Faceboook?

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Face to Facebook is an installation piece that highlights the problem with the lack of privacy because of the influx of social media, in this case, Facebook. The work takes one million Facebook profiles from the database  (and processes them through a facial recognition software) and creates an online dating platform which then allows users to ‘date’ these profiles and connect with them. This proves how secure (or unsecure) Facebook is and how odd it is that we are simply allowing ourselves to be so vulnerable online.

In the Face to Facebook website, they mention that the website is a ‘goldmine for identity theft and dating, without the user’s control’ which I agree with. On Facebook, many people overshare about their lives- what level they are on on Candy Crush, what they have been doing on their weekend and many rants about schoolwork. I assume the people on your timeline are important to you, that’s why you bother to look through their many statuses. But what if it isn’t important to you? It ends up being a waste of your time (and leads to unnecessary scrolling and procrastination) Many people have different uses for Facebook, for me it is a place where I go to only find and stalk my primary school friends (backstory: I haven’t been on Facebook since about 8 years ago, and I was a very different person then.) Unfortunately, when you overshare, identity theft is very possible because it makes it easy for people to hack their accounts. I have had friends have their Facebook accounts hacked through their emails (don’t know the details, I’m guessing through the security question?) and it does deter them to continue using the platform in the long run.

This indeterminacy allows us users plenty of space to make things mean what we want them to. -D.E. Wittkower (A Reply to Facebook Critics)

I guess that is the beauty of Facebook as a social media website. You determine what it is for yourself. For me, it used to be a place where I would talk to classmates online, and join groups that I was interested in and my class groups. It was a place where I would reconnect with old primary school classmates. Even then, I never posted a photo of myself for fear of identity theft. However, a whole 8 years later, I use other social media platforms for connecting to friends, and I don’t necessarily want to talk to old friends. The indeterminacy of the website allows you to do what you want it to be.

One thought on “Faceboook?

  1. I really enjoyed your personal assessment of Facebook, and how you have used it over the years to communicate with friends and to share (or not share) information about yourself. It sounds to like you are a very careful and thoughtful user of social media. In regards to Face to Facebook, you captured the essence of the fake dating site very well in your opening paragraph, however since the research critique is indeed to be a focus on the assigned artwork, I think more analysis of Face to Facebook would strengthen the research critique. But I am glad to see that you have used the work to trigger an interesting discussion about your own use of social media.

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