In the reading "Creative Identities", John Hartley introduces the Do It Yourself citizen; a citizen that in essence creates their own identity. Due to these individuals we get groups of people that identify themselves not by where they live but rather through their "social, cultural and creative values". Hartley notes that these groups are often times virtual communities, a growing change from the territorial communities that most people once associated themselves with.
One such community that many of us are familiar with is facebook. Through this interface, the student body of the world (along with pretty much anyone) can stay in touch, share their opinions about politics, post a video, and interact in any form that isn't physical. In fact, many people don't come in contact for years - if ever - and still manage to track their facebook friend's life in much more detail than previously imaginable. Today it's quite rare that a college student doesn't have facebook and those that don't often feel left out; one of my roommates this summer was so irritated that group events were posted on facebook rather than discussed in person, that she signed up for facebook, even though she still claimed to be "morally against it".
With this new trend in mind, my concern is that we'll come to a point in time where a physical community will no longer exist. On the one hand, I can envision a world-wide community, binded by facebook, which really would be great seeing as culture and language would no longer hinder people in making relationships. On the other hand, I can also see a world where there are no longer large communities of people, but rather a myriad of small communities comprised of online groups. Will we no longer be citizens of a country, but instead citizens of our respective online communities?
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I doubt we'll see physical geography rearrange around facebook anytime soon, although the internet has made it much more feasible to conduct business outside the "office park."
To me, Facebook feels like a tool more than a community; a quick way to grab a phone number or shoot someone a message. I don't personally spend much time looking around at profiles or playing on applications. However, a lot of that has to do with the college community I'm already a part of, which provides enough stimulation that I don't have to turn to Facebook for social satisfaction. I expect that once I graduate, and once hanging out with friends becomes less "facilitated," that my stance on Facebook might change... I have met quite a few people in the business world (in particular my manager over the summer) who keep in touch with their close friends over online Boggle games within Facebook. For them, it's just another way to stay connected.
On another (unrelated) note, while it's startling how well Facebook keeps you informed of your friends' activities, I am equally fascinated by the targeted advertising that Facebook enables. Visit their create an ad page and you'll see what I mean: you can select on age, location, and gender, and Facebook will tell you exactly how many people you can market to on their network. For example, 255,300 people between ages 18-20 in Massachusetts.
So, where do social networks fit into the six sectors of the Creative Industries? Entertainment or Music or Publishing or Graphic Design/Marketing?
Is Facebook even a part of the creative industries?
It would seem to me that a good portion of their employees are creative/embedded workers (Facebook Design Group), and I would lean more towards the "specialists" definition simply because the end product is an interactive piece of creative media. Users of facebook could also be considered embedded workers, designing graffiti and selecting bumper stickers and such. So, we have almost the entire creative trident represented, and there's obviously a huge revenue stream coming in through those advertisements, so there is some tangible value in the enterprise. But is it more of a creative interface than a creative good? Or are Facebook and other social networks more like a sector at the center of the other six?
Someone call me out on this, I don't want to give Facebook too much credit. . .
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