Essay on "What Is the Role of Facebook?"

Essay 12 pages (4019 words) Sources: 12 Style: APA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Role of Facebook in today's world may be measured by the number of businesses which utilize the Facebook icon to draw customers to their site. or, it may be measured by the number of social networking users who are registered members. Considering that there are nearly 7 billion people on the planet, it is astonishing to think that nearly 1 out of every 7 is a registered member of Facebook. The obvious interest in Facebook around the globe prompts us investigate its role in everything from social media to corporate interest to political activism. This paper will analyze Facebook's function, its advantages and disadvantages in the modern life, and show how it affects today's society around the world.

Facebook's Function

According to Carolyn Abram and Leah Pearlman (2012) (authors of Facebook for Dummies), "Facebook connects you with the people you know and care about…enables you to communicate, stay up-to-date, and keep in touch with friends and family" (p. 1). Yet, the social media site does even more than that -- for as Abram and Pearlman observe, "Facebook welcomes everyone: students and professionals; grandchildren (as long as they're at least age 13), parents, and grandparents; busy people; socialites; celebrities….No matter who you are, using Facebook can add value to your life" (p. 1). Just what exactly that value is, of course, varies: both positive and negative experiences with Facebook are heard of; and every corporation and business is deemed wise to have a Facebook page.

Facebook was launched in 2004 and today is "No. 1 in the amount of time spent on-site by visiting users" (Baloun, 2006, p. 7). As its IPO looms, Facebook shareholders stand to gain billions in the public trading of stocks. What has Facebook become? It has become more than just a forum where users can sign on, post messages, keep up with friends, and share ideas. It has become the number one source of advertising revenue on the Web -- and it has done so in just seven short years. Facebook is a billion dollar industry -- a global phenomenon -- and has even gone verbal: "facebooking" is how millions of teenagers and adults around the world are spending their free time.

While for investors looking to make a quick score in the coming public offering of stock Facebook is little more than a monetary interest, for fans of the social networking site Facebook is a kind of substitute life: it is a place where one's social life can be made and/or destroyed. Recent stories of teenage suicide linked to Facebook bullying have made the covers of gossip mags across the nation. On the other hand, other Facebookers use the site to draw attention to creative hobbies, business ventures, family happenings, and more. All cultures and all classes have a vested interest in Facebook. The story of its creation was even made into the Academy Award nominated film the Social Network, which grossed $225 million worldwide (the Social Network, Box Office Mojo, 2011). The reality in the 21st century global society is that everyone is connected and everyone is interested in the social networking site.

As Jolene Zywica and James Danowski (2008) illustrate, Facebook began as a forum for college students, "however in 2005 high schools were added to Facebook in order to reach a wider range of users. In the following year, almost 22,000 commercial organizations had a presence" (p. 2). Facebook was always viewed as a way to make money -- and early investors, like Napster co-founder Sean Parker, saw Facebook's financial potential in its ability to draw young people (prime fodder for advertisers). While Facebook remained un-monetized (free of advertising) for some time, it only did so to "be cool" so that once its membership was global, it could then open the floodgates to advertisers. Last year the site grossed more than a billion dollars in advertising revenue, and this year it looks to rake in billions more by going public on the stock market. Thus, Facebook's function (for investors) was always profit-driven.

But for users, Facebook is socially-driven. "In July 2007, social networking sites occupied five of the top fifteen visited websites according to Alexa.com" (Joinson, 2008, p. 1027). Facebook is often viewed as the primary means of maintaining a "social life." Numerous academic studies have been performed to assess the role and function of Facebook in users' lives. Joseph B. Walther et al. (2008) state that "forming and managing impressions is a fundamental process, and one that has been complicated by new communication technologies" (p. 28). What this means is that Facebook has changed the way that people see themselves and the way that they disseminate information about themselves. It has also helped break down the barrier between private and public information. With Facebook, one's private life is now offered to the public (if, of course, one desires it to be). This offering, however, has both negative and positive effects.

Advantages of Facebook

Facebook's advantage over all other social networking sites is its usability: "From its dorm-room days, Facebook has looked simple, clean, and uncluttered" (Kirkpatrick, 2011, p. 11). And yet, because so many users around the world access Facebook daily, it has become a playground for students as well as teachers, for employers as well as employees: in other words, it is an enormous bulletin board -- also called "the Wall" -- where anyone, anywhere can post anything: "Facebook is all information all the time. Each month about 30 billion pieces of content are posted there by members -- including Web links, news stories, photos, etc. it's by far the largest photo-sharing site on the Internet, for instance, with more than 3 billion photos added each month" (Kirkpatrick, p. 11). On Facebook, the trivial meets the important; the private meets the public. In short, the biggest advantage of Facebook is that it "is bringing the world together" -- and in some countries, like Chile or Norway, it is even bigger than in the United States where it began (Kirkpatrick, p. 15).

Of course, what appears at first to be an advantage may very well be full of disadvantage. While, according to David Kirkpatrick, 75% of Facebook's users "are outside the United States" and nearly half of all Americans are "active on Facebook," the fact remains that Facebooking has its pitfalls for the socially insecure (p. 16). Many of these pitfalls are reported in the mainstream media and (perhaps) sensationalized. But as researchers Nicole B. Ellison et al. (2007) show, "in contrast to popular press coverage which has primarily focused on negative outcomes of Facebook use stemming from users' misconceptions about the nature of their online audience," Facebook actually presents some advantageous options for users who understand how to navigate the social networking site for optimum benefit (p. 1145).

Knowing how to navigate and use Facebook is essential for optimal experience: "Facebook allows users to have control over their information and who sees it. The basic 'visibility rule' is that all the user's Facebook friends and schoolmates can see the user's Facebook account" (Tennyson et al., 2008, p. 1823). However, the visibility rule can be changed simply by adjusting the privacy settings. Despite the fact that it is an online forum social networking site, privacy still means something to some users -- and Facebook allows such people the option to keep their privacy and simply use the site as a means of communication with specifically designated individuals. This is a major advantage of Facebook over alternative social networking sites, like MySpace: it is user friendly.

However, Facebook is not simply viewed as a forum for reconnecting with friends or as a site where businesses can promote their products. It is also viewed as a means of making new friends (Tennyson et al., p. 1824). Establishing new and/or romantic relationships with people is the goal of almost half of all users of Facebook. The Facebook generation is using the Internet to branch out and find individuals who share similar beliefs, hobbies, friends, and ideals with users. Facebook is a forum for people to find what they think they are missing in real life: community.

But Facebook appears to have even more advantages: "Plenty of people use Facebook as a tool for managing their careers as well as their social lives" (Abram, Pearlman, p. 21). Facebook allows users to find out information about industries that might be important to them. It gives users the option to connect with people whose career paths might be relevant to one's own.

Facebook also acts as a springboard for political and grassroots movements. Indeed, the so-called "Arab Spring" revolution was reported to have been organized by users on Facebook (Abram, Pearlman, p. 22). The Occupy protests in the New York City, Washington, Portland, Oakland, and elsewhere have also used Facebook as a means of spreading the word about the protest movement.

In the final analysis, social networking is a tool open to any and all individuals, whether they are looking for a job, a place to eat,… READ MORE

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