Facebook Is a Useful Social and Marketing Medium - Essay Example

?Your Full Your 11 April Facebook is a useful social and marketing medium Connecting people, bridging gaps between cultures and giving the average Joe a platform to share, discover or just vent, Facebook will feature in history not as an original idea, but how an already existing idea can be massively improved upon. Social media sites, ‘yearbook’ type portals to help people locate old friends had around before Facebook became an earth-shattering phenomenon. Orkut, MySpace and Yahoo did all Facebook had to offer and enjoyed their fifteen minutes of fame before being dwarfed by Zuckerberg’s brainchild. Taking the world by storm, giving birth to a whole new lexicon of marketing terminology and giving the word “addiction” a whole new spin, Facebook has its fair share of lovers and haters. However, this paper will go to show how Facebook is, despite its shortcomings, a very useful medium for everyone who uses it responsibly. Employers who feel they are being cheated out of the time they are paying for; parents concerned over what they think is an unhealthy obsession; sociologists crying over the fading away of ‘real’, as opposed to ‘virtual’, interaction between humans; and media giants who treat the distribution of information as their right alone, fall in the category of those who do not approve of Facebook. The opponents of this medium have a lot to say against what they consider to be a waste of time, addictive, anti-social – in the literal sense of the word “social” – or just a nuisance. It is easy to see that a lot of people simply log on to Facebook to kill time; they log on to pass their time when they have nothing better to do. Such people normally like to post silly comments, either on their own profiles or those of others. Many websites that display the stupidity of these posts have become famous, one example being Failbook. It is plain to see that people generally come to Facebook to waste time. However, it is interesting to note that this activity actually helps people get rid of their daily stress. Facebook is a good outlet for expressing one’s thoughts, however silly they might be. What is more, the fact that the users can, and do, get replies from their friends actually helps them to feel more validated. Through their posts, people even share their grief and problems, and having friends comment and give advice, even if it is only online, helps them to feel better. It is, therefore, not correct to call Facebook a distraction, when it actually is therapeutic as well. Whether it is used to decrease one’s tensions, or to voice one’s opinions, or even to share one’s problems, Facebook proves to be a good tool. Some people, concerned with the already growing lack of privacy online, claim that Facebook allows for invasion of privacy. People are free to not only access your information that you have allowed to be public, but sometimes, due to the constant updates and changes of Facebook’s privacy policies, even the information that you chose to keep private can be accessed by the public. In short, what is private today may very well be public tomorrow. What is more, users have been known to share their passwords with their friends so that the friends can check out the users’ other friends (Jones 3). Nonetheless, when someone posts on the world wide web, it is, of course, natural the “whole wide world” will get access to those posts. You cannot post on a “social” website, like Facebook, and then complain about the fact that society got to read everything. The whole basis of a social networking site is to connect people from all over the world, in a bid to bring them closer, moreover, a simple way for a private person to avoid becoming public is not to post on such sites. However, to sign up for Facebook and then not post defeats the purpose of signing up, a much better option, therefore, is for users to think before they make posts; do they want what they are posting to be seen by all, or would they rather not? If they would rather not, then it is better for them to not post such comments and/or pictures on Facebook. Most of us are very careful about what sort of people we bring into our circle, it is, therefore, second nature to us, and we can exercise the same practice when we log on to Facebook. Sometimes, though, it is very hard to enforce this, as the person using Facebook is too young to think about these consequences. Facebook allows children as old as thirteen to make accounts and socialize online. This makes them targets for predators. It is common knowledge that a lot of pedophiles are prowling online, in search for children who are easy targets. Opponents of Facebook claim that the youngsters who are signed up on Facebook provide these predators with opportunities that the predators would not have in real life. Once again, it depends on how Facebook is used. Children who are this young should be supervised whenever they are online, irrespective of whether they log on to Facebook or not. Children are constantly exposed to dangers even when they go out to play in the public parks, swim in the public pool, or even at the public library. It is up to the parents to keep their children safe. Parents should, and often do, keep track of what their children are up to and who the people they are interacting with are. This trend should be followed online. The mistake is when cyberspace is not treated the same way as real life is. The opponents also claim that Facebook also causes envy and stress amongst users. People seeing their friends photos when the latter were vacationing and having a good time are always struck with envy, and that causes them unhappiness and dissatisfaction with their own life. Moreover, this trend also increases their stress, as they are unable to achieve what their friends seem to have achieved. Again, if we look at real life, people are always envious of those who are doing better than them. Even if one is to turn on the television or go and watch a movie, or even buy a beauty magazine, one is hit with envy and disappointment with their own self. It is a truth that someone would always be doing better than you are, someone would always be prettier than you, or