Is social networking is a commentary on our society?
I suppose that the answer to this question is fairly obvious. As the content on social networking sites is user generated and it is a “social networking” site…the fact that it would reflect the cultural norms (mores) of our society is a given. Perhaps, what I notice about facebook, myspace, friendster, hi5, twitter, and other social networking venues is more of a result of my hypersensitivity to issues that I feel strongly about or may affect me…. than an observation/fact about society.
I understand my inherent bias as an African-American male and that, more often than not, particular issues will have resonance with me. So, when I make assumptions and judgments, I realize the space in which I work. A space that has been crafted by where I grew up, my family background, my experiences, and my personality.
Now that I acknowledge the tint that may color the lens through which I view life, here is my commentary. We call the internet the “world wide web” for a reason…because it links people of different cultures, races, ethnicities, languages, origins, ages, sexualities, religions, etc. As a society, we marvel at the internet for its ability to bring together different hemispheres, nations, countries, and people. But what does “together” really mean? Is it simply the ability to chat? Or the ability to get minute-by-minute updates on the lives of family, friends, and even strangers?
I contend that if the internet is such a vehicle of diversity and worldwide communication that the users of these sites either do not take advantage of the opportunity to be “diverse” (because what does diversity really mean?) or are not diverse in their interactions (which is a consequence of many factors including but not limited to–upbringing, origin, race, ethnicity, religion, political leaning, individualized experience). Now, I admit that my ostensible study of diversity on social networking sites is in no way scientific or mathematic… and definitely does not pass muster for a reseach paper. There is no ratio or formula for diversity which could be part of the problem. It’s one of those things that many people talk about but that has no singular meaning. The meaning of diversity not only changes with time but also depends on who’s having the conversation. On most of the facebook and myspace pages that I peruse of both friends and non-friends and people that I know from various places, I notice that the pictures of my white friends and acquaintances tend not to feature non-whites or minorities. Conversely, most of my black friends and acquaintances do not feature whites or non-minorities in their photos. Is it for the same reason that books have been written like Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? Are there fundamental differences that prevent a potpourri of difference in social interactions? Is it cultural? Is it a consequence of a color-based and biased society? Is there a stigma associated with hanging out with people that don’t look like us or not like the people that we grew up with…what about this notion of being a “sell-out?” As I browse page after page on a variety of social networking sites, these questions surface. I become especially preoccupied with people from where I grew up (Bloomfield Hills, MI) and my former classmates from elementary through high school. With the exception of elementary school, none of the schools that I attended were or even purported to be diverse. It just wasn’t something that was expected and considering the demographics of the area—it may not have been possible. I suppose that I should include a caveat. When I mean “diverse”…I am talking about difference on the basis of either race, ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status, or sexual orientation. However, my hometown ranks low in all of the aforementioned categories so, by my standards, it is not and was not diverse. When I look at the pages of people from my hometown as well as, but to a far lesser degree, people from college (Columbia University), I am amazed that I once went to school with these people. I say to myself, no wonder I felt isolated, alone, marginalized and like I somehow just didn’t fit in because I didn’t. It’s a wonder that many of the people that I used to be surrounded with were so tolerant considering that many of them did not come from a place of diversity and would probably never encounter diversity again aside from forced situations like classrooms, the workplace, convenience stores, or communal living spaces. I don’t know how I made it through school when I consider the oasis of difference that I must have represented…not only because my skin is dark but because of my overall personality.
I always talk to my friends about categorizations and people being lumped in boxes. It’s an unfair fact of life. Assumptions and judgments are made first from the interplay between the eye and the brain. I believe that the gift of sight is arguably a human’s most rewarding sense. I have not fit and continue not to fit most of the stereotypes that society places on Black people. I was neither an athlete nor was I “thuggish.” So then the default category was then I must be ”acting white” or gay. There was no way around falling into a category. Though I never give consent to people to categorize me…it’s inevitable. Is it our subconscious categorizations and biases that prevent stepping out of the box? Or, is there some vast cultural gap that prevents a pervasive acceptance of diversity?
Sure, in some cases there are cultural gaps between different ethnicities, religions, creeds, and countries. However, are a lot of beliefs manufactured by societal machinery that inculcates stereotypes, stigmas, and categories so much so that it’s acceptable to accept that we’re just different and we have to deal with it. Or maybe I’m being too euphemistic…is it simply racism? I learned years ago that race is a United States societal construction to differentiate based on skin color. Scientifically, there is little difference between humans of different “races” because race is contrived to alienate and discriminate against a so-called lesser group in favor of a superior group. I believe that many of my former classmates were racially and culturally insensitive–even racist in some cases. I think that social networking sites are a manifestation of our beliefs. While it’s ridiculous to assert that just because I see lots of the same faces in people’s pictures on social networking sites that they are all xenophobes…it does beg the question, are they?
What are the criteria for being a non-racist? Is it never making a racist comment? Is it having friends from many different backgrounds? Is it even being pictured with people from many different ethnic backgrounds on facebook and myspace? I don’t pretend to have the answers to these questions but it is very interesting to observe how many speak of “diversity” and how the world has become such a global malaise of difference. In fact, it seems to be accepted in many circles that the US is such a melting pot where everyone has the same opportunities and people do their best to appreciate difference. But how do we measure this? Is the fact that Barack Obama is running for president and may have a chance of winning the litmus test for a color-blind society? In my mind, it is comical to see so many hold up one example of a color barrier being broken as a fix all. Or even the fact that Sarah Palin could be the first female VP…does that mean that sexism is a thing of the past? All of these are interesting questions and I challenge people to look at for themselves and observe their interactions between people. What assumptions do you make when one person walks into a room instead of another?
I go back to the premise that, in theory, we are all connected in ways that we never have been yet it does not seem like anything has really changed. Rather, this “hyperlinking” of society just illustrates the rigidity that has always been and will always be. It does not appear that barriers are really being broken. There is so much credit given to the ability to instantaneously link with the world with a few keystrokes. One would think that this would make people step out of their comfort zones. There are so many information and social channels that it is no longer necessary to utilize the same ones. One can step out of the box without such severe consequences because just as you can instantaneously connect, you can instantaneously disconnect. Despite the ease and the relative lack of stigma that used to go along with hanging with certain crowds because (of course, Obama is running for President, lol) and no one can see who you talk to (unless you want them to) on the internet…there are still a lot of unmade connections. Once again, it seems to me that social networks are an illustration of how we feel are our beliefs. These connections aren’t being made in person so why would they be made on the internet.
So I guess all the black kids, the white kids, and whatever other kind of kids are sitting together because they want to and, perhaps, it’s quite presumptuous and critical of me to suggest that it should be any different. Should it be?
October 6th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
Alex, great observations. While I’ve tried not to get so involved in social networking sites (a.k.a. time-eaters), I do have a music myspace page, and a private myspace page (that I check pretty infrequently). I feel lucky to have “friends” from many different races and backgrounds.
But I think that social networking sites are merely reflections of our society, and will therefore reflect racial divisions and racism (much like Beverly Tatum’s book, which you mentioned). One major difference though is relative anonymity. You are what you choose to put up and represent yourself as on your page. People can connect with one another almost instantaneously, no matter who they are. The ability to connect is so instantaneous in fact, I know musicians who have gotten paid gigs and session/tour jobs through myspace (based on what they put on their page, music and promotion-wise).
However, this is also a virtual world. There are people I’ve become friends with on myspace that I’ve never met, but we may run into each other in the real worl and not even know we’re friends on myspace — this is an interesting phenomenon. So in some ways, social networking sites are a positive development of communities and in other ways, negative.
I think that we have less inhibitions on the Internet (maybe loosening us up like a drink)– mostly because we can just act as voyeurs and we have the power of the “click.” It is a lot easier to reach out to someone from the comfort of your own computer (and bedroom) than in person. Yet, I would argue that it’s a lot less rewarding. Nothing can replace real world human connection.
