The presentation from Michael Wesch, "The Machine is (Changing) Us: YouTube and the Politics of Authenticity," is a great examination of the implications of social networking on the human psyche, with a specific focus on the YouTube community. I like that Wesch and his students looked at YouTube as a social network, because I never really thought of it that way before and because it's nature is different than Facebook, the social networking tool with which I am most familiar.
To paraphrase what Wesch said, social networking matters because the resulting conversations are not controlled by a few people, are more dynamic than a one-way conversation, and because they create a new avenue through which people develop self-awareness. The examples Wesch showed reveal the willingness of people to share their thoughts, feelings, and actions with an anonymous audience of potentially enormous size. Is it ironic that in escaping anonymity, people turn to an anonymous audience?
The role of "self" is at the core of social networking. Why do people join social groups in the first place? Because we want to belong; we to stop being anonymous. When we are part of a social network, other people know who we are, learn who we are. And in the process we get to know ourselves. As Wesch and his students discovered, people who are part of the YouTube community often have a heightened sense of self-awareness; they take time to check their appearance and pay attention to the things they say, sometimes correcting their mistakes. It is the process of social networking that leads a person to see themselves through the audience's eyes, to come to a greater awareness of their "authentic self."
After watching Wesch's presentation, I would venture to say that identity development and awareness are the essence of social networking. I never would have said this before today. It seems so backward to think that the result of social networking is a greater sense of who we are as individuals, but I now see that it's true. When I post things on Facebook, Twitter, or this blog I have to view myself from the perspective of my audience. I become more aware of how they perceive me and thus become more aware of myself. I don't think my introspection has been so deep as some of the YouTube examples, but I think the whole psycho/social impact of social networking is fascinating and worth studying.
Most pertinent to my future are the implications of social networking in education. Social networks can make the world a little bit smaller by bringing people with common interests or ideas into a shared space. Students and teachers are no longer restricted to interaction within the boundaries of their school building; they can collaborate outside of school and even work with students on the other side of the world! If teachers can wield a powerful identity development tool like social networking to facilitate meaningful learning for their students, then not only are they providing content instruction, they are helping students create their own self-awareness. Many teachers already take advantage of social networking for professional development, and they must now examine the benefits and potential problems of including social networking in the classroom. The possibilities for social networking in education are almost overwhelming to think about, but necessary in today's ever-changing world.
I encourage you to watch this short video (less than 5 minutes), also from Michael Wesch. How does it relate to the first video we watched? This video was posted in early 2007- now in 2009, would you change it or add anything to it ?
I don't think I agree with your saying that social networking makes people more self-aware. I think it makes people perhaps more self-conscious, because they're always trying to fix what they're saying to what they think the audience wants from them. Through that, I also think it generally serves to make people and their relationships more superficial.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that there is a difference between the two. Self-awareness is about knowing who you are and understanding yourself. Self-consciousness is deliberately monitoring your actions to present yourself a particular way.
ReplyDeleteBut I also think that by engaging in self-conscious behavior, such as deciding what information to post and choosing to present themselves in a certain way, people have to evaluate who they are and what they believe (unless of course they are intentionally creating a false persona for themselves). In this case then, self-consciousness can lead to self-awareness.
To address your second point, I agree that technology has made relationships seem superficial because you no longer have to have face-to-face interactions with people. At the same time, though, the potential to create and maintain relationships over time and space is a luxury for which I am thankful. Social networking costs me nothing (once I have a computer and Internet connection) and it is easier to keep in touch with the people I care about on a more frequent basis. Although nothing can replace in-person interactions, social networking has increased the possibile mechanisms for creating and maintaing relationships. You get out of it what you put into it.