Sunday, October 10, 2010

Lab #2: "If it's on Facebook then it has to be real."
















As a social experiment, we decided to change my relationship status on Facebook from single to in an open relationship with Isaiah Bindel.  Immediately after the alteration to my profile occurred,  the change showed up on the live feed of my group member sitting next me.  A few hours later, on the way to dinner, I had two people come up to me and ask me about the said relationship.  Later, when I logged back on to Facebook, over ten people had "liked" the post and my friend who lives Massachusetts had commented.  Over the next two days, over ten people asked me if the relationship was real since they saw it on Facebook.  Everyone who mentioned it to me told me people had asked them if it was real also and had been talking out it.  I asked around twenty people if they had at least seen the relationship on Facebook and only one person had not viewed it.  This obviously shows that we are extremely connected through this website.  More people commented and liked the post than came up to me in person and asked me out it.  The fact that large groups of people saw the relationship without even being in my close group of friends or even living in the same state as me shows that Facebook is how we get to know about one and others lives.  Opposed to talking to each other one on one and learning about each others' current lives we simply log onto Facebook and learn about each other from a screen.  Facebook does allow you to keep in touch with those from across the country but it also is stops people from going outside and having a one on one conversation with their friends. This experiment shows how people are connected through Facebook opposed to connecting in person. Facebook is greatly reducing our Social Capitol.

7 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness that's so crazy how many people commented and liked this! Did anyone on campus know it was fake?
    ~Abby Cockrell

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  2. I thought this one was so creative! I wasn't surprised that so many people liked it on facebook, but I was definitely surprised that almost nobody came up and asked Shea or Isaiah about it in person.
    Danielle Green

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  3. This was a great idea for a lab! Did you eventually tell people it was fake?
    Facebook does not totally reduce social capital, because it can help connect us. Not only can we stay in touch from a long distance, but we can also connect and make plans with people in our area that we would normally not communicate with if it wasn't for the internet. Facebook is somewhat the same idea as a cell phone: a convenient way to communicate.

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  4. I love this idea, and I think the way people responded to it was really interesting! It also makes me think about how trusting we are of the internet, yet distrustful of fellow Americans.

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  5. I actually thought this was real. This was a wonderful idea!

    - Josh Hall

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  6. I think that's really cool how everybody knows the moment you post it. I guess that's a good thing, as it shows that people are more connected.-William

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  7. hahaha a funny way to experiment i might have been one of the ones that liked it so i fell into believing that if its on facebook its real hah great job i like it

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