Fascination with Facebook

Feb. 1, 2009

Fascination with Facebook
Rick Coates 2/2/09

Editors Note: Express Contributing Editor Rick Coates has been following Internet trends for us since his first article in 1993 on the future of the Information Superhighway. In 2006, Coates explored the world of MySpace, Cyberbullying and Internet Predators in a three-part series. Now in a two-part series he explores the current state of social networking, in particular, our growing fascination with Facebook.

Calling it a fascination might be somewhat of an understatement. It is more like an obsession or addiction, at least for some. Whether or not you are a fan of social networking sites (Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, Friendster, LinkedIn, Tagged, Hi5, Piczo, Twitter and Open Social to name a few) there is no denying that they are here to stay.
Technology experts are forecasting not only the cultural relevance of social networking but their economic importance as well. To simplify, just as with cell phones and e-mail accounts soon all of us will have at least one social networking account (unless you still use a typewriter, 8-track player and a rotary phone to go about your business).
There are estimates that Facebook.com has close to 150 million users worldwide and MySpace.com has over 200 million users. But experts are predicting that soon Twitter will be the most popular, at least from a business perspective.
So exactly what is social networking? In today’s world it is defined from a Web perspective. But the concept of social networking has been around since the dawn of mankind. It is essentially the grouping of individuals into specific clusters of connectivity. Social networking circles include neighborhoods, churches, schools, small towns and social clubs to name a few. While these face-to-face social networking circles still exist, the Internet has expanded this concept to allow one to create a social network with literally anyone in the world.
Why?
Everyone has their own agenda when entering the world of social networking on the Internet. Those agendas range from staying connected with friends and family to forging business contacts. For others they are looking for romance or just trying to find long lost classmates or neighborhood friends. Then there are those who have more sinister motivations ranging from sexual predators to those looking to create some sort of monetary scam.
Let’s start with the good and leave the bad and the ugly for later.

HOW GIANTS GET BIG
MySpace and Friendster were the first to catch the attention of the public. MySpace was created in 2003 and launched in January of 2004. It started out as a way for independent bands to promote their music and gigs. It eventually evolved into a popular “hangout” for teenagers. During the summer of 2005, media mogul Rupert Murdoch bought MySpace for $550 million.
Friendster was created in 2002 by computer programmer Jonathan Abrams who introduced the concept of “virtual communities.” Today Friendster has about 90 million users, and while growth has slowed in North America, it remains popular in Asia.
While MySpace and Friendster still remain popular, many users appear to be switching to other social networking sites (many users maintain pages at multiple social networking sites) with Facebook being the site showing the fastest growth over the past year.
Facebook was started five years ago this week by a group of Harvard students, led by Andrew Zuckerburg. Originally, it was exclusively for Harvard students and within a couple of weeks more than half of the student body had signed up. Word spread to other college campuses and eventually Zuckerburg opened Facebook up to anyone with a college e-mail address.
Eventually Facebook opened up to high school students and then moved into work networks before finally, in September of 2006, opening up to anyone with an e-mail account.

HOW ARE THE KIDS?
Okay, so what exactly is the fascination with this entire social networking phenomenon? From one perspective, social networking feeds into our hunger for gossip, but for the most part we get to create the gossip about ourselves. The bottom line is we are a curious people. We start our conversations out with people we haven’t seen in awhile with “what are you up to?” “How are the kids?” “Where are you working?”
Facebook for example lets you keep family, friends, business colleagues, former classmates and others informed of your life without creating a personal intrusion into their lives and vice versa. No one wants to receive daily updates via e-mail about your life, nor do you want to spend hours reading e-mails or having phone conversations staying connected with everyone you have some sort of association with.
For years marketing experts have talked about the “six degrees of separation.” Essentially we are just six people away from being connected to everyone in the world. Facebook and other social networking sites seem to prove this.
The popularity of Facebook stems from its easy access and simplicity to the ability to control who gets access to your information. Once you set up your Facebook page you decide who gets to view it by sending out friend requests and by denying and accepting those who submit requests to you.
Facebook calls these people who have access to you as “friends” but in many cases they are family members, work colleagues, former classmates or people you might share a certain musical, philosophical, religious, political or social interest with.

