This house believes that Facebook is not a place for friends - closing speeches

Third Proposing speech

Jan 2011, U.K. Woman Announced Suicide On Facebook on Christmas Day. 141 comments on its status, but no one came to her house. What’s wrong in this story ? The fact that someone announces publically its suicide on a social network or the fact that none of its supposed “friends” came to her house to check if she was ok ? We have the feeling that we went too further, that we crossed a tolerable line, but who has to be blamed for this situation ? The woman who dares declaring this on an inappropriate place, or the people that provides you this “tool” to send such information to thousands of people just by a click? […]

by CM

Third Opposing speech

When you [the proposers] said “And you can find every day, they do that regularly; they meet their smoke friends, and even get introduced to new friends who smoke.”, you compare Facebook to a drug. This is right, Facebook could be become a drug. Indeed, like the cigarette, the video games or also the alcohol, you can be addict to Facebook. But, what is the part of population concerned by this addiction? In reality, according a Facebook study (July 2010), the average time spent on this social network is 55 minutes per day and per person around the world. I remember you that people spend an average 3h12 watching television daily (LSA.FR 2009). Do you consider television like a dangerous activity? The difference between smoking activity and Facebook is that Facebook is not a dangerous activity if you don’t practice it in abundance; while when you smoke just one cigarette; this is already dangerous for the health. To conclude for this first part, there is no reason to compare the cigarette and Facebook! […] 

by KR

Third Proposing speech

Jan 2011, U.K. Woman Announced Suicide On Facebook on Christmas Day. 141 comments on its status, but no one came to her house. What’s wrong in this story ? The fact that someone announces publically its suicide on a social network or the fact that none of its supposed “friends” came to her house to check if she was ok ? We have the feeling that we went too further, that we crossed a tolerable line, but who has to be blamed for this situation ? The woman who dares declaring this on an inappropriate place, or the people that provides you this “tool” to send such information to thousands of people just by a click?

To answer these questions, I think we have to stand back and center this problematic around 3 main principles: free will, responsibility and authenticity.

Do we really have the choice?

I created my profile on Facebook because I was fed up with people asking me “Do you have a Facebook account?”. Because today, if you don’t have your Facebook account, you are not in, you are missing something, you are almost marginalized from a social movement. Is that free will or, as said JL, a sheep effect ? I just think it is unfortunately a modern kind of social pressure.

Second thing: Have you ever refused a friend on Facebook ? Do you feel free to refuse a “friendship request” ? I am sure that most of you feel sometimes trapped, and accept friendships by unconscious social pressure, and because “what is going to tell me the guy/girl if I refuse?”. But as Facebook thinks about everything, you can “prioritize” your friends and create groups. Good news! My friend A can see my pictures and my friend B not. Is that friendship ? Well, putting people into “compartments” is not my definition of friendships. 

Finally, to finish on that point, what MV and IG forget to say when they talk about the fact that we have the choice to put or not information on our profile is that you have previously to accept the “Facebook conditions of use”; but honestly, did you read the pages and pages that clearly declare that even if you delete your profile, all your profile information is the property of Facebook for your whole life ? I am not sure we can call this “making a choice with full knowledge of the facts”.

Are we really responsible for what we declare?

Some of us, yes. But majority of people can’t perceive what is at stake in this phenomenon. Some people can’ see the boundaries of a social network, and won’t hesitate to talk about very personal things about them, without realizing the impact it can have; I totally agree with JBB on the fact that by doing so, we are creating another “big brother”, much more powerful, invasive and anti libertarian. You are not just keeping in touch with your friends, but you are especially observing the other living, you penetrate their intimacy, instead of focusing on your own life.

Where is authenticity of friendship?

I remember that once, one of my friend put on Facebook “Amazing WE in Amsterdam” as a status. I called her on her mobile phone and asked her to give me more details about her WE. She explained me that she got bored because she was with people that she hardly knew and that she regretted to have been there with them. So, I asked her why she said on Facebook that her WE was “amazing”; naturally, she told me that she wouldn’t put that it was rubbish.

So, what is the point of Facebook ? To communicate about our “virtual” life ? To invent our life ? To lie to people that are supposed to be your friends ? Are we our “Head of communication of myself” that adorns our reality? Aren’t we even lying to ourself by doing so ? Take time to consider this thought…

To finish, I totally agree with the opponent side when they declare that it’s an amazing tool to find friends, to strengthen some links or to share some information. We can’t deny that. But, considering the 3 principles I evoked previously, I definitely support that: Facebook is a place for contacts, not for friends.

CM

Third Opposing speech

When you [the proposers] said “And you can find every day, they do that regularly; they meet their smoke friends, and even get introduced to new friends who smoke.”, you compare Facebook to a drug. This is right, Facebook could be become a drug. Indeed, like the cigarette, the video games or also the alcohol, you can be addict to Facebook. But, what is the part of population concerned by this addiction? In reality, according a Facebook study (July 2010), the average time spent on this social network is 55 minutes per day and per person around the world. I remember you that people spend an average 3h12 watching television daily (LSA.FR 2009). Do you consider television like a dangerous activity? The difference between smoking activity and Facebook is that Facebook is not a dangerous activity if you don’t practice it in abundance; while when you smoke just one cigarette; this is already dangerous for the health. To conclude for this first part, there is no reason to compare the cigarette and Facebook! 

I totally agree with you, Facebook do not must replace the “normal social communication”. The fact is that the world is changing: the students leave France to study in foreign countries; the workers make missions in all over the world…  How could they keep in touch with their friends? They can call with their phone or with a tool like Skype but it is not an adapted solution when there is a big jet lag. They can also write emails but it is less interactive than Facebook which permits to share videos, photos, emails… To summarize, Facebook is a revolution for those people!  

When do you check your emails? When you are alone and you have got free time. This is the same for Facebook. According a Facebook study (July 2010), 2/5 users reach this social network via their mobile. Why? Because they connect on Facebook when they are alone in the subway for example. Could you tell me if this situation can have bad effects on their relation with their friends who don’t use Facebook? Every day, everyone have got few minutes alone which can be used to reach Facebook.  

We are 500 million users on Facebook (July 2010). Do you think really that we are 500 million sheeps? If a lot of people decided to use Facebook is that they understood it is the first time that a tool can regroup so much people who have got different cultures, different social classes, and different levels of studies in an only place! 

You concluded with the sentence “Everyday a lot of people become smoker and a lot of people quit smoking also. Facebook, for me, is no different: Not a good place for friend, only another bad habit.” Me, I am going to conclude saying that every day new links between people that haven’t got the same culture, the same social class… appears all over the world. Every day, this is a little step for the Human and a big step for the Humanity!

KR