The Facebook profile- everything you need to know about anyone. Or so you may think. Because of the regularity of online deception, we cannot truly rely on Facebook to paint us an accurate picture of an individual. I was once again reminded of the truth to this statement this weekend when I interviewed one of my friends about his profile.
In his profile picture, he is staring off into the distance with a beer in his hand. He said many things factored into his decision to choose this picture. He said it made him look cool (I personally told him I thought he looked weird, but I guess he is entitled to his own opinion). He is also short, so he chose a picture where he was alone so people couldn’t compare his height to other people’s. Finally, he said the fact that he was drinking beer was good because it “shows the ladies he can party”. I then proceeded to slap him in the face (just kidding but I had to hold back with all the strength in my body). He told me that the picture was a 4 on Natalie’s accuracy scale because he thought that it, for the most part, was a good picture that captured who he was. I disagree, as I would probably rate the picture between a 2 and 3. He does not spend much of his time standing alone, reflecting on life with a beer on his hand. Therefore, one might get a different idea of who he is and what he enjoys just based on his picture.
His “Basic Info” was very accurate. This information is difficult to lie about since it is basically factual. He displayed that he is a Male who is interested in women and looking for “anything he can get.” It showed his birthday, hometown, and his religion. Most of your friends will know this information, so lying about it probably doesn’t make sense to most people. My friend rated this section a 5 on Natalie’s scale, and I agree with him.
His “Personal Info” is a different story. Here is where most people take advantage of Facebook. My friend’s list of Favorite Music is basically a list of the today’s top twenty rap artists. I personally know that he does not really listen to music to often. Yet by putting all the rap artists, he is clearly inreasing his "coolness" level tremendously (in his eyes at least). In addition, under his Interests, he wrote “Nets, Cowboys, Yankees,” among others. Yet this bothered me also because he is an extremely casual sports fan- he does not now what happens unless other people tell him. I would not have expected these sport teams to be listed under his interests because to be honest, he could care less about sports. He said this section was a 5 on Natalie’s scale. I disagree and give him a 3 because his Activities, TV Shows, and Movies are accurate to my knowledge. Yet by putting every rap artist known to man in order to look cooler than he actually is, he is deceiving. In my opinion, by putting the sports teams in his interests, he is trying to show other guys that he is a man’s man and loves sports. These are clear attempts at blasphemy and deception if I could say so myself.
Overall, my friend rated his Facebook profile a 4.5 on Natalie’s accuracy scale. I gave him a 3.5 because of blatant “alterations” that were an attempt to look tough and cool. While most of his information is correct, such as his sex, birthday, email address, and some of his interests, his profile picture, music, an interests may lead others into thinking of him in the wrong light.
My experience with my friend supports the Social Distance Theory. If I were to ask him the same questions personally that he was asked on Facebook, I think he would be honest with me. He gets nervous when he tries to lie and starts blinking heavily, so it would be pretty obvious that he was not being straightforward. Yet on Facebook, a more socially distant, Internet outlet with no visual or verbal cues to indicate lying, he found it much easier to alter his appearance and personally in order to benefit himself. Therefore, my friend took advantage of the more socially distant communication method, and, in my eyes, turned himself into a monster…
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3 comments:
Jacob,
You really did an excellent job describing facebook, and I especially appreciate how specific you are with your friend's answers. This definitely painted a really great mental image of what his profile looks like.
We seem to have had very different experiences with the facebook profiles we chose- or at least we interpreted the amount of accuracy differently. While reading your description, I realized that the friend's profile who I picked for my own blog was rather straightforward and not nearly as lengthy as listing something like 20 rap songs.
Also, I wouldn't go as far as saying that your friend is a monster! = ) So he tweaked the truth a little. Or he didn't paint an entirely accurate picture of his whole self, but maybe displayed parts that he thought would be cool (i.e. his partying picture). How would social distance theory explain that a lot of his personal information was factual even though facebook is obviously a space that is much more "socially distant" than the phone? This is what got me hung up on the social distance theory.
Hey Jacob, I can see why you chose the social distance theory. It would be rather uncomfortable and difficult for your friend to lie about sports and rap songs in a richer media like FtF. In FtF one can be "quized" about there actual knowlege on the subject in question. So lieing about conventional signals like music taste is easier accomplished on a lean distanced media because it is harder to assess the veracity of the statement. The reason your friend did not lie about his personal information is because those are assessment signals. Assemssment signals, such as your name, are harder to change because they are much easier to verify.
Nice post, Jacob. It seems that we went about our last blog entries in much the same way. It only makes sense to interview a good friend of yours about their Facebook profile, because otherwise, ou would't really know if they were being deceptive, and it would only end up being your word against theirs.
Social Distancy Theory was an appropriate theory to discuss here because, for the most part, good friends would have much more trouble deceiving each other face-to-face than they would through a medium such as Facebook. When it comes to a conversation with a good friend in person, there are so many cues to analyze. I can almost always tell when a friend is lying to me face-to-face.
It is strange how so many of us overlook our friends’ attempts at deception on Facebook. Perhaps we, too, are looking for ways to deceive others. Or we have just learned to take for granted the inherent untruth Facebook default photos and profiles are starting to become known for.
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