Jory

Facebook and other social networking addicts



Geographical Location:

People who use Facebook and other social networking sites such as MySpace or Twitter can be found all around the world. There are around 103 million Facebook users in the US alone.



Brief Biographical Sketch:

Over the last year, the number of Facebook users has grown in every demographic except in college students according to [|www.istrategylabs.com] Young people especially have become addicted to these websites in recent years. Facebook launched in 2004, while MySpace did so in 2003, and Twitter in 2006. These websites allow people to communicate and share thoughts and feelings with their friends and the world. Although some people use these websites for important purposes, some people get on these websites several times a day and update them too frequently until they start saying the most meaningless things imaginable. When a person views one of these websites, they can usually tell who on the site is addicted by what they say or what they do on the site.

Use of Art/Music:

People who use these websites can express themselves openly and usually take advantage of this. On MySpace, a user can format their profile for a multitude of different layouts. People use this to show what things they enjoy and to support a cause or something such as a professional sports team. Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace users also can post songs and other forms of art upon the websites. Users upload videos and songs from other sites or their computer to show their friends a band or song that they personally like.

Communication/Language:

Facebook is available in several different languages, allowing people from all across the world to interact with one another. Facebook is also available in Pirate English which although fun is very difficult to understand. These websites center around communication, so it is obviously an enourmous part of the social networking atmosphere. Users can share their opinions and feelings on these websites. They can also message and IM one another on Facebook and Myspace. On Facebook, users can join groups or like pages to show support for a cause. Some people join thousands of these groups or pages. Facebookers can write on the Wall of pages to voice their opinions on the subject of the page or group.



Social Stratification and Social Order:

There really isn't much social stratification in the social networking scene. The only stratification is how many friends a person has or how many followers a person on Twitter has. Obviously a person who has 300 friends will look better than a person who has 12. An example of social order on Facebook would be Admins in groups that are able to control what goes on in the group.

Food:

Users of social networking sites do not always have the best and nutritious diets. They can use these sites and be too preoccupied to have a proper diet. This may lead to them becoming overweight due to them eating a poor diet of fast food.



Reciprocity:

Reciprocity is a pretty big deal on some of the apps on Facebook. One example would be the Farmville application. In Farmville, users can ask for help from their friends to work on their virtual farm to improve it. If a person helps their friend on their farm, they can expect that the person who received the help will do the same for them when they need help in the future. Also, since Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace are communication websites, people can ask for help or advice on a problem. An example would be somebody posting a homework question that they are having problems with and a friend or follower of theirs helping them. The person who helped the person with the problem could expect help with one of their problems if they ever wanted it.

Family Structure/Marriage:

People who frequently use the social networking websites can have trouble prioritizing their life. They can lose track of the more important things in their life such as relationships. Overuse of these websites can lead to the destruction of relationships and family structure. When used properly though Facebook and other social networking sites are a good way for people to interact and build relationships. These websites can even lead to a healthier relationship in the family structure. A user of one of these sites can display their family links and ties on their page for their friends or followers to see. There is also a relationship status on Facebook and MySpace which the user can change according to their status in their real life relationship.



Sex Roles:

The sex roles of males and females are not clearly portrayed. Both genders on these sites can do the same things. There are some parts of these social networking sites that are tailored to specific genders. There are groups and pages of Facebook that are specifically meant for men to join. One such group would be, "Pain at childbirth? Try dying on a 24 killstreak on COD MW2!" Obviously that group would be meant for males to join. There are apps which can simulate real life circumstances and allow both sexes to play out their genders role in the app.

Taboos:

A taboo of the social networking culture would be to spam. The users of this site are typically not interested in giveaways or things of that nature. On Facebook, a user can choose to hide posts or block them from being sent to them completely. Another taboo would be to purposefully disrupt a person's page. This would include going on their profile and writing or tagging everything up. The victim would later have to go back and correct everything that the other person changed. Facebook and the other sites allow users to delete a friend and also have extensive privacy policies to prevent these things from happening.

Major Religious Beliefs:

The religious beliefs of the Facebook culture vary because the users live in countries all across the world and in greatly different cultures with several religious faiths. A large majority of the users are Christian. Ten major religious beliefs of this religion are: 1. Jesus is in some ways God's presence in human form. 2. God is the creator of Heaven and Earth. 3. Upon death, humans will be judged as to whether they go to Heaven or Hell (most Christians) 4. Jesus died for our sins. 5. Jesus ascended into Heaven where he rules with his father, God. 6. Jesus will return to judge humanity and grant eternal life to his followers. 7. The Bible is the authoritative word of God. 8. Sunday is a day for worship. 9. The cross is a symbol of worship for Christians. 10. Clergyman are a passage of God's and Christ's message to followers of the faith.

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Works Cited:

[] [|www.istrategylabs.com] [|www.facebook.com] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] Assignment: Choose a group of people and you must include the following information about them:


 * Geographic location (maps are always helpful)
 * Brief biographical sketch of the culture
 * Use of art/music
 * Language & forms of communication
 * Outline social stratification and social order
 * How they produce food
 * How they use "reciprocity"
 * Sex roles of males/females
 * Family structure & marriage
 * Taboos of the culture
 * 10 major religious beliefs (ex: creation myth, life after death, communication with supernatural, etc.)
 * //**Works cited page!**//
 * //**Must include 10 relevant pictures**//
 * //**Must include 1 relevant and APPROPRIATE video.**//
 * //**10 points for each of the above categories + 10 points for "overall quality" =150 point final assignment.**//