Losing Yourself to the Public

Losing Yourself to the Public

Jordan Kulmar

Facebook is a website that allows its' users to connect with each other using various services. The popular network provides its users with two major areas;

• Each users individual timeline and;
• Each users newsfeed.

The timeline consists of content outlining the identity of the user, and can be as private or public as wanted. In relation to power, it is fully vested in the owner of the timeline. However, the amount of power the individual holds is partly self-determined.

Facebook's power network. (Targeting: The Power of Facebook Advertising, 2013)

Consider Bentham's concept of panopticon. Bentham postulated that if people think they are being watched, then they will act as though they are being watched. What this demonstrates is that power is relational or, reliant on others (Turkle, 1995). Thus, there is no power in the individual, but rather, in the network itself (BA1002, 2017, p. 13). Applying this to the Facebook network, it can be said that power comes from the viewing of a person's uploads by other users. But, because it is ultimately up to the individual user as to how much they share, the amount of power one holds is partly self-determined. This is further demonstrated with the concepts of space and place.

'Space' is defined by Tuan (1997) as freedom, the unknown, and a place to put things. Tuan (1997) also determined that 'place' is space endowed with value by an individual, such as ones' home. This means that space and place is different for each individual. Comparing and contrasting a person's timeline and newsfeed, it is easy to categorize the newsfeed as a space due to its content being foreign and public to individuals. Vice versa, the timeline contains only content allowed, or posted by the user, meaning the timeline is familiar and has value making it a place. But as aforementioned, the amount of power one has, is determined by the amount of views they receive. So in order to gain power on Facebook, users need to put content out to the public, in-order to attract them to the users' place. (TED Talk demonstrating the difference between space and place with art: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TP_ax7Sr-Tc)

So, the key to power on Facebook is turning the private, into public. But, the addition of all the foreign content introduced to a person's timeline if made public, makes it no longer seem like a familiar place, but a space to put things. The panopticon concept can also be reapplied to someone's timeline. Meaning if a person thinks that their timeline is being watched, they will act like their timeline is being watched. So rather than having things that identify the person on the timeline, a person's identity may shift towards one more appealing to the public which will be reflected in the uploads.

So in summary, the newsfeed is space and the timeline is a place, but in order to gain power on Facebook, one must publicise their 'place'. By making a timeline public and allowing foreign content, a once familiar place, becomes more unknown and 'space' like. This in turn, may shift a person's online identity from being individual oriented, to a more public based identity. Overall, this means that power on Facebook may come at the expense of one's individual identity.    

Reference list:

BA1002: Our Space: Networks, narratives, and the making of place, week 2 notes [PowerPoint slides]. (2017). Retrieved from https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au/webapps/blackboard/execute/content/filecmd=view&content_id=_2840408_1&course_id=_84764_1&framesetWrapped=true

Targeting: The Power of Facebook Advertising [Image]. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.growthweaver.com/targeting-the-power-of-facebook-advertising/

Tuan, Y. (1979). Space and Place: The Perspective of Experience. London, England: Edward Arnold Ltd.

Turkle, S. (1995). Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks