I recently used a Facebook application called Lexicon, although, for some reason I can't find it anymore. As far as Facebook applications go, this one was truly educational. Sort of sociological.
What it lets you do is see exactly when and how frequently certain words (one or two at a time) are used on "wall" posts. [NOTE: I mistakenly wrote that it searched the words used in the captions on photos; that was before I found the application again.] The results go back everyday to last September and are displayed on a horizontal line graph.
Here's what I found out in my brief study:
Going with typical Facebook vernacular, I searched the term "sooo cute" and was at first surprised when I saw a big spike on November 1st. I remained puzzled until I realized that that's the day after Halloween, the day most people of the Facebook generation do their sexiest dressing. Subsequent searches for similarly slangy compliments revealed the same consistent post-Halloween spike.
The word "hammered" had its big spike on January 1st and 2nd, and you can guess why. Less exciting, and just as obvious, were the December and April spikes for "exam".
Besides specific words, though, there were also some general patterns.
No matter what word I searched (i.e.: idiosyncrasy, book, bitch) there was always a lull at Christmas time, except, of course, for the word "Christmas". The reason is obvious enough: people are actually spending time with other people in the flesh, instead on the screen.
Also, no matter what word I searched the line graph always showed the same exact wave shape with the exact same set of equally spaced dips. When I zoomed it I saw that the dips fell consistently and precisely on the weekends, and that the line on the graph always rose again on the Monday and Tuesday. So, like with Christmas, on weekends people spend time together in the flesh, take lots of pictures and then upload them and add captions after the weekend. It didn't matter what the word was, the pattern was always the same.
So what does this teach us about "social networking"? Well, what we already knew: that when people are actually socializing they're NOT on Facebook, and when people ARE on Facebook, they're not socializing.
I'm still not convinced that the Internet, for all its potential, "brings people together", as most people claim it does. The real strength of the web is as a commercial tool, that is, to divide people up, let them withdraw into their familiar, narrow set of specific personal interests, desires and fetishes, and away from the world of flesh and dirt where you have to confront the unfamiliar and uncomfortable.
Facebook's Lexicon application shows that, as usual, words reveal more than what they merely say.
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5 comments:
First off Matt, you've simplified internet into a simple communication medium. Internet is much more. It's a repository for information, both academic and shit, and good and bad. Its a medium for entertainment, from porn to Youtube. Its all of the above and more.
But then, you're not talking about all "that"...you're talking about the internet's capacity as a mode of communication. And so, with respect to interpersonal communication, I (quel surprise!) agree with you that internet, in isolation , is a divisive medium for separating people into their respective self-contained cubicles and bedrooms.
But, I prefer to see the internet (URL: un-real life) as a supplemental tool to IRL (in real life). The best example is email. The vast majority of my emails are to people who I've met in real life, and intend to see again at some point. I use email to plan the date, time and location of where we'll meet. Facebook also has applications (such as Events) that allow people to collaborate online to plan for IRL events.
You've made the internet to be black and white, and I think that its a gross oversimplification.
On a different point, I also take issue with your comment that the net lets people "withdraw into their familiar, narrow set of specific personal interests, desires and fetishes." Its a matter of choice. Through the magical power of Google, I can view websites that shock my senses beyond anything available in BC or Canada. Sure, the internet is a tool that caters to niche interests, but that is not limited to the internet.
In short, I believe the internet as a mode of communication and in moderation is certainly a good thing for us all, But, as with all things in life, too much use is a bad thing.
But then, you might just chalk up everything I've said to my unwitting and natural tendency to be a contrarian par excellence.
"So, like with Christmas, on weekends people spend time together in the flesh, take lots of pictures and then upload them and add captions after the weekend. It didn't matter what the word was, the pattern was always the same."
As interesting as your study was. Your results only show that people upload photos only after the weekend. It does not show or even imply that they're not actually on facebook doing something else (or I should say the internet, instead of Facebook, since that's where your logic leaps to by the end of the article).
"So what does this teach us about "social networking"? Well, what we already knew: that when people are actually socializing they're NOT on Facebook, and when people ARE on Facebook, they're not socializing."
This doesn't make sense since you didn't bother defining socializing, and it would only hold true if your definition of socializing means "doing whatever else but not being on Facebook." In which case, your statement would become obviously redundant.
Therefore, the fatal flaw in your argument is that "Facebook" is defined as part of "socializing," so simply noticing when people are not on Facebook and still socializing does not make one action greater than the other since they're not mutually exclusive actions. For example, if Person A messaged Person B on Facebook to meet up on the weekend, that makes Facebook a tool of socialization. There are other examples of Facebook being even part of socializing. Such as, if Person A messages Person B who lives an "expensive plane-ticket"-away.
Well, Matt, like most things that we are exposed to at the level of consumericon, this word locator 'Lexicon' application is actually a simplified facebook version of how data is mined, refined, and processed to analyze people patterns and trends from the excesses of information overload on the net.
This type of application is of great value to marketing/research firms, intelligence agencies and the like for obvious reasons. I would be interested to know if it is still an addable application of Facebook. I wouldn't be surprised if it was no longer available.
The reason being, this type of application can not only show PAST patterns and trends from the words that people are using, but also logically and by extension, it can just as accurately be used to predict FUTURE trends and activities. This information is of great value to marketing/research firms, intelligence agencies, and the like.
And if Scruffmouthed slam poetry has taught us anything, its that "truth is expensive, and ignorance is free." So I bet this "Lexicon" data mining word engine was an intelligent free anomaly until someone identified it as valuable and removed/adopted/coopted it just as swiftly.
An example of predicting future activity through word usage is by identifying and analyzing the recurrence of future tense verbs.
Happy Word Wanjuring!
I think I read somewhere that only seven percent of communication comes out of the words that are being said. It is for this reason that I find "socializing" on the internet to be next to impossible. Even if you choose your words carefully so not to be misunderstood, people will still take what they want out of whatever you wrote on the internet.
So I think that your right. People don't use the internet and facebook to socialize. And why would they, when it is so much easier to have a real-life conversation?
The term "social networking" is really more about connecting with people, than socializing with them. It's about having the opportunity to get in touch with whatever people and ideas that are of interest to you. You're right in saying that most of us gravitate towards whats familiar. We use the social media space to connect with like minded people because it is so easy to do just that.
At the same time, It is just as easy to connect to ideas that are unlike your own, and the internet is being used for that more than is realized. I spend a good portion of my time looking for interesting ideas and worthwhile content. Whether I agree or disagree is irrelevant. If you have something thoughtful or original to say, I'd love to read it.
That being said, social niches are great because they allow you to connect with people you may want to socialize with in the real world, without having to leave the couch. There is some sort of social stigma with striking up a conversation with someone you see on the street that I will never understand, but the internet allows us to do just that in a digital environment.
Anyways, just my two cents.:)
Alright yeah, that's pretty cool. But I don't think it really reveals anything profound about facebook or the way we use the internet in general. I mean, that's the same thing as finding out that people drink fifty times more eggnog at christmas. It's interesting. But so what?
Also, I don't think I agree that the internet does more creates more wedges than bridges. Yeah, it's easy to recluse to your own corner of the web, but not so easy to stay there. I can't really talk about facebook, as I never use mine. But I read a lot of blogs, and am an avid user of livejournal. And what I love about both of those is that you so often are accidently connected to people and ideas you didn't actively seek out. Ok, that probably didn't make much sense. Maybe it did. All I'm saying is that the web is so interconnected that I would find it impossible to stay an isolationist. /:
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