I’ll admit it, I like rules.
I like to know when to enter a conversation, when it’s OK to digress, and when to end the interaction. I like Facebook for exactly this reason.
On Facebook, social interactions are in some ways clearer than in real life ““ on social networks, life has rules.
There are rules and sets of prescribed interactions that have results. Send a message, receive a message. Post a picture, get a comment. The possibilities are endless and, through the output and intake, interactions can begin to become cumulative but addicting for all the same reasons people like games. We can begin to count the number of interactions (or for that matter, friends) and derive a sense of self from them.
There are only a finite number of ways to interact: poke, message, friend, upload images. Even including newly added “apps,” or applications, the number, though growing, is still a number.
Facebook takes human interactions and turns them quite literally, but also figuratively, into binary. You are “friends,” or you are not. You were messaged by your crush, or you were not. You can hide your relationship status, or show it. If it’s complicated, Facebook has a binary for that.
On Facebook the world is clear, concrete and makes sense. The types of social interactions we have on Facebook are what play out in real life, but this simplified version is, to me, one of the most interesting games on the planet.
I’ve been wondering why it’s so addictive. What is it that causes people to spend hours on Facebook, that gives them the urge to go through photo slideshows of friends, acquaintances and friends of friends they’ve never met until two or three in the morning?
“I think it’s just because there are so many people on Facebook that there’s always someone else you can look at,” said Chelsea Berg, a first-year international development studies student.
We are always learning information published by other people about our friends, our community and the world around us. The new information keeps appearing and I could read text and image forever (except when live things get in the way like midterms, the need for more coffee or interacting in person).
I’m learning a lot about pop culture, social norms and of course, finding a plethora of humorous links helping me be always one click ahead of the crowd on YouTube.
But it’s not all fun and games: people think very carefully about the online image they construct for themselves.
If I put really nerdy stuff on my profile, people will only have one picture of who I am. If I put that I like fashion theory and eye shadow, people will think other things. I put both ““ make your own assumptions.
Everything we do online has a certain kind of language and meaning and we’re now more careful because we’re putting stuff on Facebook.
“(You know that) what you say is going to be for everyone to see, so you don’t want to say something really stupid,” said Todd Jobin, a third-year music performance student. “It teaches people to think about what they’re going to say before they say it.”
This leads us to calculate not only what our interests are, but also assign meaning to interests and information we post. The sets of meanings we have on Facebook are always evolving.
“Do I put out the book that sounds fun, or the book that sounds smart?” Jobin said.
It’s not only a place to shape our own identities, but a place to interact with other identities.
Facebook is “more interactive than other forms of (online) communication, it’s the closest thing to being in person,” said Bruce Leewiwatanakul, a first-year biochemistry student.
Some users, such as Andre Rocha, a UCLA alumnus, said Facebook serves as a medium to solidify social relationships.
“I check it in the morning. I want to see if somebody wrote on my wall or tagged a picture of me,” he said. “(This way I know that) somebody thought of me at this point in time.”
When it all comes down to it, social interactions are a funny game we play as humans and Facebook is just a new way to look at the game of life. I can’t stop the addiction, and I can’t quite figure it out completely. Why do we keep using Facebook? It comes down to just one thing:
“Facebook makes people happy,” Jobin said.
And I’d add to that, in my own Facebooking at 3 a.m. defense ““ in life, follow what keeps you happy.
E-mail Rood at drood@media.ucla.edu.