Are You on Facebook?

Chapter Two in our textbook touches on the evolution of dating and how people today use social media to initiate relationships. Our textbook brings up the point that, "Today with social media, when people meet, it's common for one of them to ask the other person, "Are you on hi5?" "Are you on Facebook?" or "Tu estas en Orkut?" Just as people use the word Google as a verb—google it—they are starting to use phrases like "Facebook me or send me a Tweet." 

What I find interesting now that we have social media is that you do not even have to meet someone before finding out where they live, what they like, and their birthday. All you have to do is search someone’s name on Facebook, Twitter, etc. and you have information on the person you may be interested in. I think that this can be favorable in that you can get an idea of what kind of person someone may be or maybe find basic information, but I also think that this information could be something negative. People can make judgments on others that are not true. Also, there is the possibility that the person you think you are talking to is actually someone else. For example, the show Catfish focuses on relationships through social networks. Every episode is about a new couple that has met through some form of social media. Nine times out of ten, the person they have been talking to for years is not the person they thought. Social media can be used as a way to hide who you really are and portray the idea of someone better.

It is interesting to think how much has changed since social media was introduced. These days a simple Facebook message can start a relationship, whether successful or not.