Deck the Halls with Narsocism

Now that the holidays are coming up, people are scrambling to find the best gifts for their loved ones. In traditional self-absorbed behavior many people are asking for gifts based upon their Facebook information. In order to fill this need, a new company has emerged. Ninuku Archivist is now cornering the market on the world’s most egotistical gift. They are offering a service that, or a fee, Ninuku Archivist will compile the incredibly unimportant and self indulgent information from a person’s Facebook page. After collecting a sufficient amount of life altering information, the service will create “chapters” which can easily be printed out and turned into a book.
The service is incredibly convenient and can even be accessed by joining the group on your Facebook.

This gift is successful in displaying just how narcissistic society has become. It has become so severe that no long photo albums or scrap books will fill our need for our own self worship. Now we need a printable version of all of the incredible gems of wisdom we type into our statuses. It will be such an asset to have these printed copies of pictures of us drunk at frat parties, and taking self portraits in our mirrors. Heaven forbid we forget the times we “liked” comments, and beat our friends on Farmvile.



http://www.digitaltrends.com/social-media/turn-your-facebook-into-an-actual-book-with-ninuku-archivist/


http://technabob.com/blog/2010/11/26/ninuku-archivist-facebook-book/

Facebook helps you connect…or does it?

Facebook provides false promises of getting you connected, giving you the chance to meet new people, and granting you access to explore the world. These are the things one could hope for when socializing, right? In high school only one of my friend had a Facebook, being connected to all of the people you saw every day for some reason was not as important to us. But as soon as I started college back in 2008, the first thing one of my college acquaintances said, “You have to have a Facebook…get connected.” Now as a junior I have a Facebook that I barely update and the seven graders I teach are more connected, but of course under an alias because they would want to friended their mother who is also on Facebook. So the questions here are, why is there such a need to be connected and does Facebook really connected you to these people you will probably never meet in person? The truth is that Facebook has substituted human interaction with virtual interaction, causing people to become socially inept. Such people spend an exorbitant amount of time chatting online, updating statuses and looking at hundreds of other people’s photos instead of, for instance, playing a game of basketball with their peers or going out to meet new people face to face. The social skills that one would have learned from day to day experiences with friends, family, or just people for that matter, are now being replaced with the growing use of technology. If this dangerous trend continues, eventually people will never have to leave their homes. Neighbors will never know who the person is living next door, boyfriends and girlfriends will never know for sure if there significant other is really good-looking, and best friends will never get to hear the sounds of each other’s laughs when sharing an inside joke. Social networks like Facebook discourage physical interactions by bring people together virtually, defaulting one of the key components of social interactions.

The Way Facebook has Changed the Way People Interact on Both a Personal and Business Level

Our society has drastically changed since our parents were children. The main reason I believe is because of computers and the Internet-narrowing down to social networking sites. My parents and my friends’ parents find it extremely odd/weird that status updates are a part of our lives now. Where we are, what we are eating, who we are with and how we feel, is very important to my friends. It’s mind boggling that people today rely more on social networking sites and would rather log onto these sites as opposed to picking up a phone and calling someone up. Our society has drastically changed I believe it will be very difficult to keep up with digital media, but extremely necessary.

Parents are continuously creating Facebook accounts to “reconnect” with their old high school and college friends. This however, creates an issue for their children and family friends when that dreaded friend request is received. Not only do we have to accept the request but now we must censor and continuously edit our profiles. There are ways to limit and monitor who sees the various parts of your Facebook. This may seem like a good idea on paper. However, personally it is time consuming and confusing. I usually forget to make these changes allowing all of my friends to see the entirety of my profile page. As of this morning the Wall Street Journal as well as CNBC reported that Mark Zuckerberg announced three main changes to privacy settings making it much easier for user to limit and specify specific group ability to view different parts of profiles. This sounds like a good step in the right direction, however, I have not been exposed to these new settings and cannot comment on the success of them.

Differently, businesses have completely changed because of sites like Facebook and Twitter. One example that I came across is a book that I was interested in. The book is called: “Oh My God What Happened and What Should I Do?” This book is about the culture shock that we are going through right now in regards to digital media and the Internet. What is different about this book is that it is an eBook and the only way to access the download through this company was by posting their website link either on Facebook or Twitter. Businesses have to quickly learn that in order to keep their businesses alive, they must learn how to use technology to create their own culture on the Internet using these social networking tools.

