I'm watching you (on Facebook)

I'm watching you (on Facebook)

by Nicola Battaglene

Image 1: Facebook eye (Metro, 2014)

Facebook, the social network where you can maintain relationships at a distance, a place for introverts to unite. You don’t have to prove you are a genuine person, and anonymity is elusive, but do most users want it. It has been suggested by researchers that there are two main reasons people join Facebook.

Nadkarni and Hoffmann (2011, p. 1) note that a need to belong and the need for self-preservation are primary factors behind Facebook use. Facebook users become part of an online community and are defined by their personal profile.  The self becomes intertwined within the community.

The concept of a flaneur as mentioned in Prouty (2009) states “is someone adrift in the city, a detached observer strolling through the street at a leisurely pace” (para. 1). When we are on Facebook we interact with the people within our network. We observe our friends, friends of friends and sometimes totally random people, posting details of their lives online. We become the observers and the observed.

In the modern virtual world, the traditional definition of flaneur transforms into a cyber-flaneur, essentially a flaneur in cyberspace. Barnes (1997) notes “the cyborg-flaneur is an androgynous spectator of virtual spaces” (para. 2). The cyber-flaneur differs from the traditional flaneur, in cyberspace you might not want to be seen or become a spectacle. Even if you do have a picture of a turtle on a leash as your Facebook wallpaper.

What others can see is controlled by the individual, information and details altered by privacy settings set to a specific audience. Status updates and photos are the main things people post on Facebook. Subject to specific settings, you can see what is posted onto a friends Facebook account. This can be negative or positive, depending on the mood of the user.

Facebook can become a dumping ground for venting, people that are angry or annoyed can post updates reflecting their mood. On the flipside, people that are happy, positive and just wanting to share the love, will let you know where they are at. It can be a rollercoaster of emotions moving through your Facebook news feed. Just as moods can determine what is posted on Facebook, the personality of the person posting can determine what information is posted online.

Facebook provides a platform for people to draw attention to themselves, as the dandy flaneurs once did. I wonder if these people possibly see themselves at the centre of a virtual universe. Not unlike the earth as the centre of the universe on a Ptolemaic Map (Kuttainen, 2017).

It's possible that behind those outlandish status updates and the numerous heavily filtered selfies, there could be someone with psychological issues, such as narcissism. There are research articles available that discuss the connection between Facebook and psychological problems.

Establishing yourself in the Facebook universe, enables you to enter and become part of a virtual community. We can potentially see or know things about people that we might not want to. Monitoring what information you disclose to others will determine how likely you are to become the observed or just remain the quiet observer.

References

Barnes, G. (1997). Passages of the Cyber-Flaneur. Retrieved from http://www.raynbird.com/essays/Passage_Flaneur.html

Kuttainen, V. (2017). BA1002: Our space: Networks, narratives and the making of place lecture four: Maps. [PowerPoint Slides]. Retrieved from http://learnjcu.edu.au.

Metro UK. (2014). Facebook eye media image. Retrieved from http://metro.co.uk/2014/04/10/too-much-time-on-facebook-can-be-bad-for-young-womens-selfie-esteem-4695418/

Nadkarni, A., & Hoffman, S.G. (2011). Why do people use Facebook. Personality and Individual Differences, 52(3), 243–249. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2011.11.007

Prouty, R. (2009). A Turtle on a Leash. Retrieved from http://www.onewaystreet.typepad.com/one_way_street/2009/10/a-turtle-on-a-leash.html

Psychology Today. (2014). How Facebook Can Amplify Low Self-Esteem/Narcissism/Anxiety. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/wired-success/201405/how-facebook-can-amplify-low-self-esteemnarcissismanxiety