New Age: Facebook Flaneurs
Facebook is known for
its interactive interface, and interface in which everyone is almost expected
to contribute to the community. Each individual person has status to post and
witty remarks to make, yet there are those who float on through browsing but
never sampling that part of their online life, possibly connecting to thousands
but choosing not to. They are those who, instead of constantly updating
statuses and plugging games and cat videos,
choose to mainly observe for any number of reasons (Spencer & Fein, 1997) . However it is this
observation and lack of content that seems to draw them into the public eye.
A classic reading of the Flaneur was one who browsed the
streets in search of nothing, experiencing new sensations offered only in
passing (Prouty, 2009) , yet this image has
changed especially in online communities (Barnes, 1997) . Now a Flaneur has
become more of a grab for attention; the once social statement of being disinterested
is now tacky and annoying from constant overuse and never is it more prevalent
than on Facebook. As the social media site has already reached its popularity
climax (Mander, 2015) , many on it are now
fighting in a bid to be noticed amongst the community (Kuttainen, 2015), and as
almost everything has been done already many have become online Flaneurs. This classic
method of trying to distance yourself and not participate, in the hopes you
will be noticed, has become nothing more than a method normally used by toddlers
throwing a tantrum. The outcome is the also the same, as most everyone now has
gotten used to it and any novelty it once held has all but disintegrated into shamelessness.
This strange belief that doing nothing will get you recognised is unfortunate recreation
of the 1890’s and is old hack, also the argument that as the Kardashians are
famous for nothing in particular so the next version could be me is a very poor
life goal indeed.
Bibliography
Barnes, G.
(1997). Passage of the Cyber-Flanuer. Otago University.
Mander, J. (2015,
January 21). GWI Social Q4 2014: the latest social networking trends. Retrieved
August 21, 2015, from globalwebindex:
https://www.globalwebindex.net/blog/gwi-social-q4-2014-the-latest-social-networking-trends
Prouty, R. (2009,
October 28). A Turtle on a Leash. Retrieved August 20, 2015, from
One-Way Street: http://www.onewaystreet.typepad.com/one_way_street/2009/10/a-turtle-on-a-leash.html
Spencer, S. J.,
& Fein, S. (1997). Prejudice as self-image maintenance: Affirming the
self through derogating others. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 31-44.
Kuttainen, Victoria (2015). Lecture Notes and Audio recordinds for weeks
3 and 4. Retrieved August
20, 2015.
Your use of references leads me to believe that your information is very sought after. However, I fail to see your argument that you are discussing. Is your main argument to discuss the reason the cyber-flaneur is so actively no active, or is your discussion based on the cyber-flaneur becoming more mainstream in everyday online activities?
ReplyDeleteIf the first, I would like to add a an excerpt from Barnes' (1997) text, "An electronic flanerie turns space into 'their virtual replacements'". Which could further your statement by arguing that the cyber-flaneur uses its virtual anonymity to replace the physical anonymity from everyday life.
If however, your argument is the latter, further on in Barnes'(1997) text, she explains that the virtual world offers a 'perceptual displacement' which provides a 'controlled, commodified, and pleasurable substitution'. This of course is similar to the suggestion for the first argument, however, I believe it more suits the latter.
References:
Barnes, G. (1997). Passage of the Flaneur. Retrieved from http://www.raynbird.com/essays/Passage_Flaneur.html