Identities In The Infinite Scrolldown
I. Chubbs Bustamante As Node In A Network A quick look at the elements of a social networking profile allows one a, shall we say, unique glimpse— or rather thorough run-through of a person’s general psycho-social make-up. Here, one can oftentimes see a person’s work experience and educational background, his or her place of residence, birthday, sex, contact information, and other such relevant, distanced information. But that person, through the network, goes on to describe what should be more discretely held information, a relationship status, favorite musicians and movies, number of “friends”, at times current location, religious and political stances, and the like.
Does an outsider really need to know how many friends one has recently made or what newspieces he/she is interested in? Not that this knowing is highly intimate, although there are a few bare-all members out there who brush away issues of discretion. These pieces of information, however, are often reserved for the table: the “1st date” dinner maybe or the “1st day in class” icebreaker. With social networks, the first few gates that must be opened in order to establish a respectful, mutual connection are somehow dismantled, and many strangers are given farther purview than a profile owner might care to give in hindsight. Relationships are fastforwarded. And in order to be more well acquainted, without introductions or even without the knowledge of that person, simply scroll down the profile and take in as much of a person as possible. If he/she has been on Facebook long enough, it will take days, maybe weeks before a stalker can read through everything and reach the end. And because of lightning-quick updating by that person or conversations set up by friends on a wall, the steady-stream will allow this “personal” information to be infinite.
“Wow, Chubbs has 8 new friends pala. Ay, pero yun pala yung iboboto niya para sa Student Council. ‘Nak, may news sites. Maybe he’s very concerned about our country, o siguro pasimple pa siya.” It is a case of self-production. With the rise of social communities, barriers are torn down and the person becomes a public commodity free to be consumed by strangers. Yes, there are privacy settings, and yes these can be tweaked to one’s advantage so that a sort of filtering occurs but the end result is hardly affected: Facebook is still a network of “Here I am. I exist here and now.” It can, to some, become a validating mechanism as it is a platform one to behold the achievements, emotions, idiosyncrasies, existence of others. These often come in the form of images: a photograph of what I just ate, myself with a celebrity, a picture of a sad puppy to convey just what I feel, a printscreen of a pop-cultural reference to show that I operate within the current cultural milieu, and other outward gestures that point inwards. An identity taken from but now apart of one’s own is (re-)constructed, and placed out there, available to the public. II. Chubbs Bustamante As Collector Of Another social networking site exists that allows one to receive a constant stream of data in the form of pretty pictures and lovely text. Pinterest is a lesser known site that has been gaining quite a number in membership over the past years. The network hosts thousands of images of delectable food with the accompanying recipes, pictures of very creative arts and crafts with do-ityourself kits and instructions, travel photos, fashion photos and just about anything which a member can choose and “pin” to his or her own online digital wall like a corkboard. A third-party entity may be allowed to view this corkboard and pick through the layers of signifiers and signifieds to come up with his or her own curated corkboard. Not to say that it becomes all a matter of pretense, a
show of class and culture but it is what it is, another statement of self: “Here I am. These are the things I am interested in, the things worthy of my time.” And the reconstruction occurs again, only with the formal definitions scrapped and replaced purely with tastes and desires. Steve Pemberton runs through programming innovations that have contributed to a community of individuals that are bent on creating and updating pre-positioned websites of their own, as if the act was brought to a certain level of commitment.[1] Again, there exists the onslaught of images and ideas for the taking. It’s bombarding, when every single breath takes the span of hundreds of new posts. This generation’s collector is then forced to grab as many as small icons as possible, trading in a thoughtful box of intimate objects with a proper place in one’s home (or mind) for a garage of items to help stay in-the-know but never to be revisisted. Stakeholders and consumers are thus managed by an invisible force of digital culture and are reconfigured no longer as users of commodities but are themselves produced as if commodities. III. Chubbs Bustamante As Commodity Our ability to “freely” connect with people from around the globe and to must, of course actually come with a price. Stijn Peeters points out in his article that Location-Based Social Networks like Foursquare and, to an extent, Facebook, legally feed these data of things liked or pinned, places gone to, objects bought, etc. to advertisers and large businesses.[2] Marketing departments are able to assess with laser-accuracy what works and what doesn’t using millions of profiles and digital activities. Invaluable information which used to be immeasurable because of its private nature can now be accessed for a sum. All to be able to work at a more efficient advertising of more goods for your consumption.
“Here, Chubbs you might like some of these. I heard they’re perfect for you.”
There is freedom of access that comes with digital platforms but his has its own social implications. A person is a node is a collector is a commodity. A person is transformed into statistic that can be bought and may well be taken for granted. It isn’t to say that the physical person is obligated or under contract. It is a transaction that one must be willing to agree to, be a member of and participate in. It isn’t so much virtual oppression that occurs but virtual negotiation. The question really is: What is your price? (Rupert IV A. Bustamante)
Sources: [1] Deicke, Dennis. "Steve Pemberton - "Have your own personal website!" Society of the Query. 14 Nov 2009. Instiute of Network Cultures. 15 Feb 2013. <http://networkcultures.org/wpmu/research/2009/11/14/steve-pemberton-%E2%80%9Ehave-your-own-personal-website%E2%80%9C/> [2] Peeters, Stijn. "We're commodities, but maybe that's all right -- what do we pay for using FourSquare?" Unlike U#3, Social Media: Design or Decline. 14 Nov 2009. Instiute of Network Cultures. 15 Feb 2013. <http://networkcultures.org/wpmu/unlikeus/2013/02/05/were-commodities-but-maybethats-all-right-what-do-we-pay-for-usingfoursquare/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=were-commodities-but-maybe-thatsall-right-what-do-we-pay-for-using-foursquare>
Garcia, Isra. "Social Media-Integration-Theory-Model." 17 Mar 2011. socialmedia today. 14 Feb 2013. <http://socialmediatoday.com/isra-garcia/278936/social-media-integration-theory-model> Wade, Mike and Schott Schenberger. "Social Network Theory." Theories Used In IS Research. Appalachian State University & York University. 15 Feb 2013. <http://www.istheory.yorku.ca/socialnetworktheory.htm> Laru-an, Renan. "Interview with Boris Groys." First Questions. DiscussionLab. 15 Feb 2013. <http://www.discussionlab.com/>