Sarah Wilson

Eng. 213/Dr. Newbold

Emerging Media Report

Article Link: http://hdl.handle.net/1961/4433

How many “friendships” does Facebook or Myspace say you have? 50? 150? 500+? Imagine this scenario: you log onto either of the two and a reminder that it is Henry Smith’s birthday pops up on top. Take my advice; if you feel weird writing a simple “happy birthday” on his wall, it’s time to defriend. Although this isn’t the greatest present, it’s the method used by me and many of my friends to determine our “weak ties,” “strong ties,” and “intermediary ties,” as discussed in the article [master’s thesis] “Facebook “Friends” How Online Identities Impact Offline Relationships” by Jessica Marie Vitak.

Vitak’s article explores the line that is currently separating digital relationships and more traditional, offline relationships and discusses how it is beginning to blur, thanks in large part to social networking websites. According to Vitak: “Strength of ties between two individuals can be evaluated according to the amount of time spent together, the emotional intensity of the relationship, the level of intimacy and the degree of reciprocity” (17). However, what if that tie develops outside the physical realm? If you are unlike me and write happy birthday to everyone, than your social networking sites are probably booming with “weak ties.” However, what I found surprising was that weak ties are most important and vital to the social network! These acquaintances or people we’ve never met face-to-face (“weak ties”) create local bridges between members of the network, which provide a person with a larger number of paths and shorter paths to information. Thus, information is much easily attainable and less work and time is spent gathering it. Plus, Facebook publicly displays your links to others, which can strengthen a tie such as between you and someone you have multiple mutual friends with. However, a large amount of links, or friendships, can create an illusion of popularity. Yet, these links can lead to groups where one can find others with mutual interest, such as animal lovers, car enthusiasts, and even Goths. 

Despite this easy access to information on millions, it is important to differentiate between one’s real world identity and one’s virtual identity. Vitak defines one’s real world identity as: “the sum total of that individual’s traits and interactions as presented in a typical social setting, whereas she defines ones virtual identity as: completely constructed through the information presented in his/her profile on the social networking website to which the individual belongs, as well as the communication between that person and his/her online friends. This construction of a virtual identity reminded me of the writing of McLuhan in his book, The Medium is the Massage. He wrote that we aren’t only shaped by our family anymore, but by several varieties of media as well. We have the ability to leave the “front-stage” parts of us behind, offline, and publish the “back-stage” parts of ourselves online. However, this isn’t always a good thing. These two separate identities bring me back to Shirky’s discussion on filtering and publishing.  With technology becoming such a vital part of life, filtering and publishing is becoming just as vital. A large majority of occupations expect a professional demeanor from their employees both inside and outside of work. As a future teacher, I understand this greatly. While close friends and family (“strong ties”) may ignore the misspelled words, incorrect grammar, and drunken pictures on your Facebook page, future employers, and newly established friends (“weak ties”), may not be as accepting.

We have more time to reflect on our thoughts when we use CMC communication. We are not put on the spot, but have time to pause and organize our ideas. I feel like this went against Carr’s article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”  He states that the internet is taking away our deep thought processes and making us lazy, but as the article I read states: “Those employing interactive strategies through email fond their partners’ rating their communication effectiveness much higher; and when asked personal questions, those communicating via email offered more detailed answers than those communicating face-to-face.” Could more clarity in our words positively influence our friendships in real life, as well as online?

This brings me to the next point discussed in the article: how social networking sites like Facebook and Myspace work and influence the strength of ties of offline and online friendships.  Facebook and Myspace allow anyone to submit their favorite books, movies, music, quotes, and even photos from childhood, Christmas, or last week’s movie night. Depending on each person’s privacy settings, this information might not be readily accessible to new future “friends” or onlookers. However, when the friendship becomes official, both friends can mutually learn about the other by reading their interests and browsing pictures. If a new friend recognizes the clash of the other friend’s virtual identity and real world identity, it might end up putting a dent in the real life friendship. Although, if two friends separated by distance choose to reconnect on a networking site like Facebook, strong ties may be maintained and even strengthened further. However, it is possible if one friend becomes sucked into the virtual world of Facebook and chooses to do a majority of his or her communication through that platform, a higher amount of weaker ties can develop.

Furthermore, the function of social networking sites and their influence on the strength of ties of offline and online friendships reminded me immensely of Chapter 3 of Shirky’s book, Here Comes Everybody. In this chapter, platforms such as Flickr promote “share than gather” activity. From reading this article, I feel as though Facebook and Myspace also promote “share than gather” activity. Not just by befriending each other first and then sharing information about each other, but by then copying and pasting links that pop-up on every friend’s network.  These can include current events, interesting blogs, personal blogs, or any informative information available online. Moreover, this allows every person to become a media outlet, like Shirky discussed in Chapter 3 of his book Here Comes Everybody.