The World
According to Facebook
By Madelaine Sacco
Image retrieved from http://mashable.com/2010/12/13/facebook-members-visualization/
Social maps provide a unique depiction of the view of the
world through the eyes of online users. They can be used to present information
on the communication flow, and demographic of individuals, on social media as
shown through the image above (Van Luyn, 2015). Through Facebook, we can see an
interaction of users that crosses the globe, and yet can this be considered a ‘true’
map?
According to Abramms et al., it is true without being an
accurate representation of the world, because it is “complete enough” (Abramms
et al., 2006, p. 3). Without giving us a detailed map outlining every city (or
even complete continents as with the above map) the social map on Facebook
allows us the possibility to connect with anyone in the world as long as they
also have access to the social media website. So how is virtual space and place,
represented by the social map, so different from the maps of reality? I believe
that it is due to economy and censorship.
Economy is a rather logical explanation. People in third
world countries, where the economy is poor, have little or no access to the necessary
resources required to be active online participants. Where contact with others
living outside of the village is hard enough, the unlimited space and place
offered by the internet is an unreachable luxury rather than a social norm.
Obviously this makes it difficult for us, as online users, to communicate with them
efficiently and so they do not factor into our social map of the world. What do
I mean by censorship then?
It may not be well known (or at least it wasn’t to me), but
there are 10+ countries were Facebook is officially banned; countries like
North Korea, China, and Vietnam are perhaps obvious choices for social media
prohibitions, but Bangladesh and Egypt are listed as well. Through Facebook, we
have access to information regarding news coming from these countries but our
communication and social networking are severely limited through the
restrictions that are in place. So our mind map is missing the coordinates for
these countries, and as a result whole cultures are forgotten when constructing
our social map.
In conclusion, is our social map according to Facebook
correct? Well, yes if you consider that there is no more information available
to draw from at present. Is it true? Yes, and no. It’s a contested truth, from
an online view point only, it is a very accurate representation of the world
today; however, when compared with reality, our social map becomes a lie as our
missing demographic finds representation.
References:
Abramms, B., Kaiser, W., & Wood, D. (2006) Seeing Through Maps: Many Ways to See the
World. 1
12. Retrieved from https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au/webapps/Conc-camcontent-bb_bb60/items/getitem.jsp?as_course_code=12-BA1002-TSV-INT-SP2&content_id=_768672_1&course_id=_26169_1&doc_id=30458
Van Luyn, A. (2015). BA1002:
Maps, week 4 notes [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from
Don't you find it interesting the way that we can use something like Facebook as a map to our social lives? It's presenting us with so much information about the people we know from their points of view, and with the inclusion of different forms of media and news outlets, it's becoming more and more of a cyber map every day. These sorts of things "reflect how we see the world" (Kuttainen, 2015) and they allow us to create our own network of friends and news that we can place in our own map. Quite a unique way of seeing things, isn't it? I, personally, never would've imagined the thought of creating a social map of friends out of such a broad network of people, but somehow, it all seems to just fall perfectly into place. I suppose it's just one of the amazing ways our minds work.
ReplyDeleteReferences:
Kuttainen, V. (2015) BA1002: Our Space: Networks, Narratives, and the Making of Place, Lecture 4: Maps [PowerPoint Slides]. Retrieved on August 21, 2015 from http://learnjcu.edu.au