Politics of Facebook

In Daniel Miller’s Tales of Facebook he discusses a number of claims about what Facebook is to society. One of his sections in the conclusion is Facebook and the Community. He discusses the pros and cons of Facebook as a medium that reconnects us with old friends or extended relatives. The pros, as he describes them are that people are reconnected and have reversed the shift away from community. People are also inclined to friend only people they have met face to face. The downfall to our reintroduction to community is that we are putting ourselves out there to the community at large. Our business is ever more public now than it has ever been in the past. He also discusses the connection between Facebook and politics. Facebook, he says doesn’t necessarily facilitate people’s actions, rather it is a supplementary asset in forming political movements. I would argue that while that may be true, Facebook has changed the landscape of politics, particularly here at home. Miller doesn’t address politics in the U.S., he cites larger political movements abroad. Here at home however politicians have used Facebook as a means to interact with their communities. One example would be Governor Rick Scott of Florida, who recently held a Facebook Town Hall, opening up a forum to the Facebook community. He quickly became overwhelmed with negative comments. Just like Miller’s book details, there may be shortcomings to Facebook when it's used as a tool for politics or community.

Posted by: Mike Anderson