Who Really Is In Charge?

Who really is in charge?

Every day, millions of Facebook users are affected by what statuses appear at the top when signing in to Facebook. Facebook is a customized running ticket that was created based on what content is likely to engage you most on the site. This means that Facebook has great power over your worldview and what information is coming to you. And that's why Facebook now reveals what values control that development.

‘To make a community work’, “At least some of the people must reach out through that screen and affect each other’s lives”. There is a new type of social power; regardless of what social power you have outside of the screen, on screen it’s a whole new world. ‘Power online is created by diverse groups who crave the immaterial world of computers and phones, this creates a new space for online power without any traditional forms of ownership or social networks/power’ (Turkle. 1995).

Stating that basically whilst online in a virtual world; the social structures change and a new list of social rules and constructs are made to fit the new social power (JCU. 2017). The most powerful on facebook not being the richest (as this is usually who has the most power outside of the virtual world), but the ones known as the facebook committee (those who work for facebook) and admins/owners of groups/pages. As those people have the power to remove people from facebook and/or pages/groups, which is not a desired action to occur to most online users; for obvious reasons. Those with most social power online are usually the famous celebrities or popular youtubers/facebookers; and these people use their popularity to get out their own views and opinions, to gather more followers to boost their popularity, and to influence their said followers.

For example, I do not have a page or group I have created; neither have I cracked the secret to becoming popular online; so I have no online power. I cannot delete or block users from something other than my friends list, and I cannot control anything to do with facebook other than what goes onto my personal facebook page. I do not get thousands of likes or friend requests, I cannot influence my ‘followers’ to do my bidding.

Facebook will try to understand what friends and relatives you most appreciate and elevate their status high in your flow. It is the first and most basic valuation in the development of Facebook's algorithm. Facebook makes no selection and does not moralize over your preferences, or "help" you discover new things. Their task is to match you with the content you think is most meaningful and engaging. Facebook is the one with the most power, and the one that is watching every persons online self and how they react to certain things; which gives them more power as they then use the information gathered from us to continue to post the things they know we like online; until it appears on our news feeds. There is more power than safety on facebook. The only people in charge; are the ones with the most online social power, who are the ones that have the ability to control others on facebook.

Referencing

Turkle, S. (1995). Life On The Screen. New York: Simon and Schuster Paperbacks.