richer than you, or even happier than you, however, that does not define who you are. Envy is a very real emotion and causes undue stress and even self loathing; the trick is in how to handle this emotion. It is pointless to blame Facebook for something that already exists all around us and is not enhanced by the mere use of Facebook. There have been documented cases where people were fired from their jobs due to their Facebook posts. The opponents claim that this side of Facebook actually limits the users’ right to Free Speech under the First Amendment, thus proclaiming that Facebook is actually promoting unconstitutional behavior. It is, however, not as simple as the opponents make it out to be. Wherever one is employed there are certain guidelines and rules that the employees agree to follow while still in that employment. If a certain Facebook user does not follow such rules or guidelines while making their posts, it is their fault, and theirs alone, that they were fired from their job. To make irresponsible posts, as a juror in England did when she asked her Facebook friends to help her make a decision by starting a poll (Khan), and then to blame it on Facebook is simply not right. The users should, and do, have good judgment, and if they do not, then they are to blame, not the medium they post on. Coming to the advantages of Facebook, the medium is supposed to be used as a social networking site where likeminded people, from all over the world, can connect and share ideas and information at their own discretion. Facebook helps people connect, and reconnect, with their school friends, family and even perfect strangers who share the same interests as them. This helps users to keep in touch with those they want to, as well as to keep them updated with their own lives, all the while keeping themselves updated as to what their loved ones are up to. Facebook has been known to help people when they are looking for jobs, and employers as well who are looking to seek someone appropriate to hire. Friends, colleagues and even family find it easier to recommend someone they know on Facebook, as the employer can get a feel of what the person is like by seeing their profile. That is why, some people also give their Facebook accounts to prospective employers as well. What is more, it also gives the people who are seeking jobs to see what their employers, or their employer’s office, is actually like and whether they would fit in and like to work there or not. This makes it easier for both the employers and employees. Also, Facebook gives people the opportunity to make pages dedicated to promoting their work, as well as themselves, and even to start business. Quite a number of small businesses have started up, and even become successful, due to the social hub that Facebook is. Whether it is arts and crafts, comic writing, or even small scale manufacturing, Facebook provides the users a platform to make and display their wares, so to speak, as well as a platform to others to see, like and buy these wares. To many people opening up a shop is just not possible because of all the expense and technicalities involved, it is, therefore, very convenient for them to have an online place where they can set up shop and have potential customers visit them and order from them, eventually. An example in this regard would be Zynga, a company that makes millions of dollars in revenue every year due to their presence on Facebook. Furthermore, Facebook is a very good platform for free speech. Many people air their views online better than they can in real life; they even feel safer making these statements online than they do in real life because of the limited to no bad repercussions of their speech. Many parts of the world actually discourage free speech, and people from such parts of the world find Facebook a very useful tool. The recent overthrow of the Egyptian regime at the hands of the young people, who used Facebook as a medium not only to voice their opinion, but to gain momentum, is an example in this regard. Additionally, Facebook makes it possible for people from very different cultures, even opposing ones, to interact with one another. This interaction, in turn, brings out the humanity: which is to say that the users find it easier to relate to other cultures and to gain a better understanding thereof. This leads to a better chance of having a harmonious world, where people understand each other, even if they do not agree with one another. Most people would not have a similar chance in real life at all. This is a service that Facebook provides for free. In short, it is easy to blame everything bad on Facebook without taking any personal responsibility. But as with everything else in life, one has to not only take responsibility but be held accountable for their actions. Most, if not all, of the opposition to Facebook comes from the fact that people do not exercise precautions or good judgment when they are online. It must be remembered that Facebook is merely a tool, not an end in itself but a means to an end, therefore, as with all tools in real life it should be used with caution, responsibility and, in turn, personal accountability. The problem stems from the fact that people do not take cyberspace as seriously as they do real life, not because Facebook in itself is bad. Therefore, it is plain to see that Facebook is a very useful medium in today’s world, both cyberspace and real. Works Cited Cheezburger, Inc. Failbook – Funny Facebook Status Messages. Failblog, n.d.. Web. 11 Apr. 2012. Jones, Warren. “Facebook is an Experiment Gone Wrong.” in Hear me Out: Is Facebook an Invasion of Privacy. ABC15.com. Scripps TV Station Group, The E. W. Scripps Co., 21 Aug. 2011. Web. 11 Apr. 2012. Khan, Urmee. “Juror Dismissed from Trial after Using Facebook to Help Make a Decision.” The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group Limited, 24 Nov. 2008. Web. 12 Apr. 2012. McKinley, Dawn. “Check Your Privacy Settings to Manage Facebook.” in Hear me Out: Is Facebook an Invasion of Privacy. ABC15.com. Scripps TV Station Group, The E. W. Scripps Co., 21 Aug. 2011. Web. 11 Apr. 2012. Zynga. Zynga Inc., n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2012. Read More