Likes: The Currency of Self-Worth

As Allen explores (2003, p. 2) ‘power is everywhere’, however most of us fail to see the gravity and extent of this statement and how it affects us. As we develop a stronger affinity with virtual social networks, it is important to stop and evaluate the reach of its influence in shaping our individually.

Image 1: The 'Power' of Facebook (2015)

The social network I will exploring Facebook in this and future blogs for my assessment. Initially, I saw Facebook as an empowering tool, in which it created a space for people without power in the real world to find it in this virtual world (Turkle, 1995, p. 249). A space for an introvert like myself to freely express my thoughts.

However, after a while and several posts later, this I felt this space begin to take the power which it once gave away. As Yi-Fu Tuan (1997, p. 6) discusses the more we become familiar a space we begin to put value and manifest symbols within that space, and as Mark Winddowson explores in The Conversation likes and comments manifests into a form of validation and thus become a currency of self-worth to users. Through my experience I found my posts about freely expressing myself transform into posting things that would get more likes and please my audience.

As Allen (2003, p. 5) explains power is something that is restrictive, he also describes it as something that enables the user. A social network such as Facebook, which has become so heavily entwined with our day to day lives, has enable its users to wield this ‘power’ without a second thought and more ominously be restricted by this ‘power’ without us consciously knowing. As Kuttainen (2016, p. 13) discusses power comes out of connections and relationships, it will be interesting to explore Facebook deeper to discover how profoundly this social platform has changed our sense of self and identity.

References

Allen, J. (2003). Lost geographies of power. Malden, MA: Blackwell.

Arfara, S. (2015). The 'Power' of Facebook. [Image]. Retrieved from http://www.cartoonmovement.com/cartoon/22376

Kuttainen, V. (2016). BA1002: Our space: Networks, narratives and the making of place, lecture 2: Power. [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from http://learnjcu.edu.au

Widdowson, M. (2016, April 27). Is social media making people depressed. The conversation. Retrieved from http://theconversation.com/is-social-media-making-people-depressed-58242

Tuan, Y.F. (1997). Space and place: The perspective of experience. London: Edward Arnold

Turkle, S. (1995). Life on the screen: Identity in the age of the internet. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.