"My Two Thousand Closest
Friends"
Sam
and Becky broke up; Susan got in trouble for her scandalous pictures, and your
boyfriend is in a picture with another girl. Facebook has changed how people
interact and communicate all around the world. Over the past few weeks, I have
been studying the pros and cons of Facebook, and how it was created. Many
people contributed to a large aspect of our lives today, but only Mark Zuckerberg is really credited. Newspaper articles, blogs, and even movies have all been composed on the basis of
Facebook. Personally, I think Facebook has changed the world for the better,
even if a few people got burned in the end.
Many
new articles have been focused around the topic of social media. Williams, an
anchor for NBC Nightly News, and Wurster, a writer, both have agreed to
disagree on some ideas surrounding Facebook. Williams’s article tells readers
that we live in a world more focused on ourselves. This ‘me, me, me’ world has
made it acceptable to celebrate only the winners. We are only rewarding the
people that make millions, and not the people that helped them get there.
Williams also says that we have so many choices, and because of those choices
we have a hard time balancing our lives. On top of that, he states that we
don’t always know what we ‘need’ to know, and that we could miss the next great
book or idea because we are so wrapped up in social media. We are at risk of
scrolling over the next Picasso, or unfriending a future novelist. On the other
hand, Wurster thinks that Facebook is more than just mindless gazing at a
computer screen. She agrees with Williams on the ‘me’ aspect, but she also
believes that Facebook is a new medium for extended communication. She says
that the expanded sights can lead to more knowledge that we could have
potentially never have found on our own. Personally, I think they both had
solid points, but I am leaning more towards Wurster’s article. Williams had
excellent points, but I feel like Wurster’s article was more relatable to kids
around my age. Williams’s article is more relatable to college graduate
students not the kids that stay up until three in the morning constantly
refreshing Facebook. She talked about the promiscuous pictures and the verbal
attacks that happen daily in every high school. She just seemed more relatable to young adults. Both
Williams and Wurster know a thing or two about social media, and both articles
depict so.
How
many websites can say they had a movie made over the creation of said website?
Facebook can. Most people could probably care less about how Facebook was
created, but I have my own opinions. The movie, The Social Network,
shows how Mark Zuckerberg went from a Harvard student to a billionaire. Along
the way, the movie changed some details to keep an audience’s attention for two
hours. They portrayed Zuckerberg as a bad, conniving person that was only
interested in helping himself. In real life, I don’t think he is that bad of a
guy, but nobody likes a nice guy. After reading a few articles, I also found
out that the movie’s plot wasn’t always factual. Changing a few parts or over
exaggerating wasn’t unusual. The movie claims that Zuckerberg created Facebook
because he got the idea from twin brothers at Harvard, but a news article claims
that Zuckerberg created the site because he enjoys building things. Many
lessons could be learned from The Social Network. Lesson number one:
just because you have an idea doesn’t mean nobody else can have a similar idea.
After the Winklevoss twins decided to sue, Eduardo demanded answers from
Zuckerberg who snottily replied with, “Just because a guy makes a nice chair
doesn’t mean he owes money to anyone whoever made a chair.” I couldn’t agree
more. If the Winklevoss’s had this genius idea and had access to so much money
then they should have acted on their own. They can’t blame Zuckerberg for
making their minuscule idea global. If Zuckerberg wasn’t working on coding
Facebook then he was checking the site. Facebook spread to many countries in
its second year. Eduardo stated, “Bosnia, they don’t have roads, but they have
Facebook.” How does that happen? Could it be because we rely on social media
sites to keep us connected with extremely remote areas that don’t have ways of
communication other than Facebook? That just proves how influential Facebook
was around the world. Also, the movie has scenes were Zuckerberg is trying to
be funny, but he just ends up coming off as an arrogant college kid. I think
the movie was a little more fantasy than factual, but no one wants to sit
through two hours of pure facts. Either way you view it, Zuckerberg is a genius
for creating something so widely used today.
Facebook
can be good or bad. Many people only choose to see the bad in things sometimes.
People believe that we spend way too much time on Facebook. Whether it’s
uploading photos or ‘creeping’ on our crush, we are constantly using Facebook.
On top of that, scandalous pictures are being posted hourly. Even kids in a
small school like Oskaloosa, KS, have become victims to over exposure on the
Internet. Plus, social media sites are a major source of cyber bullying, and
nobody wants to stand up for himself or herself anymore. This was emphasized in
the movie, Social Network: “The Internet wasn’t written in pencil; it’s
written in ink.” Especially today, we need to watch what we say more than ever.
Cursing or profanity can come back to hurt us in the long run when we are
applying for dental school or law school.
The verbal attacks can be a cause of security breaches and not being
able to protect young people. Granted the site asks for an age, but everyone
lies about that because everyone wants Facebook. Everyone can relate to my next
point. You’re walking down the pasta aisle in the supermarket, but you can here
Sonja six aisles over complaining about how her husband left her and isn’t
playing child supports. Sonja has also had six, sappy status updates about it
because she feels like she deserves attention. Too many people are displaying
personal problems that should be dealt with privately. If I ever posted a bad
picture, cyber bullied, or openly talked about family problems on Facebook, I
wouldn’t be able to walk. Those are unsaid rules that shouldn’t have to be
addressed, ever.
On
the other side, Facebook has many positive attributes. Facebook has lowered
barriers of distance, culture, and physical appearance. Wurster even stated,
“it can also be an icebreaker for face-to-face interactions.” It’s just a truly
great way to stay connected. You can meet new people, and you have many choices
on how to do so. Facebook is also a place to share and collect knowledge on
many different outlooks. You can personalize your page to fit your personality.
Background colors, banner photos, and profile pictures can be changed as often
as your mood changes. That’s what I like about Facebook. I have the option to let certain people only see what I want them to
see, or I can let everyone see everything. I have nothing to hide; that’s why I
accept aunts, uncles, and grandparents since they mean well. I think that if
you use Facebook how it was intended to be used and don’t abuse it then you have
done your job for the day. Only you can decide if Facebook is good or bad.
Facebook
has considerably changed the world, as we know it. We are able to see loved
ones in Iraq, or how Aunt Marge’s cruise to the Bahamas is going. Clearly, Facebook
has made connecting with people more flexible. We don’t have to mess with snail
mail or fret over telegrams. We have the power to openly communicate at our
fingertips. Williams and Wurster has excellent points on their views of
Facebook with many people adding to their ideas today. Williams claims that we’ll
miss the next great thing while Wurster challenges the idea of mindless gazing.
In addition, viewing the film taught me both business and life lessons. Surprisingly,
The Social Network is more than just a story about a college student.
It’s about how a college student changed social media, forever. Just like
anything else, Facebook will have advantages and disadvantages, but we decide
what we put out there and who sees it. Nobody is forcing us to update a status
about your best friend cheating on her boyfriend, and nobody makes us upload
pictures of high school kids drinking at Ricky’s house. Facebook makes us
responsible for our own actions, and that’s the thing I like most about it.
Facebook is personal but also public.
