Facebook: Users as Commodities?

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In this week’s lecture songlines were described as storehouse of practical information within the form of myths, songs and stories (Petray, 2013).  It could be said that through our travels on Facebook we to are navigating a songlines; a trail of words and musical notes following footprints, similar to that of users post and photos.  In Stanner’s discussion with Arkady it was noted that as long as a person stuck to the track of the songline he/she would always be connected with friends, this is a similar concept to that of Facebook (Stanner, 1979).

When creating an online profile users choose from a variety of drop down menus and fill in the blank boxes to determine things such as their relationship status and interests.  This creates the programs vision of ideal users, promoting the particular social values that Facebook encompasses, and the potential for a “homogenised model of subjectivity” (McNeil, 2012, p.104).  The questions that are asked during the completion of a person’s profile offers little room for negotiation in the creation of their identity.  As discussed in the lecture this week, some narratives are seen to be more socially acceptable than others, and Facebook acts as a shadow biographer, shaping the profile that users construct, with aspects of the user that are not seen to be typical often being silenced (Petray, 2013).

During people’s daily interactions with Facebook they are invited to contribute to the discussion by commenting, sharing, or liking posts, photos and videos.  This can often appear to be empowering for users, allowing users to comment playfully however with a sense of purpose (Petray, 2013).  Through the viewing of the newsfeed users are unavoidable consuming autobiographical actions of others, and often contributing to them (McNeil, 2012).  The posting of statuses and photos in some ways empowers the subject too envision how others may see them, and through the contribution by others this perceived image is reinforced (Petray, 2013).  It can thereby be assumed that in a virtual network you are not the only one constructing your identity (Petray, 2013).  It can also be argued the life narrative that we as users create as individuals is rather created by a complex web of stories intertwined with others (McNeil, 2012).

Facebook also manipulated users need to collect a harvest of information, often selling this data to advertisers to make a profit(McNeil, 2012).  Advertisements that appear throughout users news feeds and at the side of their wall are tailored specifically to the users themselves (McNeil, 2012).  In essence these ads help people decide what they are looking for/ wishing to purchase rather than the alternative of user deciding on what they wish to purchase then looking for it (McNeil, 2012).   The following website created by facebook describes ways in which a company can create an ad and how to engage their audience, facebook advertising.  A perfect example of this is the continual flow of university ads that appeared on my Facebook wall after I notified Facebook that my schooling years were over.  Thereby in order to sell a company’s product the autobiographical identity of the individual becomes an important commodity (Petray, 2013).  

Bibliography

Chatwin, B. (1987). Songlines, Chapter 3. Retrieved from http://www.learnjcu.edu.au

McNeill, L. (2012). There is no ‘I’ in network: Social networking sites and Posthuman/Auto-biography. 35(1), 65-82. Retrieved from http://www.learnjcu.edu.au

Petrya, T. (2013). BA1002: Our Space: Networks, Narratives and the Making of Place, Lecture 4, Networked Narratives. [Power Point Slides] Retrieved from http://www.learnjcu.edu.au