In addition to becoming an outlet for sharing values and debate, I think Facebook is further uniting diasporas with their home country. Karim states that while the internet and other media connect members of a diaspora, it also makes assimilation into national population difficult. While I think this could be true with websites specifically for members of a certain group, I feel like this wouldn't always be the case with social networking like Facebook. The fact that Facebook allows you to have "friends" from any country makes it easy to connect with people from other networks. I think that while a member of a diaspora would stay in close contact with other members, they would still be likely to network with the host country as well. Because this communication with different networks on Facebook is so easy, I think it actually encourages diversity in relationships.
Lastly, it seems like Facebook has given a new meaning to interpersonal relationships. For instance, important events such as births and weddings are now commonly announced through Facebook. I guess no one needs a mailed announcement anymore. As we discussed in class, even deaths are announced on Facebook. It's as if posting a status equalizes calling all of your friends. Or I might go three months without talking with a friend in person or on the phone, but yet through Facebook we are able to keep tabs on each other and send messages.
Whether you think Facebook is having a positive effect on communication or not, you most likely use it and are therefore part of this Facebook revolution. I think its safe to say its changing how we communicate, and it'll be interesting to see in the future just how much.
I absolutely loved this debate in class about the use of Facebook in today’s society. People want to know the inner details of “friends” who they may never speak with in real life. Take for example all the classmates from high school, of which I am guilty of connecting with probably 100 of them, but only call or speak with 4 of them outside of Facebook. Yet something drives us to keep looking at photos, gossiping over changed relationship status, or post nasty comments in status update when we would never say in person. Why is this now considered a form of interpersonal relationships? When you think about it, Facebook is not real interaction with the world around us -- so going back to our class discussion point, certainly makes it an imagined community. I think Facebook is a great tool to connect and catch up with people who I may have otherwise lost track of. But this is where we need to draw the line in today’s technology -- we cannot use it as a substitute to personal friendships. We must remember the difference between Facebook as a tool of communication versus letting it take over as our only form of exchange.
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