With Friends Like These…

1.
Tom Hodgkinson makes the argument that Facebook users want as many friends as possible and that it gives them a sense of being “popular.” I don’t think this is a valid criticism. I have 289 friends on Facebook. Most of them being people that I went to high school with and that I’m not really friends with. So why click “Add Friend” on their profile? Just so I can stay somewhat connected to the people I grew up with and to see how they’ve changed. I don’t feel any more popular because they’re my Facebook friends. And I’ve never heard anyone else brag about how many friends they have to make them feel better about themselves.
For a large amount of the article, Hodgkinson criticizes Peter Thiel, one of the board members of Facebook. He labels him as a futurist philosopher and claims that he is trying to destroy the world with his investments in technologies such as artificial intelligence, direct-brain user interfaces, and genetic engineering. At the end of the paragraph he says, “Not someone I want to help get any richer.” I think this is irrelevant to Facebook and to his whole argument. Just because he’s interested in futuristic technologies doesn’t mean he doesn’t deserve the money he’s making or that he is evil.

Hodgkinson later makes the point that Facebook with benefitting and making money off of relationships that already exist. I think that this is one of his valid arguments. It is true; however I don’t that makes Facebook evil or corrupt.
I think his statement about how Facebook advertises is important. If you list one of your favorite movies, similar movies will be targeted to your Facebook specifically to target you. This is true, so I consider it valid. Once again however, I don’t consider it a bad thing. If anything, I’d want to be targeted by products that interest me. It doesn’t mean I’m going to go buy that product or see that movie; but at least I’m aware that it exists.
2. The Facebook in Real Life video has been done countless times on youtube. They all make the same point which that most of the things Facebook users do is really irrelevant. “Ritchie created group, Tree Bark is the Bomb.” True, this is irrelevant, as most entertaining things on the internet are. But it’s funny, so why not join. It doesn’t mean anything in “real life” so why not? Heck, I’d join a group that loves tree bark because it’s true, tree bark is the bomb. The tag at the end saying “Doesn’t make much sense in real life does it?” is true; but that’s why we do it on the internet. It’s fun.
3. I’m looking at the most recently updated statuses on Facebook as I type this. The most recent says, “Yay zombie jesus day! thanks for the chocolate rabbits ZJC.” I consider this a pretty funny Facebook experience.
I play dodgeball here at Champlain College every Sunday with a handful of my friends and many other students. So I decided to create a Facebook group titled, “Dodgeball at Champlain College.” Since I created it, 28 other people have joined. A few of them I have added to my friends list because we got along with them when we played. There have been some photos taken from games that that person linked to at the group. Discussions have been created for further organization of the sport. A student from Saginaw Valley in Michigan contacted me about the dodgeball league he plays in out in the Midwest. It is a growing league and they’re looking for more teams to join. He also posted information about the league on our page. I consider this a very positive, pro Facebook experience. We’ve been able to organize, keep in touch, and reach out to other schools about our similar interests.