Its ‘Like’ totally me

Image 1: Likeoholic

 In McNeill’s (2012, p.73) ‘There is no I in network’ she explores that social media identities are more collaborative pieces of work with input from friends as opposed to the subjectivity of the individual. When I started a new profile for Facebook, I felt I could portray myself to a new audience in a way that I wanted them to see me. However, as time went on I found that I was not posting pictures or comments that best illustrated me, but I began to post things that I knew my audience would literally ‘like’. My Facebook profile changed from something that I believed was innately personal to a collective of friends’ feedback, posts to my wall and approval of things that I posted.

Facebook provides a unique way of telling a person’s story. It not only allows me to publish my life in the moment to my friends, and potentially to a world audience; but more interestingly, as my lecturer Kuttainen (2016) pointed out, virtual social media gives me the ability to completely change and rewrite my history like no other form of medium can. Though my exploration of Facebook, I found I was able to delete previous comments, pictures and event whole events that I found embarrassing now. It felt like travelling in time and altering the past.

As an avid Facebook user it never occurred to me that identity was an issue. However, as the article ‘catfishing’ exemplifies there are many people who are willingly and actively deceiving others under a new alias. Initially, it seemed odd that people are completely changing their identity online and disregard their ‘real’ selves. The internet seems to have created a battleground our real and virtual selves. Is it possible that without the constraint of physical appearance, that the internet strips away enables users to become their ‘true’ selves?

Reference 

Hanuka, A (n.d). Likeoholic [Image] Freeyork. Retrieved September 1, 2016, from http://freeyork.org/art/powerful-illustrations-asaf-hanuka

Kuttainen, V. (2016). BA1002: Our space: Networks, narratives and the making of place, lecture 6 Networked narrative. [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au/

McNeill, L. (2012). There Is No "I" in Network: Social Networking Sites and Posthuman Auto/Biography. Biography, 35(1), 65-82. DOI:10.1353/bio.2012.0009

 

Peterson, H. (2013, January, 17). 'Catfishing:' The phenomenon of Internet scammers who fabricate online identities and entire social circles to trick people into romantic relationships. Daily Mail Australia Online. Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2264053/Catfishing-The-phenomenon-Internet-scammers-fabricate-online-identities-entire-social-circles-trick-people-romantic-relationships.html

Language Could Save a Life

“Words have the general power to bring to light the experiences that lie in the shadow or have receded into it, and the specific power to call places into being.” (Tuan, 1991. p 686)

The power of language (oral or written) is often underestimated or dismissed, particularly in the realm of cyber space. Already, phrases such as “cyber space” and “the world wide web” give us a preconceived perception of what the internet is; they help us establish an understanding of virtual space.

Language and communication
 could save a life, specifically in
mental health matters. (Health Quotes Pinterest, 2016)  

Victoria Kuttainen (2016) describes the internet as a hub that unifies a large amount of diverse people groups. For instance, a number of well-known Instagram users use the platform as a way to share their thoughts and opinions with their followers. Successful Instagramers often interact with their followers on an emotional level.

For example, Danielle Mansutti, a popular Instagram user with over 400,000 followers, originally became known for her beauty-inspired YouTube channel. However, in more recent months, Danielle has used her power to discuss the more serious topic of mental health. In doing so, she has created a place in which her following feel comfortable sharing personal stories and experiences. Tuan (1991. p 690) explains that “the quality of human communication, including the kinds of words… used, seems to infect the material environment, as though a light – tender [or] bright… – has been cast over it.” By communicating empathy and support, Danielle has transformed a space that generally feels isolated and vast into a place where her followers can seek warmth, interaction and advice.

Furthermore, Thu-Huong Ha (2013) from TED.com discusses the importance of language and communication, specifically in regards to mental health issues. She highlights the significance of speech, and gives advice on how to appropriately discuss mental illness in order to, quite possibly, save a life.

Ha, T-H. (2013) How should we talk about mental health? Retrieved from http://ideas.ted.com/how-should-we-talk-about-mental-health/

Kuttainen, V. (2016). BA1002: Networks, narratives and the making of place, lecture 5: Stories of place: Story lines.

Tuan, Y-F. (1991). Language and the making of place: A narrative-descriptive approach. Annals of the Association of American Geographers. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/2563430.pdf

Image:

 N.A. (2016) Health quotes. Retrieved from https://au.pinterest.com/pin/535858055645803426/