Facebook according to McLuhan and Williams’ theory
It is obviously bared, that facebook is integral part of internet; means that facebook without internet is impossible to function as a medium in the world of technology.
As you know much better, internet is a technology that altered the world of communication in 21 century; it is defined as medium, facilitates the communication process too. It is easy to say; internet is a medium with multi functions in case of communication.
According to Marshal McLuhan, facebook as an integral part of internet technology, is a medium; is a message also. As internet is a medium, facebook, its subsequence is a medium too. McLuhan tries to prove that “the medium is the message”. So what is this message in case of facebook?
The 21 century is called the revolution of technology or communication revolutionary realm. It (facbeook) can conveys the message of inevitable development of communication technology in recent centuries.
It says that technology including facebok as integral part of internet altered the world of human in 21 century. It is possible to can create a package and share it to all around the world individually right now.
In another case, facebook message is quite different from the mentioned above. Suppose facebook is unknown to someone, they hear something about facebook and persuaded through information they got; it could be the message of facebook too. This message might be the information about facebook or function facebook does as a medium to the new familiar with facebook as social network. As the first time many have been thought that television is a magic box. The phrase “Magic Box” was a message that had decoded or interpreted in the past. But it is not the thing that Marshal McLuhan meant in argument of “the medium is the message”.
McLuhan’s mean of the medium is the message in case of facebook
Each single thing is defined from its content and functions do in pattern or environment. Facebook must be defined with its content and roles that owed.
McLuhan says that the content of any medium is another medium; such the content of writing is speech, the written word is print and the content of print is telegraph. Facebook an integral part of internet is a medium too. So it is important to find out the content of facebook or another medium.
Easily, internet can be the content of facebook; but it include facebook not facebook include internet. And facebook without internet is impossible to emerge and play role.
It is consequently said that McLuhan tries to describe human experience or human being. So human’s intention is emerged in forms of written words, audio and video is the content of the facebook that shows scientific development. But according to anonymous stanza below; it is quite different from what mentioned above.
“In modern thought, (if not in fact)
Nothing is that doesn’t act,
So that is reckoned wisdom which
Describes the scratch but not the itch”
It shows that facebook(medium that McLuhan meant) must be described itself not its function. But here in instance of brain surgery light, he himself referred to the function of medium. “It could be argued that these activities are in some the “content” of the electric light, since they could not exist without the electric light”.
According to this example, facebook function is its content. It also relates to the technology development.
Facebook as a Technology in the Society
Raymond William tries to describe the incentive and or the idea about technology at all; facebook in our case came out through the society. In another word, William says that, why facebook came out and which effect of which cause is this. So he studies technology (facebook) in three categories bellow: Version of Cause and Effect in Facebook and Society; The Social History of Facebook as a Medium and The Social history of the uses of facebook Technology.
· Version of Cause and Effect in Facebook and Society
The general statement” facebook altered our world” that McLuhan used to explain technology is compatible to the facebook as an inseparable part of internet. It is clear that facebook invented by Mark Zuckerberg and his friends. The original concept for Facebook was borrowed from a product produced by Zuckerberg's prep school Phillips Exeter Academy, which for decades published and distributed a printed manual of all students and faculty, unofficially called the "face book". It could be the effect but not the incentive of facebook invention. The effect of coming out or invention of facebook can be the purpose he had at the time of creation.
The inventor aimed to facilitate communication process between high school students 6 years ago; unconscious of today’s facebook functions. Communication process was the first cause of facebook creation; as it altered the basic reality and institutions and form of social relationship nowadays. Facebook presents inadequacies and has recreation places and entertainments issues too. Consequently, facebook is social need or necessity phenomenon. It is the thing that William emphasize on and believe that social necessity is facebook’s creation.
The Social History of Facebook as a Medium
Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg with his college roommates and fellow computer science students Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes.The website's membership was initially limited by the founders to Harvard students, but was expanded to other colleges in the Boston area, the Ivy League, and Stanford University. It gradually added support for students at various other universities before opening to high school students, and, finally, to anyone aged 13 and over.
Facebook has met with some controversy. It has been blocked intermittently in several countries including Pakistan, Syria, People's Republic of China,Vietnam, and Iran. It has also been banned at many places of work to discourage employees from wasting time using the service. Privacy has also been an issue, and it has been compromised several times. Facebook settled a lawsuit regarding claims over source code and intellectual property. The site has also been involved in controversy over the sale of fans and friends.
A January 2009 Compete.com study ranked Facebook as the most used social network by worldwide monthly active users, followed by MySpace. Entertainment Weekly put it on its end-of-the-decade 'best-of' list, saying, "How on earth did we stalk our exes, remember our co-workers' birthdays, bug our friends, and play a rousing game of Scrupulous before Facebook?
Facebook gradually expanded to the world and now it is after India and China, the third most populous with 500 million subscribers all around the world.
The Social history of the uses of facebook Technology
Facebook plays roles in course of social, cultural, political and economical; beyond the amusing funny and pleasures. Users can add people as friends and send them messages, and update their personal profiles to notify friends about themselves. Additionally, users can join networks organized by workplace, school, or college.
Facebook users take part in debate groups organized around specific topics, register to vote and message questions. Over 1,000,000 people installed the Facebook application 'US politics' in order to take part, and the application measured users' responses to specific comments made by the debating candidates. This debate showed the broader community what many young students had already experienced: Facebook was an extremely popular and powerful new way to interact and voice opinions. An article written by Michelle Sullivan of Uwire.com illustrates how the "facebook effect" has affected youth voting rates, support by youth of political candidates, and general involvement by the youth population in the 2008 election.
In February 2008, a Facebook group called "One Million Voices Against FARC" organized an event that saw hundreds of thousands of Colombians march in protest against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, better known as the FARC (from the group's Spanish name). In August 2010, one of North Korea's official government websites, Uriminzokkiri, joined Facebook
Therewith, there are places on facebook to post and publish economical advertisements too. I always receive an advertisement describing Indonesian shoes. Finally, what you want, you can get on the facebook.
Conclusion
Both, Marshal McLuhan and Raymond William, believe on importance of technology and facebook in term of our discourse with connection of McLuhan and Williams’ theory.
McLuhan and William believe that facebook is a social phenomenon and impact on the society. As McLuhan says that the medium is the message and indicate to the content and then example of usage of technology; prove technology development and human promotion and extra need of society is the message. Therewith, each medium had its own impact on the audience quite differently. This can be the message of facebook too. It is depend on how we use facebook, which is the point of William also.
Society is the most important element of McLuhan and Williams’ theory but McLuhan focus on medium and usage as a message unless William talks on social cause and effect of medium or technology. In this quoted part of McLuhan” medium is nor good either bad” shows his focusing on the usage and effect of the medium.
McLuhan says that it is described only the function and the role of a medium but not the medium. He believe medium itself is as much important as it cause and effect in the society.
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