I think that this eBook idea is brilliant. It helps the business get their name out on the social networking sites and also provides an incentive for people interested in the companies ideas and thoughts.

Internet PDA, TechnaTMI?

Public displays of affection are typical on a college campus, and at parties among peers. However, if your boss, grandma, or professor was watching would we still be so openly affectionate? Typically the rules of PDA are generally defined; there are acceptable places to make out, and unacceptable ones. But now due to social networking cites the lines have been blurred.

Posting pictures of make out sessions and grinding on your significant other at a club is internet PDA. This is extremely common today, but is it ok? Is it okay to bombard the World Wide Web with images of your tongue down your girlfriend’s throat? This issue is heavily debated.

One school of thought says yes. If you are uploading your personal images to your personal page then you can do whatever you want. There is an option of deleting a friend if you don’t want to see what they are posting. The idea of this theory is “if you don’t like it, don’t look.” The converse opinion of this theory is that it is not possible to not look. Due to “news feeds” which record recent activity on the site, people are unwillingly exposed to these images.

The question comes down to whether or not a social network profile is private or public. Does your Myspace page fall in the same jurisdiction as a restaurant, or is it more akin to your best friend’s basement? What is the code of conduct for public displays of affection on an exclusively private Facebook page? How can we determine what type of behavior is unacceptable on your own page? It is like you’re in your room, with a peephole for 500 of your friends. It’s your room, but can you ever really act that way?

I Saw That on Facebook Last Night!

Facebook: an easy way to stay connected or today’s peeping Tom?

The social networking site that is Facebook is easily one of the most progressive ways of communication on the market. Facebook makes keeping in touch with friends and up to date on their whereabouts and activities effortless. But does this make it ok? Honestly, do I really need to know that you are “mad shit faced” on Friday night or that “it’s complicated” between you and your girlfriend? Do I truly want to see one more side-peace-sign-kissy-face self taken picture of you with your roommate dressed up like Chippendales' heading out for a night of poor decisions?

I can’t tell you how many times Facebook has made for awkward personal encounters while heading to class or eating at the Commons. I don’t think there’s one teenager on Facebook who has never encountered the situation in which you think, “Oh, I know that person. I saw them on Facebook when I was creeping through my friend's pictures,” or “I sort of know that person. I mean we are Facebook friends. I’ll wait until he waves first. No wave? Oh, I guess we really don’t know each other.”

Facebook has put us in this world of subconscious judgment of other individuals without actually getting to know them first. I know that the first thing I do when looking at a new friend on Facebook is check their taste in music. I am preliminarily judging this person without even intending to. But how am I to truly get to know someone just under the 6 categories of “activities,” “interests,” “music,” “movies,” “television,” and “quotes?”

Social awkwardness is not the only negative backlash of social networking. There have been many instances where companies have denied applying individuals jobs due to inappropriate Facebook pictures. I’m not going to lie to you and say I don’t drink in social situations, but I make it my business to put my drink down if someone’s going to snap a photo because just un-tagging a photo does not delete it. You say you were too drunk to put your drink down? Well, genius, it looks like you’ve got a little more to worry about than a few tactless pictures. Schools and corporations do not want their representatives being seen negatively because this reflects badly on the organization. The Federal Football Federation of Australia is looking into member Lisa De Vanna due to racy photos found by a 13-year-old fan on her Facebook page.

Before, you had to be personally invited by someone with a Facebook to join the “social connection.” Facebook was for high school students while the rest of the preadolescent nation had Myspace for virtual interaction. Now, elementary school children are getting Facebooks as well as parents, bosses, religious leaders etc. This makes you think twice before making your status about your jerk of a psychology professor for giving you so much work this weekend.

