Introduction
Many people still think that Facebook as well as other social networks is something highly negative. These people mention security hazards, creating a digital world and escaping from reality. However, now it is clear that Facebook is a positive phenomenon that helps many people in their (professional, academic and private) lives.
It is possible to focus on three major criteria: aesthetical, practical and ethical. Notably, Facebook helps people to share their ideas, images and pictures, and this helps them express themselves aesthetically; this social network also has a practical implication as Facebook users may communicate, share news and find old as well as new friends; finally, Facebook helps people consider a variety of ethical issues and develop specific ethical patterns shared by the entire society.
Aesthetical Criteria
First, it is possible to evaluate Facebook in terms of aesthetic criteria. Facebook users tend to share lots of pictures and photos and this can be regarded as a certain kind of self-expression (Zywica & Danowski 6). Notably, all people try to satisfy their aesthetic needs without even knowing it.
Of course, the most important reason for changing profile photos or uploading pictures and images is to become or, at least, seem popular so Facebook users upload “the attractive self-presentation style” (Zywica & Danowski 20). However, in this way people also express their aesthetical views.
Thus, they upload images and photos which are the most attractive, in their opinion. It is possible to state that Facebook encourages its users to create and to develop their aesthetical taste. While trying to become more popular, Facebook users explore new ways to express themselves.
They are not afraid of experimenting. They are also exposed to a variety of other pictures and images that can help these people develop certain aesthetical tastes. Therefore, this social network helps many people express themselves in terms of their aesthetical taste, which is very important for a human.
Practical Criteria
Furthermore, Facebook has a number of practical implications. In the first place, it is a very effective way to search for friends one has lost somehow (former neighbors, classmates, fellow students, colleagues or even relatives). It is also quite an effective tool to make new friends online. Some try to achieve certain popularity with the help of this social network. Notably, they are quite successful (Zywica & Danowski 6).
Apart from this, Facebook has also become a certain tool to generate public opinion. This social network expands “the potentials of individual opinion into public opinion, the achievability of participation and the development of a transnational, deterritorialized public sphere” (Valtysson 80).
Thus, Facebook has become quite a significant power. People communicate their ideas which eventually become public opinion. The Spring Arab Revolution also showed many implications of the social network. People shared news and Facebook was one of the few sources of true facts about the situation in the countries as people who lived in the areas shared images and photos that depicted events of those days.
Ethical Criteria
Finally, Facebook is a positive phenomenon as it is also associated with ethical issues. First of all, Facebook is associated with such ethical issues as people’s attitude towards privacy. Facebook is a certain kind of embodiment of this ethical discourse. Thus, many people share really intimate information and then suffer from their own sincerity.
It is still unclear whether people can share their intimate stories, but Facebook may help find a solution to this ethical problem. Apart from this, Facebook users tend to discuss a variety of ethical issues. Of course, some users may discuss certain issues in quite an unethical manner, e.g. using sarcasm, irony and parody when talking about such serious issues as ethnicity, religion, etc. However, these cases are not that numerous.
Thus, Facebook encourages people to discuss really important issues and, in the majority of cases, public opinion shapes the conclusions made. It is possible to state that people often learn quite valuable lessons as they are exposed to a variety of life stories. This is the way Facebook helps people develop specific ethical beliefs which are in tune with the ethical patterns accepted in the society.
Conclusion
It is possible to state that Facebook is a positive phenomenon as it helps people develop. Thus, Facebook helps people develop their aesthetical tastes. Besides, this social network has a variety of practical implications, e.g. people can find their once lost friends and make new ones.
Finally, Facebook helps spread certain ethical patterns which reign in the society. Of course, as any other phenomenon, Facebook has some drawbacks, but the three criteria evaluation clearly shows that this social network is a positive phenomenon that leads to development and progress in many spheres of human’s life. Perhaps, it is time to stop looking for negative sides of the phenomenon. People should start focusing on the positive things about Facebook to make it an even more effective tool to develop the human society.
Works Cited
Valtysson, Bjarki. “Facebook as a Digital Public Sphere: Processes of Colonization and Emancipation.” Creative Commons License 10.1 (2012): 77-91. Print.
Zywica, Jolene and James Danowski. “The Faces of Facebookers: Investigating Social Enhancement and Social Compensation Hypotheses; Predicting Facebook and Offline Popularity from Sociability and Self-Esteem, and Mapping the Meanings of Popularity with Semantic Networks.” Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 14.1 (2008): 1-34. Print.