By Rosanna Marie Candler
Rising acceptance and registration of networking technologies has confounded the “nature of intimacy” (Barraket & Henry-Waring 2004) we practice in modern culture. An examination of technologically articulated communication on social networking website Facebook reveals a disappointing regression of interpersonal contact: from face-to-face to a single click of a mouse. To argue the metaphor that ‘Facebook is to socialising what masturbation is to sex’ is to acknowledge a similar outcome (both Facebook and real-life achieve social fulfilment), but criticize the online process on an interpersonal level. Network websites are popular for two key reasons; firstly offering convenience and accessibility to large groups of people, and secondly their ability to define, promote and control perception of identity. It seems Facebook has provided the opportunity to maximise quantity and dilute quality as we hurriedly reach our social ‘orgasm’ through 15 second status updates, disingenuous photo comments and the ever superfluous ‘poke’. Today with over 400 million active users (Facebook Statistics 2010), the website has a firm grip of influence on the manner in which individuals articulate and develop their personal affairs.
