Blog Four: Fame or Invisibility?
Sophie Boden
Proof of our
need for social acceptance is evident by a simple Google search. How do I write
Facebook posts to get more likes? The Facebook post can make us famous or
invisible. Those at the top of our network hierarchy receive hundreds of likes.
Whilst I may receive a mind-blowing three. This got me thinking what makes a
good Facebook post? (Ayres, n.d.).
Interestingly
the Facebook post is not like traditional forms of genre like the essay. Di
Yanni (2005) writes that a key characteristic of the good essay is ‘clarity’
meaning “[r]eaders can follow and understand it easily” (p. 15). Contrastingly,
it is a lack of clarity in the Facebook post which fosters dynamics of power.
Hence, unless you were ‘at the party’ or ‘at the ice-cream parlour’ this post
may have no relevance to you. This McNeill (2011) eloquently describes as “in
the know” (p. 321).
So not
unlike the diary 2.0 those that have this ‘shared knowledge’ are empowered by
the post (McNeill, 2011). Whilst those not invited to the ‘party’ or ‘ice-cream
parlour’ feel left-out and disempowered. Of course there is always the flip
side, those posts which are simply of a funny joke, or cute picture which any
layman can understand.
So one asks
the question if the goal of the post is to achieve the most likes then what
does that mean for our virtual identity. When you post or blog you are shaping
that discourse (Van Luyn 2013). By attempting to be popular and achieve ‘likes’
through posting we are also contributing to this discourse and perhaps creating
a false sense of identity. Is the real me reflected in my posts?
Reference List
Ayers, S.
(n.d.). 7 No-brainer Tips to Write an Awesome Facebook Post. Retrieved from http://www.postplanner.com/7-no-brainer-tips-to-write-awesome-facebook-post/
Di Yanni, R.
(2005). Introduction: Reading and writing essays, in Twenty-five great essays (pp. 1-30). New York, NY: Penguin
Academics.
McNeill, L.
(2011). Diary 2.0?: A genre moves from page to screen, in Rowe, C. & Wyss,
E.L. (Eds.) Language and new media:
Linguistic, cultural, and technological evolutions (pp. 313-325).
Cresskill, NJ: Hampton.
Van Luyn, A.
(2013). BA1002: Our Space: Networks, narratives and the making of place,
week 6 notes. [Lecture].
Image Credits
Nowacoski,
A. (2012). Measuring Social Media – Facebook Likes. Retrieved from http://gingersnapworks.com/measuring-social-media-facebook-likes/
Sophie,
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting topic you have touched upon. As a user of Facebook myself, I am very much aware of the hierarchy that is so adamantly present on the site in relation to people’s Facebook posts. It is very much a situational form of written communication, unless you personally were present at the place the post is in relation to, you have very limited knowledge and understanding of the context surrounding the post, and therefore cannot connect as well to the subject as you could if you were there. As DiYanni (2005) points out, it is not enough to just observe, you also need to connect. I personally find it difficult to distinguish sometimes if what someone has posted is a true representation of themselves, or whether they are merely posting comments in order to obtain more popularity and attention. This kind of misleading behaviour can really make you question the true identity and intentions of the person behind the post at hand.
Reference List
DiYanni, R. (2005). Inroduction: Reading and writing essays, in Twenty-five great essays (pp. 1-30). New York, NY: Penguin Academics.