So now I make sure I spend more time making those real world connections than the ones in the virtual world.
October 9th, 2008 at 8:45 pm
Alex, great commentary. I do engage in the social networking world that is “Facebook”, and I do see the examples you gave everyday while perusing through my friends pages.
It’s comical and also quite sad that my “Italian” friends seem to only be in pictures with other “Italians” or join groups based specifically on “Italian” movies, ideals, etc. Not only is it stereotyping a group of people (as I am Italian-American), it also promotes this sectarian way of seeing the world.
It’s funny that I came across this post this evening as I have a story to share that completely illustrates this point in the real world rather than the virtual.
I had received an invitation to a rally for Barack Obama by the Working Families Party and North Brooklyn/Crown Heights Club. The rally was held in Brooklyn at Atlantic Avenue, on the boarder of Fort Greene, considered to be a “dangerous” area in my neck of the woods, Howard Beach/Ozone Park, Queens.
I was told to watch my step, carry a smaller bag, and keep an eye out–I have never felt unsafe in any area of New York City as I grew up here, so these claims were nonsense to me. I wondered how people could judge an area they haven’t set foot into just because of the demographic.
I made my way up the stairs to the ballroom and found myself the only white person in the room. And the response from the crowd? Smiles and welcomes. They asked me to introduce myself, how I found myself there and said they were pleased that I made the trip from Queens.
I got back into my car and drove home thinking in disbelief how people could be so scared of one another, automatically dismissing an area without looking further, due, in the largest part, to a difference in skin color.
I agree with Kieran that these social networking sites are really just reflecting the society in which we live. Call me optimistic if you want, but I’d like to believe that in this day and age, with the tool at our fingertips, we can change that.
We are on the verge of possibly electing the first black man as president–a country coming together for one man who 100 years ago would not have been invited to the Democratic Convention in Denver, CO (strangely enough, the same city in which he was nominated for the presidency this year). As a woman, part of a group that has also faced extreme discrimination, I feel that the world is a different place and a better place (at least socially, can’t say many other things are working on our favor right now)–but it’s up to us to continue changing it.
So the social networking world is behind, we all need to help push it into the future–we have the ability to mold the internet to our needs, our specifications, it’s just a matter of taking the first step. At least, that’s my opinion
October 14th, 2008 at 6:40 am
Alex, I love blog posts that get me thinking, and yours definitely did.
I just took a quick look at my “friends” on Facebook and here’s what I’m seeing: I do well on racial/national, socioeconomic and sexual orientation diversity, but I have very little political diversity in the people I choose to call friends. This isn’t surprising to me as I had an awkward moment with a Facebook friend just a few weeks ago and ended up de-friending the person in question.
What happened was this person starting putting up status updates (what she was doing that day) that referenced her reaction to speeches by McCain. I believe one of them said, “I agree, COUNTRY FIRST!!” and the other something like, “I, too, worry that America is becoming a socialist nation.” As a liberal, and one who shuns patriotism and one who just lived in a fairly socialist nation for two years because she wanted to, I had a gut reaction to her status updates that I couldn’t ignore. First of all, I barely know this person (she went to high school with me), so I was shocked to learn how conservative she was in such an impersonal forum. Second, I was mortified to think that one of my real friends might see that I was Facebook friends with her and assume I shared those beliefs. So I chose to de-friend her, a decision I am still only semi-comfortable with.
My dilemma is one of ethics. I think diversity of all sorts is helpful and creates a richer world, BUT it’s really hard sometimes to hang around people who don’t believe what you do. I guess there are boundaries. I think that in my professional sphere, the more differing opinions, the better. But in my social sphere, I like people who generally share my world view, with just a few variations on my vision so we can have good debates.
Is not wanting to have conservative friends problematic? Maybe. I think there is a big difference between not judging people based on categories they inherently fall into (race, sex, nationality, socioeconomic status, able-bodied/not, etc.) and understanding them based on categories they choose to belong to (political affiliations, religious beliefs, phobias, -isms). So for me as a queer woman, being friends with heterosexuals or men is no problem, but homophobes or machistas is.
Am I wrong to think that? (To be clear, I am only asking about in a social realm.) I hope not, but I welcome commentary to the contrary.
October 15th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
Alex, interesting commentary. After tossing around your questions in my mind…I’m not sure that I have any answers.
Is social networking a commentary on our society? I don’t know. The makers of Facebook.com would certainly have us think so. Look at the website’s home page. “Facebook helps you connect and share with the people in your life,” it proclaims. Is that true?
To some extent, perhaps. But surely it’s a limited perspective. To give an example, I’m “tagged” in 146 photos. Few, however, were taken in the last couple years. That seems like a very limited representation of my life.
Or how about the notes section? I write an update about once every 6 months or so, and post it for all my friends and acquaintances. By its very nature, that type of post is extremely selective. I write about the major (generally positive) events in my life and ignore everything else.
On the other hand, a quick glance at my friend list does seem to reveal some things. The majority of my friends from high school and beyond are on the list. After a quick perusal, I decided that it was a fair representation of my friends and major acquaintances over the years.
Granted, not everyone is on there. Yet for the most part, it’s reflective of my experiences over the years. I’ll say it right out–a large number of my friends are white females, though I certainly didn’t choose my friendships based on that criteria. It just happened. Like you, I attended schools that had low racial diversity numbers. But once I moved to NYC, racial diversity went up on my friend list.
Is that diversity? And how much do other factors weigh in? Does it count that a surprisingly high number of my friends from college are from overseas (considering that I lived in the Midwest)? Though racial diversity on my list is limited, there’s plenty of ethnic diversity. There’s also a fair amount of political diversity. What’s the strongest criteria for diversity?
Which leads me back to where I started. I don’t know the answers to your questions. I don’t know if social networking is a reflection on our society. I think that question may depend on if these websites are truly an accurate representation of our lives.
October 16th, 2008 at 12:58 am
Hi Alex, The disparity that you point out between what the internet espouses to be, “a vehicle of diversity and worldwide communication,” and what it appears to be – merely a reflection of the status quo, is interesting.
Personally, I have never viewed social networking sites as doing much to increase communication between people of different cultures, ethnicities, genders, etc. The sites seem to function as another tool for people to use to strengthen communication between friends and family. But what I think is really exciting about the internet is that it has the potential to be used very effectively as a medium for promoting interaction and discussion amongst a great diversity of people. For instance, Iraqi school children can communicate with U.S. school children through interactive sites. Artists from different cultures can use a site as a meeting place and forum for the exchange of ideas. Blogs can attract a wide diversity of opinion on social and political issues – exchanges that are less likely in the “real world” where people of diverse political and social orientations are less likely to enter discussions. But I think in order for this to happen sites have to be set up intentionally to advance this type of exchange. For sites such as Facebook or MySpace, I think that your suspicion is probably right, they are mainly reflections of society.
As you point out, diversity is a very hard think to qualify. Like others in our class, I went right to my facebook page to investigate what type of diversity was reflected in my friends. While the friends listed are diverse in ethnicity and religion, I still would not classify them as a “diverse assortment.” They are homogenous is the sense that they are people with whom I share a level of comfor. I think the goal when it comes to trying to increase an exchange between diverse populations, is to try and get people to go outside their comfort zones and understand people with different experiences, opinions and perspectives.
October 22nd, 2008 at 2:09 pm
Your description of your hometown and college reminds me so much of my own experiences. My town is overwhelmingly white, as was my public high school. In high school, discussing diversity never seemed to occur to anyone, students or administration.
Even though my college was still predominantly white, it was still more racially diverse than my hometown and high school. But in college I noticed moreso economic differences. I think this subject is less discussed than almost any other kind of diversity, and more pernicious. Perhaps with current economic troubles, the myth of America as a classless society will be dispelled.