by Ryan Kok

Created on: April 29, 2009

"The Antisocial Facebook"

The Information Age.

Just the sounds of those words conjure images in my mind of glowing fiber optic cables, internet cafes, the soft blue glow of computer screens, and time-lapse depictions of cars moving in an endless blur of white and red. We as a society have "developed" to a point where we are not content to simply sit and watch the humble broadcaster give us a recap of the day's events. Good night and good luck evening news, but you need to keep up with the times. If we are going to watch the news on TV, we at least need the crawl at the bottom of the screen, because one news story at a time is apparently not enough for us. And then of course, in the midst of all of this, we'll probably also be on the computer, maybe simultaneously participating in an internet survey about the very thing we are watching on TV. Simply put, the filter has become obsolete. If the daily news won't tell us what the war in Iraq is really like, then the soldier with a video camera will. We have access to monumentally more information than ever before. And yet surprisingly, in an age where issues of privacy are discussed on Capitol Hill and "identity theft" is the new hot-button white collar crime, we actually choose to freely divulge some of our most private thoughts and information. I am of course talking about social networking. Ten years ago, social networking involved a rolodex and business cards. But now, websites like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter allow us to share whatever information we want with whomever we choose. If we allow for it, anyone can truly know anything about us. So how have we, the members of information-obsessed society responded? We have embraced it, freely giving away information, but not without a very interesting caveat: we have increasingly become more and more impersonal in our interactions with one another.

Since the conception of the internet, no innovation has brought people of the world closer together than social networking websites. Through a single website, Facebook, I can find a friend who I haven't talked to since elementary school. And once that person gives me permission to see their profile, I am given access to a nearly infinite amount of information about them. From their profile, I can see personal contact information including phone numbers and addresses. I can find out what friends they have been talking to. I can see where they went to school and where they are working. I can look at all of their pictures

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