Facebook: Where do you stand?

Power, in its different levels, can be perceived as either a negative or a positive state. “With great power comes great responsibility” (Kuttainen, 2016), is a famous quote that places power at the highest level. Whether you are the president of the USA or even a footy coach people will recognise the power that you possess and judge you on how you use that power. In social media networks such as Facebook power can be cultivated through clever manipulation and this is why I have decided to use this network as my main focus for my assessment tasks in weeks 3 to 8.

5 years ago I first set up my Facebook account; I was excited about the prospect of being able to see what everyone was doing and felt connected to many people (some of whom I wasn’t that familiar with) and was empowered to add my two cents worth on their posts.

On social media sites such as Twitter and Instagram power is easily achieved by celebrities, with or without great talent. Whether you are an actress or just someone who can make a 6 second funny video you will have power and influence over your audience at some stage. Facebook, however, differs from these sites in that organisations and businesses can be empowered to target an audience based on their views and shares.  I don’t think it’s a coincidence that when I look at a Facebook page for joggers that my friends are suddenly ‘liking’ pages related to this product!

Even if we accept Max Weber and Hannah Arend’s theory that, “power is never power in general, but always power of a particular kind” (Weber and Arend, 2013). we can generally identify that everyone can have their own particular kind of power on Facebook where they can post what they want and discuss what they want with other people. However, over time, Facebook will face more and more pressure to take power away from people as we often abuse this power or overstep the line between freedom of speech and unacceptable intolerance.

Lost Geographies of Power. (2003). John Allen (Comp.), NA, (pp.2). Townsville, Australia: James Cook University.

Kuttainen, V. (2016). BA1002: Our space: Networks, narratives and the making of place, Power. Retrieved from http://learnjcu.edu.au