"Facebook Me!"

The only participatory culture I can picture myself in at the moment is the one and only Facebook. I say one and only because it is the number one social networking website in the world.

Ever since I was younger, I used to travel constantly due to my dads work and social connections. We have family around the world, so my social circle was pretty much limited to just family as I was homeschool for the most part. Fortunately, that isn't the case anymore because I started going to school when I came to Canada. My networking happened either face to face or over the phone. Little did I know that one day I'd be a part of a whole social network culture online where I could connect with family and friends within seconds. Now, there is no more constant planning, appointments, eight hour flights or international phone calls.

 Facebook has certain features that makes it convenient for people to connect with each other very easily:

"Facebook is designed to make it easy for you to share your information with anyone you want. You decide how much information you feel comfortable sharing on Facebook and you control how it is distributed throughout privacy settings. You should review the default privacy settings whenever you share your information."

This way I can connect with my cousins and friends and they can always see what Im up to because of my pictures, my status update, my conversations with other Facebook friends, my applications and quizzes I take and other pictures that I comment on. In the same way, I find myself knowing what is going on in their lives.

In fact, I know what is going on in peoples lives of those who I don't even know that well if not know them at all. However, since there is a limited profile privacy setting, I am able to hide things from certain people and certain people are able to choose what to hide from me.

It's special networking site because we can now access it as an option over our BlackBerry's and iPhones easily. When I randomly encounter someone I haven't met in months, I already know what has been going on in their professional and personal lives from before and vice versa. Since we both have more in-depth knowledge about each other already, we don't wind up updating each other but discussing the issues and events taking place in our lives. If I meet someone new and interesting on the subway, all I have to say is "Facebook me!".The funny part about this is that somehow, I am aware that the person already has a Facebook account, just like they may have a cellular phone, a phone number or a home. This culture has brought unity and a new style of language into our lives. If five years from now, someone came up to me and said "Facebook me!", I;d think they're psycho and need to seek help - on another planet. But now, it is like a universal saying. Majority people in the world are participating in this growing culture, and "Facebook me" can and will never go wrong. From when I was younger to now, my social circle has expanded so much due to an online empire that stands on its own as Facebook!

P.S. Don't forget to Facebook me!

Works Cited

"Facebook's Privacy Policy". Facebook. 19th November 2009. 21st November 2009.