When was the last time you sent a letter to your Grandma who happen to have no Internet access? When were the last times you even emailed your sister, your Dad, your best friend, or your mother-in-law? That’s right! Made you pause didn’t I?
But you have constantly been on Facebook, keeping in touch with people you never even meet in real life. Of course, any, and all relatives and friends who happen to be on your Facebook Community are all also on the loop with what’s happening in your life. You see, Facebook has, essentially, functioned and serviced your inability to keep in touch with the people from past to present – in real time – as long as they have a Facebook Account and are actually connected to you in your FB community. Depending on how you set your security and/or Privacy level on who can see the your posts, everyone who is allowed to see, sees your posts. The same goes for your photos. And this is the biggest lie from so many people who accuse Facebook of security and privacy issues. No one gets access to anything in your account unless you open it to the public. Of course, you never paid any attention to the Settings area, or the Administration panel or the Notifications Section even – you are just SO HAPPY to be on Facebook and now you are uploading all the photos left and right, including the ones with you in lingerie hugging a very big teddy bear. So, when that photo gets tagged, shared, and finally goes viral, you go crazy and scream,
“F*&*K you, Facebook! You violated my rights and my privacy!”
No, seriously, you should be ashamed.
Remember the days when you whispered a supposed secret to your supposed BFF in high school, and you come into the classroom in the morning and everyone’s staring at you weird? Yes, keep that in mind whatever you do on Facebook.
It’s called the human condition, not a Facebook malfunction!
The obvious drawback to the wonderful world of FB is that, the ones with no Facebook Account or no Internet access are all left in the dark. That’s still a pretty large number for the rest of the world, but for most us here in the good ‘ole North America and some so-called First World Countries, and even for some quite progressive Third World Countries, like the Philippines, Internet access is catching up and, so is social media. I mentioned the Philippines specifically because it holds the record as the most social media addicted country in the world. I wonder how are the Filipino kids doing in school these days, or their mobile phone data charges.
Now, let me ask you another question: When was the last time your Facebook was actually the cause of your identity theft? Or when was the last time you heard and verified that problem from someone on Facebook? Hmm . . . you can’t mention one because you really have not been a victim of identity theft on Facebook, and nor have you actually been a witness to someone who had been one.
On the other hand, Social Media Bullying has become a real issue on Facebook. Facebook Porn is like an infestation that probably can’t be stopped. And self-promotion and self-sensationalizing of one’s Facebook account is an obvious signal: “Dude, you got some problems.”
It is fair to finally give a strong verdict to the effects of Facebook on everyone’s life: What you give on Facebook and other social media is what you are going to get in return.
Image Courtesy of Wikihow.com
It is also becoming really clear that it has really served a strong community interaction – albeit, not actual physical person-to-person interaction, but nonetheless, a continuance of communication to some extent, of people who probably will never hear from each other again in normal condition under a normal human’s capacity to keep in touch throughout his or her life.
Actually, I really do admire all of you in my FB Community. We have never meet but we have – technically – come out of our protective shell and share our fun and pain, appreciating people (LIKES, anyone?), greeting people as if we have known them all our lives, and, yes, continuing on with our lives. That is the hidden beauty of what is happening on social media. Because when the time calls for action – the people of social media really do their darned-nest to help. Who can ever forget the Youth of Egypt? Hell, they’re still doing it at this very moment! When Typhoon Haiyan victims didn’t get help and Anderson Cooper told the truth, Filipinos across the globe took to Facebook and Twitter to vent their anger and frustration against the Philippine government. Got someone in the Philippine News suspended for that! That’s power, baby! As in Egypt, that’s real measurable people power.
So it comes as no surprise that when a father whose son died last year, went on You Tube and posted a plea to see his departed son’s FB video this week – all of Facebook, again, took matters on their own hands and demanded that Mark Zuckerberg let the father have his wish. Legally, that is actually a sticky predicament for Facebook, for it could potentially haunt them (no pun intended). Imagine all the relatives and friends of someone already gone from Facebook demanding, and even suing the company to have access to their accounts to see these photos and that, these videos and that. It will be a nightmare! I personally would not want anyone I know who has long been dead, suddenly showing up on my timeline and saying “hello” from the grave.
Although, I did truly sympathized with the father this week. But for private and personal reasons, I agree. Not to show to the world.
Oh, by the way Mark, I have heard from a very reliable source (really, Mashable?) that you maybe allowing us to customize that video. Now that would be an early Christmas Gift! Oh, I can just see myself in ONLY the best looking photos, only the photos of friends I like, and definitely, only posts and anecdote that I approved of on my timeline. For I do have those selective powers, right Facebook?
Note to self: I will have to Photoshop a lot of them first.
Yes? Yeah, I'll take two Facehooks and one twiddler.