June 15, 2007
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What if our parents subscribed to Facebook?
By Mark Daou

LONDON: It is only a matter of time until a curious inquisitive parent finds their way to Facebook and a message pops up saying “Confirm Sam is your Dad?” Your parents would never have to ask you how you are feeling, who your friends are or where you were last night. Facebook can answer all of your parents’ questions with all of your information, documented, archived and easily accessible.

It is only a matter of time before the age range on Facebook expands to include early teens and their parents. I wonder what I would post on my mothers wall or how to comment on my dad’s pictures.  Is this a frightening prospect or one with promise?

I would say it is frightening if you have something to hide, like pictures of you while dancing on top of the table, wasted and looking closer to an alien than your parent’s daughter.

It would be nice, however, to be able to find a suitable medium to share with your parents your interests and major events especially if you are living abroad without having to sit for the long difficult talks to explain your point. What better way to keep your friends and family posted about your latest site-seeing trip, new friendships and group interests?

The main challenge is defining the personal place from the broader space. Facebook is an online community of young people who are internet savvy and mostly in universities. Now, that is changing, different people are signing up from all ages, everyone is turning to Facebook. So the youth’s personal place might be changing to a fully fledged public space with no social bounds, a complete online social network with ex-boyfriends, parents, uncles, school teachers, neighbours and everyone.

So does privacy exist with Facebook? Where do we draw the limits between a child’s life and that of their parents and other social authorities like school administration? How about law enforcement authorities? Never mind these last questions, I guess my conspiracy mind went too far.

Nonetheless, the prospects are endless. The information is accessible if you are on someone’s network or you get through with a nice picture that is irresistible.

At the same time, you can develop friendships with people of similar interests and common friends on the other half of the globe before you even get to travel there. Not like previous chat rooms and other sorts of online communities, with Facebook you can actually know exactly how they are, what they do and even where they were last night or even their latest moods. The Virginia Tech horrendous murder showed the impact that Facebook can have; it saved lives through informing people and calmed panicking family and friends through messages and updates.

Human life is definitely being redefined by the internet. Facebook is just a stop along the way till the other generation of internet communities is developed, one that might even produce real friendships without even meeting the actual person throughout their lives. If not, what do you make of someone who you have had for more than 20 years on your Facebook with regular messages and updates and birthday congrats, a real friend or just an image on the screen with an interactive ability?

Mark Daou is a Lebanese researcher resident of London, the UK.