FAKEbook !!!

People's comments and words are deceiving and sometimes lead to false conclusions. A person can say one thing and genuinely believe another thing. I believe this principle defines the communications and interactions that occur on Facebook. How do you know if a person is tell the truth when they make a comment on Facebook? Do a string of words have the capacity to describe a person? The notion that Facebook makes us better people or makes us kinder is a great fallacy. Facebook, Twitter, and others are online networks where a person can create a persona that others can observe. These networks simply make us perceive a person differently.

Facebook, Twitter, and other networks create a facade that people hide behind. I always hear people say, "I didn't think he/she would be like that." This proves that a person acts differently online and in reality. For example, if a person that you find really annoying or rude writes on your wall, you aren't going to reply to them in an arrogant and blunt manner which is the way you would really want to reply to them. People exaggerate and ornament everything in their Facebook page to make them seem more friendly or social than they actually are. Frankly, I believe these networks are making people more deceitful than kinder. For example, people become friends on these networks even though they may not like a person. The reason for this is that it raises their number of friends which makes them "cool".

There is a Facebook paradox which is that people who are online a lot do not have a social life and people who do not get online have a social life so they aren't online as much. This is consistent with the theory that Facebook creates a facade. People on Facebook simply want to display their social status online and they stay in touch with others by communicating in artificial ways. For example, if an old acquaintance writes on my wall and I really don't like them, I'm not going to reply in a rude way saying something like "Why do you care?" because that would just make me look obnoxious since other people don't know why I don't like him.

The argument that people learn how to be more social and better communicators by using these networks is false because I have had conversations with people online and they turn out to have the complete opposite personality in person-some people even turn out to be rude! People who are rude and arrogant will remain that way despite using these networks. Personality is static in my opinion and simply using an online social tool does not change a person's personality.

Everyone is self conscious to a certain degree and people do care what others think about them even though they may say otherwise. This is the driving factor that causes people to act kind on these social networks. Facebook does not make us better people because Facebook is used for personal and egotistical purposes. Volunteering and helping others makes us better people; actions speak louder than words.