Facebook: Medium for the Masses?

Facebook: Medium for the Masses? Aimee Lau ENG 742 Final Project

The Trio of Creators… Mark Zuckerberg Dustin Moskovitz Chris Hughes

From “one man in his bedroom,” incensed by the brutality towards Columbian citizens, to “millions in the streets” (Kirkpatrick, 2010, p.7) A Medium for the Masses???

Setting the Scene…Writing in a Period of Oppression

Media = Propaganda

Media = Propaganda? Facebook as an Alternative for the Masses?

WWWBD?? What Would Walter Benjamin Do? (Or Say?) Taking a Look at Voices From The Past

Walter Benjamin (1892 – 1940) “mechanical reproduction substitutes a plurality of copies for a unique existence” Facebook – a unique medium with an aura? “To pry an object from its shell, to destroy its aura, is the mark of a perception whose “sense of the universal equality of things” has increased to such a degree that it extracts it even from a unique object by means of reproduction”

Theodor Adorno (1903 – 1969) Max Horkheimer (1895 – 1973) “The triumph of advertising in the culture industry is that consumers feel compelled to buy and use its products even though they see through them” Facebook: A Medium of Control?? But…the question remains still…. Who is in control??

Once a member of the Hitler Youth… Hans Magnus Enzenberger 1929 - present Now…a cautious consumer, suggesting potential pragmatic media value: “for the first time in history, the media are making possible mass participation in a social and socialized productive process, the practical means of which are in the hands of the masses themselves” Facebook: Facilitator of Discursive Exchanges?

Voices from the Past… Media Pessimism & Cautious Support Current Perspectives…. Similar Viewpoints or Wholehearted Support?

Positive Perspectives Connecting People in Ways Never Imagined Before

Positive Perspectives The National School Board Association (2007) suggests using social networking sites is an emerging trend, as “more than one in five districts (22%) say their classrooms are involved in creating or maintaining wikis, websites that allow visitors to add, remove, or edit content” (p.5).

Negative Perspectives Privacy Issues

Cyber Bullying Phoebe Prince: Cyber-bullied & committed suicide

As members of society, it is up to us, to an extent, to choose a trajectory for Facebook, monitoring our own individual uses. Perhaps, as Benjamin would suggest, Facebook could be a unique presence in society, one not just with an aura of uniqueness, but of positivity used for the good of others.

End Credits Group: Muse Song: Uprising Lyrics: Paranoia is in bloom, The PR transmission will resume, They’ll try to push drugs that keep us all dumbed down, And hope that we will never see the truth around (So come on..) Another promise, another scene, Another packaged lie to keep us trapped in greed, And all the green belts wrapped around our minds, And endless red tape to keep the truth confined (So come on) Refrain: They will not force us, They will stop degrading us, They will not control us, We will be victorious (So come on) (continued on next slide)

End Credits Group: Muse Song: Uprising Interchanging mind control, Come let the revolution take its toll, If you could flick a switch and open your third eye, You’d see that, We should never be afraid to die (So come on) Rise up and take the power back, Its time the fat cats had a heart attack, You know their time’s coming to an end, We have to unify and watch our flag ascend Refrain: They will not force us, They will stop degrading us, They will not control us, We will be victorious, So come on Refrain: They will not force us, They will stop degrading us, They will not control us, We will be victorious. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8KQmps-Sog&feature=related

End Credits Special Thanks to: Ali G. (Fellow grad student who suggested this song when I was having trouble finding a song that really fit this presentation!) Google Images And, of course….. All the included scholars for their valuable perspectives! 

Facebook: Medium for the Masses?