Literature Review – Public and Private Spheres

The advent of Facebook saw the sudden spike in the need for constant social interaction whether individually or as a group of different people. But that social event didn’t necessarily translate for better quality relationships with other people.People didn’t make friends in the network; instead they transferred their actual friends from real life to the social networking site. (Marche, 2012) Nevertheless, though Facebook has been constantly keeping us connected with each other, the amount of loneliness we are experiencing has never been greater. (p. 62-64)

Cacioppo even likened Facebook to cars; abolishing great distances while serving as a catalyst for isolation. Yet, we don’t really use that car properly; it is not Facebook that brought this upon us but it is we ourselves, upon choosing to be miserable by allowing loneliness in our lives. (p. 68) Seeing posts by other people showing how happy they are in their lives will either ignite a fire inside of us into chasing the same life or make us feel like worthless garbage. Other conversations in the public sphere of Facebook (referring to wall posts, the timeline, and Facebook groups) seem to gratify the need for acceptance of many users, especially when people are talking in a post where someone else might see their conversation. These actions reportedly decrease the loneliness of the users. (p. 66)

But even though communication in the public sphere of Facebook relieves much of the loneliness, one cannot help but accept the fact that the shallow need to be talked to has been ever more increased. We are becoming more pretentious, trying to show that we are happy while we’re not. Marche carefully concludes his argument by saying: “…a connection is not the same thing as a bond, and that instant and total connection is no salvation, no ticket to a happier, better world or a more liberated version of humanity” (p.69)

The price we pay for using Facebook is quite considerable. First, we expose ourselves to instant but shallow connections, increasing the chance of loneliness as seen in the previous paragraph. Next, we expose ourselves to other threats such as cyberbullying, privacy threats such as revealing their whereabouts, disciplinary consequence of losing track of balanced time, and many more. (Siegle, 2011) Siegle elaborates that people use the public sphere of Facebook in order to keep a constant form of public communication. Users, specifically the youth, expose their private lives in public to become the spectacle for others. (p. 15)

But the great danger of being haunted by past mistakes prevents the users from being able to publicize everything. People’s reputation may get ruined or they could lose career opportunities if the scandalous content that they posted gets in the wrong hands. (p. 17) This is where the private sphere of Facebook comes in, which includes the direct messaging feature and the customization of privacy where users can customize who gets to see their post. With whom do the users share their private content with is another discussion. But surveys have shown that a high percentage of Facebook users were aware of the privacy issues that abound the

social networking site. It shows how aware people really are when it comes to privacy in social networking sites. Privacy plays a very important role not only in a person’s social life but also in a person’s own safety and security. But this doesn’t necessarily mean that the users engaged in restricted behavior. The threats in privacy don’t affect the activities executed on Facebook at all. People still reach out and engage in talking with others, adding friends, because the benefits of social interaction are deemed to outweigh the privacy costs. (O' Bien & Torres, 2012)

Marche, S. (2012). Facebook making us lonely. Atlantic Monthly, 309(4), 60-69. doi: 10727825

O' Bien, D., & Torres, A. M. (2012). Social networking and online privacy: Facebook users’ perceptions . Irish Journal of Management, 31(2), 63-97.

Siegle, D. (2011). Facing facebook: A guide for nonteens. Gifted Child Today, 34(2), 14-19.