Assignment 1-4-3

Facebook Rituals and Stereotyping

         Facebook has not only rituals posted but people have daily rituals of using it. There is more than 500 million people that use Facebook and on average a person has 130 friends (Anderson, 2011).  Daily people log onto Facebook as a daily ritual. There are also several rituals listed on Facebook. Memorials for loved ones as part of the funeral ritual posted on Facebook has become a way for people to share with everyone on their friend list pictures  and  milestones of their loved ones (Freedman,2012). There are birthday walls for people to list birthdays to celebrate and Facebook will notify you of any of the people on your friend list having a birthday.

        Karen Anderson in the 2011 article “The Serial Kvelller and 11 other Facebook stereotypes” describes 11 stereotypes of people who use Facebook. This is article put labels on the style in which people choose to post on Facebook. Example the person that post where they are and what they ate is labeled the status –conscious status updater. 

       Facebook also has stereotyped nations with the like button feature (Kilian, 2011).  According to Abc news the data collected from all the different nations like buttons go hand in hand with that particular countries stereotype. American top like choices are Fast food restaurants. Ireland top like choices were beer and Britain and UK were chocolate and sweets (Kilian, 2011). 

         Facebook can be used as a tool for people to enhance already longstanding rituals; Facebook is used to send invitations, share births and deaths. The ability to include several people in the ritual that normally would not normally participate, even if it is just a comment.

There are many different stereotypes associated with Facebook. These include the people that use it and the statistics that are collected from using it.  The insight into using Facebook as part of society’s rituals is being able to reach a large audience of people. Invitations and notifications can be received by the stroke of the key board. Support and comfort from friends and family can be received.  Stereotyping to some extent can help with marketing to different people around the world.

References

         Anderson,K.(2011,February 23) The serial kveller and 11 other facebook stereotypes. Writer Way. Retrieved from http://writerway.com/2011/02/23/facebook-stereotypes/

        Freedman, S.(2012,February 24). In a new ritual, many find solace online.The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/25/us/on-religion-in-a-new-ritual-many-find-solace-online.html

       Kilian,A.(2011,July 23). Facebook rankings reflect national stereotypes. abc News. Retrieved from  http://abcnews.go.com/International/facebook-rankings-reflect-national-stereotypes/story?id=14127438