So the next time you go to accept some stranger’s friend request, remember that they are going to be able to learn a good amount about you without actually knowing you. The next time you go to type some overly emotional status update about some insignificant little bump in your life, remember Aunty Muriel can read it. And just make sure that your “one night of bad decisions” does not end up on Facebook because that can lead to your future unemployment. As for me, I will continue to reject all the friend requests of new students at my old high school because I will never, ever meet them seeing as I’ve graduated. And maybe I’ll whine about life in a status update or two, but I’m smart enough to make them private to my Rabbi and old history teacher. No racy Facebook photos for me because unlike that de-crowned Miss U.S.A., I’m going somewhere with my life and I’m not going to let some stupid promiscuous behavior ruin that. Okay, let’s be honest, I’m an awkward, Salinger reading, music obsessing, theatre loving geek so promiscuity really doesn’t enter into it but I will forever be careful with what I post and don’t post on Facebook.

cheater cheater, profile page reader

While infidelity has been around simply forever, the advent of social networking sites have completely exacerbated the practice. The quick and easy access to an unlimited pool of potential conquests has not only fostered the ability to cheat, but in my opinion, encouraged it. However, cheaters be warned, all of your sneaky cyber sexing will eventual come to light! The truth is, while sites like Myspace, Facebook, and Friendster have made it easier to cheat, they have also made it easier to get caught.

These sites allow conversation between friends in the form of inbox messages, and Facebook chats. These features allow virtual strangers to get to know- and possibly get it on - with each other. However, these incriminating chats are saved. My friend John Doe fell victim to his own treachery when he accidentally stored his password on his girlfriend's computer, inadvertently giving her a free pass to all his salacious conversations. His plans for potential hook ups with random women would have never been discovered had it not been for his social networking page. While we may think our pages are a sealed fortress behind which we can act unabashedly, the truth is nothing in the cyber world is safe. The ability to hack into a partner’s page is increasingly simple. There are even internet services springing up which, for a fee, will give a suspicious mate access to their spouse's info. Another friend of mine discovered her boyfriend was cheating by learning his new Myspace had a password of ILUVJANE. Safe to say my friend REBECCA was not pleased. Many a relationship has crumbled due to negative Facebook findings.

Thus, yet another problem with technology and relationships I am presenting, is the overexposure to each other's actions. The wall we build to keep things private has gotten an enormous peep hall drilled into it, thanks to the internet.

As with everything else, thanks to the internet it has become incredibly convenient to become a cheater, or discover you’re a cheated on. Call me old fashion but I believe if you are going to betray your partner you should have to do it the difficult, inconvenient, more trouble than it's actually worth way like countless priests, professors, and presidents before you.

http://www.facebookcheating.com/

Halfway off the Grid- Confessions of a Non-Facebook User

Facebook, the social networking giant that began with only college students but now includes employers and grandparents, is both convenient and popular. Everyone around me uses Facebook, including my mother ("If you were on facebook, you could tend my [Farmville] crops for me") and my grandmother ("I like to see the pictures of the family"). There are pets with facebook pages. Even some fictional characters can be found and will "friend" their fans. I don't have a facebook page. I never have, and I never will- but maybe not for the reasons you might think.

When asked about my abstinence from one of the Internet's most popular services, I usually like to joke that my goal is to be the last living creature without a Facebook page (this contest will end in 2019. The last two years will be a holdout between me and a starfish, and then the starfish will decide that it wants to be tagged in photos and play Mafia Wars).

If pressed, I will go on to explain that the drama that goes on between Facebook users is simply not my scene; such drama tends to be emotional taxing and ultimately a complete waste of my time. This, while not untrue, is not the whole story.

I don't use Facebook because I don't want my personality, thoughts, and ideas at the turbulent age of 20 to be recorded for posterity. I want the right to change my mind. Let me explain:

Facebook doesn't delete user pages. When you create a Facebook account, you agree to give ownership of any information, photos, and comments you share to Facebook. It's very hard to defend yourself legally against an employer who won't hire you because he saw pictures of you drinking beer on your Facebook page (and yet your profile says you're only 17. Hmm...). It is normal for humans to act differently in different social situations (animals do it, too). You might not express the same love for "getting completely wasted" at a job interview as you would at a frat party. Facebook, somewhat problematically, is a record of your interactions with people in different areas of your life; this explains why many Facebook users decline friend requests from their parents or other authority figures (and parents are wising up- a friend of minerecieved several angry phone calls from his stepmother when he did not immediately except her request). I certainly don't act the same way around my roommate as I do around my grandfather. So why should I use a service that forces me to condense the facets of my personality into one, acceptable-to-all user?

I probably sound like an old-aged technophobe writing this post, so I should clarify: I love my computer. I love webcomics, stupid pictures of cats, video games, and all the other great and awful things about living in the age of the Internet as much as anyone else.

That said, Facebook scares me. I'm not ready to make my personality accessible by Internet, no matter how many times I might get to "poke" someone.

Kitty