Empowerment of the Nerds?

The other text we covered today in class, "The Face of Facebook," also felt like an unfinished conversation... But, like my last rant, maybe it is simply because I have a slightly interesting perspective on the subject matter.

I really found our conversation on the article's picture, and it's possible significance, interesting, as well as the discussion about privacy.

As I started to say in class, I think the picture helps add some situational irony that directly correlates with Zuckerberg's reality. In the picture, something we would all like to associate with a facebook profile picture, he is looking away from the camera. I can't help but draw the parallel between that and Zuckerberg's claiming that he wants to make the world a much more open place, while he himself is actually an extremely private person.

Now, for more random context of my life so I can explain my viewpoint...

My previous relationship, was long-distance. I met my ex online, and we dated for about a year and a half while I lived in Michigan and she lived in California. She came here to visit, and I went out there to meet her family as well. Eventually, at the beginning of last school year, she moved to Michigan and now goes to school at Eastern too. So our relationship went from the long-distance, with it's start over the internet, to the in-person relationship most consider standard. One of my absolute best friends, I also met online.

Somewhat comparing myself to Zuckerberg, I also tend to be introverted around people I don't know. But, for me and I know for several other people I have talked to on the subject, it is different online. There is a certain level of confidence that comes from sitting behind a computer screen. Part of it is probably the ease of which you can test identities, and part is probably the ease of which you can leave if something goes over badly... This is seen a lot on facebook. Not only do we see people deciding how to create themselves via their profiles, but we also see people creating connections, getting to know people they otherwise wouldn't get to know because of the way facebook opens information and communication.

So, I guess what I am trying to get at refers back to my title of this post... I feel like Zuckerberg's attempt at making an open world is really geared toward empowering the nerdy, introverted-type people that he relates with. He isn't necessarily aiming to open EVERYTHING in a person's life, because he obviously understands and appreciates the idea of privacy for himself. Instead, I think he is more trying to open up certain points of people's lives. Opening up their interests, their thoughts, their likes and dislikes... in order to make it easier for people to locate and connect with others that they might not otherwise interact with. You might not give someone a chance if you see them on a bad day and they look like crap, but, in cyberspace, seeing them on facebook through the lens that they create for themselves (their pictures of them in the best lighting, on their good days, their interests highlighting their assumed better side rather than admitting guilty pleasures, etc.) helps open doors and possibilities that otherwise would probably remain shut through normal conventions.