Part two of this series will look deeper into this fascination, current trends, and will ask the question, “Is Twitter really going to replace Facebook?” It will explore the growing business dynamic of social networking as some of the “bad” and the ugly aspects of it all (not everyone is fascinated with this). In the meantime, if you have a Facebook account or plan to get one, join the Northern Express Fan Page (you will find us by searching Facebook) and share your thoughts with us.

Here is what some avid users of Facebook around Northern Michigan had to say:

“Facebook is a way to reconnect with friends all over the world that we have lost touch with through the years. Some of these reconnections come as a very pleasant surprise, like finding someone from my high school lives in the same area. Some are more romantically based, like reconnecting with a past girlfriend and finding out you are both single and find a more mature connection. Some just make you go, ‘hmmmm... that guy made a lot (more/less) of him than I would have thought.’
Eric Hamilton ~ Copemish

“I originally had a MySpace page but being in my mid thirties I never felt comfortable on that site. Facebook has allowed me to re-connect with old friends from summer camp, high school, college, as well as friends in the area. With a two year old and an infant, I don’t get out much but now I know what’s going on! I feel comfortable sharing pics of my kids on Facebook because I know exactly who my friends are and I would never friend anyone that I didn’t know. I also enjoy the sharing of old photos from my college days! I marvel at new babies, growing kids and look forward to mommy advice when I need it and love it when someone I knew when I was 16 asks me what remedy I use for a teething baby. I worry that the Facebook bubble will pop and we’ll all get bored with it and once again lose touch, but for now it’s awesome!”
Sarah Hampton Bielman ~ Traverse City

“Facebook is the water-cooler for the self-employed.”
Gary L. Howe ~ Traverse City

“It is more than a fascination; it is the connection that was originally missing from our ever growing technical society. The detachment from human interaction has always been a fear associated with computers. The introduction and massive use of social sites are a gateway to not only reclaiming communication, but to expanding it on a global scale. It will be amazing to watch the six degrees of separation theory narrow even more.”
Jodi Mallow Maas ~
Traverse City


“I find it interesting that people who don’t know me want to be friends. I don’t get it. But I do get a kick out of finding people that I haven’t seen in a million years and reconnecting with them. And then you become friends with someone, and one of your other friends wonders how you know that friend. It turns out those two were friends who grew up together in another town but were unaware that we had a connection to each other as the one’s sister was my college roommate and my best friend. And the world just gets smaller and smaller.”
Ramona Pleva ~ Cedar


“Facebook is our modern day rolodex. The interesting part is how effortless it is to have a vicarious involvement of sorts with different aspects of many people’s lives. It’s not just the connection; it’s the continuously interactive nature of it that really grabs you. To sit in one spot and be informed on and observe the daily activities of tens or even hundreds of people at once creates a certain sense of power, belonging, and community that our society all but lacks otherwise. I think Facebook has particular relevance right now as connections and reconnections we are making through it come as a comfort or even relief in the face of complete uncertainty and growing helplessness of a sinking economy. Looking in on Facebook creates the opposite feelings of looking out on the world right now.”
Paul Paradis ~ Traverse City


“Facebook is a chance to escape from many of the day to day patrons we have to deal with. A way to express your thoughts, words and ideas without tone, without conflict. A way to bring joy to someone by a simple online hug or an online drink. If we could all just give those hugs, smiles and drinks away in our everyday walk, we too could brighten the day of someone. Funny how many Facebook and Myspace friends I have that I do not know personally.. and we give them so much of our time. We chat with them, e-mail them and just talk about struggles with them. Yet, we often do not give a total stranger you meet face to face that same opportunity to get to know you.... Maybe we are taking the easy way out??? Things that make you go hmmmmm????????”
Tammy Schuster `~ Fife Lake


“I’ve only been here (Facebook) for about a week, and it’s already turning into a huge timesuck. This is like crack for ADD sufferers.”
Dave Gault ~ Traverse City