This article forced me to look at Facebook from a different angle than I have in the past. I have used Facebook for a few years as a tool to keep in touch with family and friends. I enjoy being able to keep up on friend's lives, reconnect with friends from the past, and share some of my own experiences though pictures (over the past year I shared buying my new house, getting my puppy Rambo, and traveling to Switzerland with my Facebook community). However, I have not ever critically questioned Facebook as a medium: Who owns this medium? What value messages does Facebook send? What trade-offs are there for using this medium? Hodgkinson's article forced me to do so. In a world already riddled with media, Facebook does provide yet one more outlet for the big corporations to collect information about its users and target them with specific advertisements.
Speaking of specific advertisements, I just checked and my Facebook page had advertisements about a new Wilco album, wedding stationary and diets, Ithaca college clothing, and saving on summer essentials at City Market. Scary (and how Feed!). Out of 59 million users, Facebook knows enough about me (a Facebook user who does not frequently update information about myself, or include anything very personal) to send advertisements that do directly connect to things going on in my life. Now, maybe it's all the clutter, or the fact that I am a somewhat aware of media in today's society, but I have always ignored the ads on my Facebook account (until just now). However, our students are also using Facebook, probably providing more personal information, and might not be aware that the advertisements (which they may not ignore) are being directed at them specifically! When do I get to go back to the classroom to teach this stuff??
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