My Online Community: Facebook
http://www.facebook.com
What is the focus of this community
Social Networking site. Users make friends and keep in contact with friends. It is used for online chatting and posting of photo's. The objective being to keep up with what is happening over the computer instead of picking up the phone or in person. People can contact friends from all over the country and the world.
What services are provided? How interactive is this site? How can people contribute?
The website is a free website where users can:
Create profiles
List interests
Communicate with friends
Join interest groups
Used for advertising
Market research
Facebook has privacy settings for users
Games and quizzes.
Why people choose to contribute to this community. What is it they are seeking?
Considering the statistics on how many houses have PC's, it is realistic to expect that people now spend a lot of their spare time on the computer. You are dubbed out of touch if you are not a member of a social networking site like facebook. People from all age groups are getting on line to keep in touch with their family in the ever widening landscape of our communities. We are able to be kept up to date and in touch with minimal effort and only need to interact with the good stuff we want to know about someone. Personally I can spend hours on facebook skipping from profile to profile, commenting on what interests me, viewing photos and catch phrases of what people are up too. People are seeking a connection with other people in this fast passed super technological world. O hail the home PC...
My excerpt from Facebook
Potential ethical issues that may arise in this community
Potential ethical issues are new users not understanding how the site works and the issues around privacy and the rights of the site to use posted information such as photos.
When I first signed up for facebook I had know idea about some of the games and quizzes you get sent. As a result I kept get sent txts fom one of the quizzes I answered: it ended up costing me money. Who knew! I thought everything was free! Ethically are we really being informed about the potential dangers and costs of facebook. All the same rules apply on line as they do in real life, read the fine print! Because it is a virtual world I don't think people really understand this.
The benefits this community holds over traditional notions of community
The facebook community breaks down the geographical barriers for people. Because it is a free site unlike the telephone, we can communicate more often and have a continual feed of information on what is happening in our friends and families lives.
What this community lacks or can not provide which traditional communities can
For some people there is nothing like the benefits of having a person right there to talk too. Getting a hug or having a laugh together. I like to express my feelings so I use the emoticons A LOT. The lack of intimacy in these sights is a hinderance, but watch the space I am sure technology will get around that somehow SOON.
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