Facebook
Introduction
Facebook is the virtual community I have chosen for my case study. I chose this community for two reasons. The first is my three grown children are members and second after finding out my ex-husband was a member I decided I better join if I want to keep up with my girls as well as technology. Facebook was developed in February 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg and was available to only students at Harvard University (Facebook, 2010). By September 26, 2006 it was available to anyone over the age 13 with a valid e-mail address and has over 600 million active users (Facebook, 2010).
Thinking back to when I first started using Facebook I was more of a lurker, although my girls tell me in the Facebook world this is called being a creeper. I personally like the term lurker better. I set up my profile which included where I work, marital status, birth date, where and what year I graduated from high school and other personal information. I immediately asked my girls and close friends to be my “friend” on facebook. This lets you see any posts they type in and any pictures they upload. I thoroughly enjoy the picture portion as I frequently get to see updated pictures of my grandkids in California. There are several areas to leave messages for your friends. There are private messages, basically like e-mail in the facebook site, post on their “wall” for everyone to see and, if they are on line you can “chat” with them. The “wall” is the user home page with profile where you upload your pictures and change your status or just post a comment for everyone to see. The “chat” is always available whether you are reading posts or playing one of the hundreds of games or virtual communities linked to the facebook site. I feel I am more than a lurker now but not as active as some people. While observing I notice that several people post at least every day if not several times a day. They will say what they are doing, where they are, what is upsetting them just as if you were sitting right there with them. I am a little more reserved then that. I really don’t want everyone knowing my every move and my feelings. But, I do wish people happy birthday when the reminder comes up and I comment on a few posts. I haven’t joined any of the causes that are available but I am sure at some point a cause will catch my attention and I will jump on board with the rest of the Facebook world.
Type of Community
According to Renninger and Shumar (2010), “virtual communities are defined by content” (pg. 6). The Facebook community is considered a social network. It is designed to be a community for friends and family to communicate, send pictures, chat and play games against each other. Facebook (2011) has a mission statement as stated below:
“Facebooks’ mission is to give people the power to share and make the
world more open and connected.”
Facebook has various ways to get connected to present friends and locate past friends. I had to opportunity to “friend” a person that I have not seen since high school. It makes keeping in touch or re-connecting a lot easier and helps everyone stay connected. Even if you don’t regularly e-mail your friends or chat with them, most of the time you keep in mental touch with them just by reading their posts.
Members in this virtual community can use their imagination and change their profile picture to just about anything they want. They can join causes, play games and try to beat their friends scores, play in the virtual interactive communities like Farm Town, Café World and Farmville where you can develop your farm or café, invite friends as neighbors and have an interactive community with your friends. I participated in Farm Town for quite a while and plowed my fields, planted crops, harvested crops, sold the harvest and helped neighbors on their farms. You had to save your money to buy farm equipment, more seed, buildings and supplies. Your imagination could go quite wild.
Community Structure
Facebook is a virtual community that anyone over the age of thirteen can join, for free, as long as they have a valid e-mail address (Facebook, 2010). A member can make it as private or as open as he or she desires. A new member enters their personal information into their profile which others can see, if they ask to be that persons’ friend. Then you can search for friends by name, where they work, go to church, or where they went to high school or college.
With it being a social network there is no set rule on what is discussed. It is an open field. As long as it is not offensive to anyone you can talk about it. You can share recipes, ask questions about what you are learning in school or at work or ask advice. The community is shaped by the friends the friends that are chosen, the topics that are discussed and the games or interactive communities that are participated in. I have observed, and participated in, encouraging a friend that had lost a loved one. The outpouring of love to this individual through the postings was very evident. People were adding to her wall daily to encourage her and uplift her.
Design Features and Technology
Renninger and Shumar (2010) states that people who choose to be a part of a virtual community are more inclined to think they are benefiting from their involvement. Success can be measured by the number of members that are participating. With Facebook, it is obviously a success with its 600 million active users.
Facebook has an app where concerns can be posted and I am assuming addressed. They are frequently adding new games and developing more interactive communities. They appear to be adjusting to the demands of the community by changing privacy policies and putting in safeguards for each user to address what parts of their profile and posts they want people to see. With everything I observed I think Facebook will be around for a very long time.
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