Facebook's been pretty busy lately, what with organizing rebellions and stuff.
I don't know how many of you have seen the "Stand With Planned Parenthood" (in reaction to a Feb 18th vote in the House to pass the Pence Amendment, which if made into law, will strip Planned Parenthood of all its federal funding) Facebook event page, but it has over 153,000 people attending.
I don't know if this page will actually do anything, but it's interesting how people feel as if it will make a difference (especially post Egypt, etc.).
I see these events or pages on facebook as a passive way to show your support. I think more people feel as though if they are 'attending' or 'liking' certain events it's as if ' they have done their job' in taking a stance. This new generation of technology ruling how news is spread is making people more lazy. They're thinking that they are doing something important when in fact is just clicking a button on their computer.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with that. It's way to easy to join groups and like pages and feel like you have really made a difference. (I always imagine well-meaning volunteers showing up in a war-torn country with giant containers full of...awareness.)
ReplyDeleteMalcolm Gladwell wrote a fascinating article explaining that the kind of weak committment and social bonds formed by Facebook are not the kind that are needed for real social change. Check it out:
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/10/04/101004fa_fact_gladwell
I agree, I don't think that this kind of passive support will DO anything, but I do think that there is something to say about the kind of online support community it creates.
ReplyDeleteThe article is interesting, but it was written in October, and I think that the issue needs to be reexamined post current events.
If anything, I think that Facebook is a really effective way of making people aware of big issues that are going on. Let's first worry about people knowing the facts, and then deal with the lack of change "liking" something on Facebook is going to create.
I hear what you are saying but just working about the awareness an then worrying about the 'liking' later just leads to that aspect not being addressed for a while. Putting something on 'hold' like this is not the way to address a situation in society today when things are constantly evolving and changing on a daily basis- if we do that the problem will become deeper- we need to address both because they really reflect on one another and aren't two separate issues in todays day.
ReplyDeleteIt is always hard to know what Facebook really means. When someone says they'll attend an event, I'm of the understanding that all that means is that they are interested in it. It is important to realize that Facebook "likes" or "attending" can mean something, but sometimes it really means nothing at all.
ReplyDelete