, viewed 19 October 2010, <http://www.heraldsun.com.au/entertainment/confidential/ian-roberts-slams-stephanie-rices-anti-gay-twitter-comment/story-e6frf96x-1225914489396>

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After looking over the essay questions many time, i have worked it down to two. Now i just need to pick one. The first one is "Why is privacy such a contentious issue for internet users? Discuss with reference to at least ONE social network service (or other web2.0 service)." and the second one is "How do social media change our understanding of individual identity, with regard to the kinds of people we have in our social networks?"
As a member of Gen Y, these topics are basically our first language. Facebook has become every teenagers mst used website without doubt. Because of this, I think I'm going to go with the essay question, "How do social media change our understanding of individual identity, with regard to the kinds of people we have in our social networks?"
This should be an intersting topic to do it on.

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