Church of Facebook

One of the books I got for Christmas was The Church of Facebook - How the Hyperconnected Are Redefining Community. I really enjoyed it. It was well-written with lots of interesting, supporting stories. The author, a fairly young man, gives a fair treatment of the subject, I think. He uses Facebook but sees problems with it.

Here are a couple interesting excerpts regarding the "downside" of Facebook:

As we develop through adolescence, living for what psychologists call an "imaginary audience" is part of how we organize our inner worlds. Talking or acting out ideas in our head for our "invisible entourage" helps us sort through our beliefs about ourselves and the world around us. What is new is a technology that takes our naturally adolescent assumption that the world is watching, and offers us a spotlight, a microphone, and a stage as vast as cyberspace from which to act out our assumption--with our legion of friends serving as an invisible entourage.

In effect the hyperconnection of Facebook changes the nature of our relationships by turning our friends into audiences and us into performers. [p. 111-2]

***

Fear is very much part of the climate of Facebook. When we are afraid of what people think of us, we work hard to craft just the right image composed of just the right pictures, personal information, and status updates. We position and reposition the spotlights on our Facebook portrait to reflect our most interesting side. The emphasis is on being clever, not on being genuine. As we've already seen, Facebook, and the Internet in general, rewards those who are most clever, not those with the most character. Unfortunately cleverness has the lifespan of a sickly gnat. Clever ideas, trends, and people pop up then fade away just as quickly. Cleverness has no staying power. As such, it cannot help us live well in a hyperconnected world where what is needed most are qualities that offer permanence and stability. [p. 197]

These thoughts are just the tip of the proverbial iceburg. The author is not totally against Facebook, and neither am I, but I see some troubling things. The author does a nice job of articulating them.