Re:Facebook: Your Year in Review
by personlurking on Wednesday December 12, 2012 @07:16PM
(#4913326)
Reminds me a bit of "staged authenticity" in tourism studies which I've been thinking about lately. When we see the fake version of something as the real version, whether because we don't care about its blatant falsity or because we're not competent enough to authenticate its veracity.
I use FB maybe several times a week, as a time killer. Sometimes I may share things (status, pictures), but I'm certainly not "on top of it".
My "year in review" is certainly NOT the sum of everything I posted to facebook. When I go on a road trip with friends, the pictures do not always make their way there. Not every person I date becomes a relationship status.
I used to argue to fb detractors and holders out that it's not intended as a socializing replacement, but just as an enhancer. But this just seems to reinforce the fact that, for many people...what they've publicly shared online defines them.
I guess it just kind of saddens me that, for many people, this WILL be a summary of their 2012. I think I'm having trouble really articulating what bugs me about it, but it just feels like validation that Facebook is gamifying people's lives into being about making Facebook some sort of mirror of their real life, which is not a future I'm on board with.