Whither The Individual

Whither the Individual?
As we join groups and social networks from affinity sites to Facebook, are we extending and expanding identities, or increasingly conforming to the cookie-cutter profiles demanded of these interfaces? Is the loss of "personal space" and "reflection" so many users complain of merely the necessary surrender of "ego" as we learn to participate as members of a more evolved "collective organism" of "hyper-people?"

As we join groups and social networks from affinity sites to Facebook, we are laying out who we think we are or who we want to appear to be like for the entire network. Facebook is a social network that allows anyone with internet capabilities to join the now 400 million users in creating a page online. By uploading pictures and videos and finding old friends, new friends, boy/girlfriends, this social network becomes a whole new projection of one’s self into a virtual world. Facebook is the best at what it does; geek.com even puts it at better picture quality than other social networks, claiming that image sharing is "all happening on Facebook".This new world of the Internet and Social Websites create connectivity amongst people unlike anything ever seen. It’s scary to think how such things may even have control over how we live our daily lives. Technology is defining the planet, and along with the internet it will always be the future.

     A growing concern about social networks has become the lack of privacy.  However facebook was invented as a social network, defined by many as a site to keep up with and make new friends. The internet and facebook do connect and create a cyber world of constantly interacting people. If the concern of losing one’s self is of importance, than facebook is not in that individuals best interest. This new online world is one for personal space made public.

     In this generation the internet is the biggest buzz and source of interest. It holds the fastest updates for entertainment, news paper sources, weather, et cetera which all conveniently connect to sites like Facebook and Twitter. The flow of media that people follow allows people to relate on so many different levels. Whether it is posting on a Youtube video or commenting on a friend’s Facebook picture, information is being put forth for ultimately anyone in the world. The individual loses personal space while connecting indefinitely with other people. Facebook is just a place for people to connect to other people; to follow the stream of never ending media entertainment. The rush moves at a fast pace as does life. The rush of media uploaded, ex. the rush of new music, the rush of interesting news, the rush of information all define who we are in this rush of time. A people connected in the rush of media, a “hyper-people”. The internet has in a sense become inhabitable. And the reason people are so connected is due to the anonymity, the user friendliness, the fun, the convenience and the efficiency of the internet. The only reason people become immersed into sites such as Facebook is because when they get there, there are other people right there with them. A lot can take place in the virtual world and we see it every day.