SNS and I

I am one of the few people in the western world who doesn't own a facebook. I used to have a myspace, bebo and a Hi5 but I deleted those accounts and never signed up to facebook because of some of the issues about social networking sites that were bought up in class.

These issues were that of communication on social networking sites. One was that of small talk. This is also a reason why I don't go on msn anymore either. I'm not someone who is into small talk, I'd rather get to know someone a bit more deeply if I was going to establish being friends with somebody. This used to happen with comments on my myspace or bebo page and some of it was so pointless I wouldn't even respond. Some would think I would be a separated, lonely person but it's the opposite when I know more people in the real world than the virtual world.

Then there is the tension between the static self and the fragmented self. The fragmented self is something that is seen on social networking sites as people seem to keep up dating and changing their profiles. This happened a lot on myspace and bebo with the people I was friends with. I couldn't really be bothered doing this. I guess it's because I see myself as having a static personality. This isn't to say that I haven't been different in different kinds of situations or throughout my life as I have changed to an extent but I see myself as the same at the core of it. Yet these social networking sites are good for people around my age as this stage of life is mostly identity formation and these sites are good for constructing ones own identity.

Yet I'm still torn if social networking sites are challenging traditional modes of communication or whether it has always been like this but on a new playing field.