Facebook as Post-Modern Colonialism
by jennpalf
In class today we discussed the concept of Facebook maintaining a particular bourgeois, Western cultural standard through the discretion of its algorithms. As technological beings, we allow Facebook to filter through our online history, presence, and given information, establishing a norm for what we are permitted to post and what is displayed to us in our newsfeed. This seems to inevitably involve capitalist-oriented subject matter that appeals and caters to our consumer society and general identities. With this in mind, I have come to view Facebook as a form of post-modern colonialism by way of widespread and inescapable technological conveniency and invasiveness; thus substantiating (predominantly) American cultural norms.
In his TED Talk “Filter Bubbles,” Eli Pariser speaks of his ideological thoughts concerning the origins of the Internet; believing that the World Wide Web would help to promote democracy through the spread of differing worldviews along an easily accessible flow of information. However, Facebook and Google have evolved to accommodate individuals’ sole interests; moving us toward an online existence where the Internet shows us what we desire to see, but not what we should be seeing in order to promote the differentiation and expansion of our broader knowledge. Personalized filters look at our search history, with the algorithms curating accordingly, ultimately throwing off our “balanced information diet” (an expression that I think is brilliant and will most definitely continue to use).
Pariser asserts that a functioning democracy cannot work without an ethical flow of information that challenges the dominant and oppressive voice(s) in society. The Internet has created a puddle of cyclical information in place of an ocean of new and progressive knowledge. Instead of furthering rigid Western cultural norms, Facebook should act as a form of exigence that promulgates a civic responsibility to open-mindedness and global cultural competency through the subject matter that they exhibit to their users.
Hey Jenn (Jennifer? Jenn?)
In your concluding paragraph (loved the puddle/ocean analogy by the way!), you suggested that “Facebook should act as a form of exigence that promulgates a civic responsibility…” I think that’s a great thought, and it really got me thinking. What then, would Facebook look like if that was the purpose it served? I’m not sure we will ever have a way of knowing. Facebook was designed and runs in a very specific way to serve a clear purpose of sharing and connecting through information filters that are provided to us. Given that this was developed by a group of white males from Harvard (and is still run by a privileged group of people), I unfortunately fail to see a world in which Facebook aids in serving civic responsibilities such as cultural competency. However, if this were to occur, who do we think would be Facebook’s CEO? Would their mission statement change? How would “the subject matter that they exhibit to their users” be “controlled”, surveilled, and acquired? Ultimately, would Facebook still be Facebook? I just don’t see Mark Zuckerberg being convinced that the information given to Facebook’s users should act as spreading a greater sense of cultural competency rather than perpetuating Western norms….That would just create more work for him, wouldn’t it?
Sorry for the pessimism! I hope that some more light could be shed on these ideas that will create a positive outlook!