Mark Zuckerberg posted this video on the morning of October 4th to celebrate Facebook’s milestone of having one billion users. The video compares Facebook to things that people use to connect with each other, like chairs, airplanes, and waterfalls. It definitely appeals to emotion and tries to get people excited and inspired about life and connecting with other people. An argument this video makes is that Facebook is another great tool that people use to make their lives meaningful. And they’re right, Facebook is a tool we can use. However, unlike some of the other things we use to connect, Facebook also uses us and can affect our lives intensely.
The video uses rhetorical devices in order for Facebook to further use people. The argument they make is that all of the things mentioned, like chairs, are like Facebook because people use them. While that may be true, it isn’t really saying much. They really had to stretch what a chair was in order to compare it Facebook. While Facebook was designed to connect people, chairs are not: they are primarily designed for sitting. However, there are certain types of chairs that are conducive to connecting people, like sofas. In any case, the video’s attempt at logos is a bit silly, but effective for the intended viewing audience. More effective, however, is the pathos in the video.
The many scenes of people connecting with each other in various ways can tug on some heartstrings. It makes one think of how nice it is to be with people and connect. The most powerful blow of ethos is, in my opinion, when they talk about how lonely people must feel in an incredibly massive, indifferent universe. Facebook makes this case that it is a tool, that it is on our side, that it’s here so we can connect, and that’s good. But is Facebook really the best tool we can use?
Facebook is a business. Data-mining is used to target ads and make tons of money. While this is not a completely horrible thing, it brings up some good questions. If Facebook is aiming to make money, it will set up how we give information about ourselves and interact with other people so that it can profit from that information. While I think Facebook, when used effectively, can help with friendships, I must also recognize that it is perhaps not the best way. The video makes the case that Facebook is this wonderful thing so that more people will use it and more money can be made. The video is right, connecting with people and finding meaning is a wonderful thing, but a thing best done genuinely and on one’s own terms. Facebook might not always allow for that.
I watched the video, and while I feel like their comparisons are half a bit of a stretch and half true, it’s definitely a well put-together video. Visually appealing for sure. However, the part about feeling like we are alone in the universe made me think. In the article I’m doing my analysis paper on, “The End of Solitude”. The author states (at some point) that companies want us to feel lonely or bored so that we use their products, whether it’s TV, the internet, etc. I definitely think it’s legitimate that these companies want us to be bored… that especially makes sense for Facebook. And lo and behold, what do many people do when they feel bored or lonely? Watch TV or Facebook creep. When I’m on Facebook, though, I’m not always “connecting”, as the purpose is supposed to be. Sometimes I just look through people’s pictures or sift through dramatic status updates. I feel like this ends up being what many others do too. I do, of course, use it to talk to friends at other schools or keep in touch with my family. But I could just as easily call, text, or email them. I have never made a sincere friendship solely via Facebook. In fact, I think it’s kind of creepy when a stranger messages me wanting to strike up conversation. I sure don’t do that to strangers when I’m bored and online. In my personal experience, Facebook isn’t really being used to how it’s defined to be used, if that makes sense. Sure, it’s nice to use to keep up with friends and family, or even to see what kind of drama is going on with certain groups of people. But,if I’m just by myself, and I go on Facebook as a boredom cure, it makes me feel even more lonely sometimes because I see all these pictures of the fun stuff other people are doing. I highly doubt I’m the only one who has ever felt this way. I guess at that conclusion we could say Facebook’s aim works, to a point, but not in the exact way it is represented in the video.