Saturday, October 23, 2010

Facebook Reversal


In this experiment, our team of dedicated social researchers endeavored to investigate the relationship between facebook and social capital.

Each member reversed his/her facebook situation:  those who had facebooks stayed off THE ENTIRE WEEK, and those who didn't (i.e. Chris) made facebooks and used it EVERY DAY!

Prediction: That facebook obviously diminishes social capital by creating artificial communication and consuming time that could be devoted to real interactions.

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Videos

Here is a video compilation of our responses to the experiment halfway through the week:
 



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Chris' Response

For me, it was apparent that our prediction was mostly accurate.  After making and participating in the world of facebook, I did find that it wastes time and promotes a sort of communication that does not foster true friendship, trust, or any emotions associated with face-to-face interaction.  I can see how facebook is useful and entertaining, but my conclusion is that it, on the whole, decreases social capital.

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Anthony's Response

I found that staying off facebook for a week did not significantly alter my social capital.  If anything, it hindered a quick and easy form of communication between me and the people in my life.  Because I had a facebook application on my phone, facebook was a convenient way to send and reply to messages, check useful information on people such as birthdays and phone numbers, and load pictures (for example, I wanted to show some of my face-to-face friends a picture of my brother, but I had no way to do so without facebook).  On the other hand, I didn't realize how much of a distraction facebook was until I abstained from it for an extended period.  While facebook does foster instant communication, it doesn't necessarily foster a sense of community between people; face-to-face interactions build this sense of community naturally.  Therefore, whether or not facebook increases or decreases social capital is undecided for me.  However, I do know that the change was not so large in either direction once I left facebook.  Perhaps this was because I didn't use my facebook that often to begin with.  One possible conclusion might be that only in excess does facebook hinder social capital.

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Noah's Response

Not using Facebook for a week was not as hard as I thought it would be. After five o'clock is when I usually get on facebook and this lab helped me be a lot more efficient. I finished homework and other assignments in no time at all and I was able to do things that I haven't been able to do in awhile. My social capital wasn't really affected because my close friends and I don't usally talk through there, but I did miss out on some great photo up dates and event invites.

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Nicole's Response

I have deactivated my Facebook for over 2 months now, for personal reasons of course.  I have actually never felt more isolated. I haven’t talked to anyone online, commented on anyone’s status, nor stalked people for about 58 days. I feel so disconnected. Not that I’m encouraging stalking or anything… but it did have its certain benefits. I feel disconnected to people I should be friends with, the people I have met since my deactivation. Now when I make new friends, they say “Facebook me” like as if it’s a word in Noah Webster’s 1783 dictionary. Everyone’s so attached to it. Yet I can understand; it keeps us connected. You can join groups and keep in contact with people from your past or who moved to a different country per say. It increases our social capital, and disabling Facebook completely plummeted mine. And yet I still don’t regret receiving the “you have deactivated your Facebook account” email. I wonder how long I’ll be able to last in my socially inept world without hitting that activate button…

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Maria's Response

Facebook never occupied much of my time but after swearing it off I realized that through facebook I made a lot of artificial contact with people I really don't know well at all.  In fact, some people I would carry on entire chatting conversations on facebook and yet we wouldn't even acknowledge each other in "face-to-face" space.  For me, the primary benefit of Facebook is the ease with which I can keep in touch with people I don't see every day. In this sense, a week without facebook didn't do much damage but thinking about it I realized that many of the friendships I hold quite dear would never be maintained as well as they are if it weren't for published albums, wall posts, and facebook messaging.  Ultimately, a change in facebook usage did not heavily affect my social capital in terms of actual connectivity but if I didn't have a facebook at all I would be left out of plans for reunions, commemorating groups or events, notices about meetings and clubs, and I would be way out of the inside joke loop.  The hardest part was receiving an email notification about a message I got and not being able to go read it and respond - but if I didn't have a facebook I wouldn't be getting those emails and thus that would not be an issue at all!

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7 comments:

  1. As our groups did close to the same project it is interesting to hear your responses to it. I personally found that it was quite easy to not use Facebook, though it was strange to disconnect myself at first. I only spend around 15 minutes a day on the site, so it was not terribly hard; for others though this may not be the case. This experiment creates awareness of our dependence on such technology and I think more Americans should try going without Facebook.

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  2. I agree with Ben. I really liked how you reversed the situation and made chris get a facebook! YAY CHRIS! But America is slowly becoming consumed by technology, whether it be something as useless as facebook or something that could benefit society. Facebook is definitely a program that society could live without. Like Nicole said, everyone is so attached to it; including me. But I really liked how we did the same lab except from different angles. It was interesting to see everyones response.

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  3. I knew Chris would hate facebook just because I know him. The rest of you is similar to what I experienced when our family computer was out of commision for a couple weeks. I would usually check facebook in the morning and then, when my computer broke, I suddenly had more time in the morning. Great Job

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  4. Wouldn't it be nice if we could use Facebook with more self control? Our group did a similiar lab and I found myself finishing homework earlier and spending more time with friends with a deactivated account. I honestly didn't want it back. Now, I'm back to my old habits. It feels so right to have a conversation with a boy from my 11th grade physics class instead of studying derivatives.

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  5. I think it was a great idea for an experiement. I definatly find myself on facebook sometimes rather than doing homework. But at the same time, i do keep in touch with people on facebook from other countries that don't have skype. So for that reason, I think it's helpful.

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  6. I found it so interesting to see your differing viewpoints from the various backgrounds each person comes from with facebook. I guess it just depends on the person, but when our group deactivated our facebooks there was a unanimous vote saying lives were much better without it. There is definitely a fine line with using facebook, and while using it occasionally to stay in touch with REAL friends helps keep people connected, excessive use can have many negative affects as your group stated very well!

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  7. For those of you who deactivated, it truly makes me want to do the same. I honestly go on facebook and waste time; sometimes keep in touch with long distance friends, but I usually end up messing around. It's a total time waster!

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