Bryan Alex V.

Panila `

AB Philosophy IV Philosophy of Science and Technology FACEBOOK AS PICTURE

In every time I go to computer shop, I usually open my facebook while playing computer games. While looking at my facebook, there are always new feeds and notifications which are appearing. Those things come from my friends and relatives. I have two facebook accounts. The first one is consist of 548 friends as I guess while the second contains 435 friends. Honestly, I do not know all of them but only few. Most of them are always posting some comments, messages and notifications. Sometimes, I am also chatting with them that is why I am able to know them at some point. There are also many pictures there in my facebook. Sometimes, the picture of a couple was shown there. It was posted by my one of my classmates namely Narcisa. Two days after, she posted another picture. She posted now the picture of a little girl. I wondered that is why I asked her using the chat. Who is that cute little girl?, I said. She said, She is my. daughter. I was surprised. She was my best friend and I did not know it. I just knew it when she told it to me. But, there was even more surprising than that. She was not the only who had a child but almost of my girl classmates. All of them are now posting there pictures with their family. This is so surprising and at the same time alarming for me. I was able to know what is happening to my classmates through facebook. In just opening my facebook, I saw already the life of a certain person. Facebook opens my eyes to see what is happening really to my friends even if I am not with them. At some point, it shows me, at least, a glimpse of the life of my classmates. I was so unconscious and innocent already to them but thanks to Facebook. I was still with them by just chatting and looking there pictures. After that, I also tried to look of the pictures of my relatives and especially to my family. I looked at the facebook picture of my sister. When I look at it, I saw also many pictures because of her many albums. Some of these pictures were also tagged by his or her friends. This is something another alarming again to me when I see her facebook. I saw a young man sitting beside her. This young man embraced my sister and only to find out that young man is the boyfriend of my sister. I came to know about it because my younger brother told it to me. My younger brother knows that young man. He is one of the scholars of our parish together with my younger brother. He is also studying in PSU Lingayen just like my sister and brother. The picture was located of one of the nipa huts of PSU Campus. I was surprised again

and shocked by this picture of my sister. Without telling it to us, she has already a boyfriend. See, Facebook is not just only a social network site but also an informative site where you can see the informations and details of what is happening to each person. I am not that very fanatic of facebook. I am more fanatic in computer games but I came to like and enjoy facebook through its benefits. My facebook has been very useful and I am sure that some of us are now fanatic in facebook. Teachers, students, employers or workers, priests and all of us are now addicted to facebook. We have been influenced to use facebook because of its quality. Facebook has been a help for us to reach out our love ones. Facebook is an easy way to know and understand the life of our friends. It is easier than other former alternative communications. We have been considered that Facebook is a perfect tool of communication. Now at this point, facebook has been an influential network to us very well. I have read such topics and articles about facebook. In those topics, facebook has been studied and analyzed philosophically. In reading those things, I concluded and learned that facebook is consist of three things. These are the following: first, facebook is a punctum. What is punctum? It is a process where a certain photo or demonstration will be analyzed in an instant way. In short, in a simple sentence, a certain photo will be known in a first impression. Example, the picture of my classmate which I have mentioned while ago, was a surprising and shocking picture for me. My first impression in that picture was that, she had already a daughter. But, I didnt yet conclude it thats why I asked her. Then, I was right. My first impression was correct. But the problem thing here is that we only know it in a first impression without any more deep realization to it. It has been considered and referred by the others but it is not very right. Second, facebook is an immediate or instant way of understanding. Through the punctum process, an immediate or instant of knowing or understanding is arising without any more deep realization. We tend to conclude such things that are so difficult and actually nave things easily. In this situation, we become fool. We only rely on our first impression. An instant knowing of things is not that so much enough it takes so much time to learn and know things very well. Third, the last one, so much relying of facebook is an authentic way. I am not saying that facebook is not that so better. But, what I want to say is this; facebook is a social network site. It has been built to connect with our friends but not to make it as a way of our thinking to know and understand others. It helps us to relate more with our friends but not to make us more truthful to them. We become only

authentic to them with a real friendship when the two friends are talking to each other face to face. Face to face relationship is more reliable, sensible, truthful, meaningful and authentic. As what I have been learned in the article, facebook has been so much overuse. In every time we have an internet, we do not always forget to look on our facebook. My classmates, teachers, priests, seminarians and all people in the world are so much addicted to facebook. In every time we open it, there is always new. It is either messages or notifications from our friends or relatives. Most of us would want to look and know it. Facebook gave us more entertainment and easy way in looking our status. I remember the picture again of another friend. She is not my classmate but I met her here in Alaminos. She was my classmate when I was a second year college seminarian but she only stayed here in Alaminos for one semester. After few months, I received news coming from her facebook. Only to find out that she changed her religion. She was a Catholic before. But now, she is a Methodist. She had been invited from some of her friends who were also a Methodist. At this point, she is now a loyal Methodist from their place. It was really surprising and shocking for me when I always open my facebook. This is the effect of looking and seeing new things. I was not able to expect or anticipate this thing in using facebook. There is also something that I have remembered and noticed in using facebook. It is also a race. Why did I say it is a race? Its because in every time I open the facebook of my friends, they have always many friends. I saw one of the facebook accounts of my friend. Her friends are reached out to 2000 people. Wow! It is very also surprising again for me. I have two facebook accounts. The first one is consist of 500 plus something of my friends while the other one contains 400 something also. But, my friend has only one facebook which contains thousands of friends really. But I did not anymore doubt about it. Why? Its because this friend of mine is so beautiful, a very cute lady. She is younger than me of one year. Many young men like her and I do not know anymore what she is doing right now. The last time I met here, I saw her together with a young man. Probably, as I have already concluded, that is her boyfriend. She is also from Labrador particularly in San Gonzalo. I became to befriend with her in the Parish Youth Ministry. After two years, she went out to the ministry for an unknown reason. Facebook lets me to see and touch the lives of others at least in a glimpse. As I realize, as a facebook user, I believe in facebook as an entertainment only and not a way of life. There is no authenticity in facebook. Yes, its true. You have many friends. It can reach to hundreds or

thousands but the question is do you know them all. Do you know the lives of all your friends in your facebook. I do not think so. From those of my friends in facebook, probably, I only know 20 or 30 of them out of my 900 friends in facebook. My facebook has no authenticity at some point. It is just facebook is a raising of friends but without any really a connection to them. If someone invites you in your account, you will accept him or her even if you do not know well the person. You are not sure if he or she knows you also. I do not think that my friend knows all those her friends in facebook. Just imagine, she has 3,000 friends in her facebook maybe because of her beauty. They only add her because of her beautiful appearance. If I am not mistaken, my facebook is already contains 90 pictures but for the others probably they have 100 to 200 pictures. We usually tag some of our pictures to our friends and we know that they will become happy. Each picture represents, at some point, a partial of our life. What we need more as a human person is a whole sharing of our life to the others unlike in facebook only in partial. There is no any authenticity that we can achieve or get in the partial sharing of our life through facebook. Whole sharing of our life to the others is more meaningful and truthful. We become more authentic to the others. A punctum picture is not enough. It only shows physical appearances of our self. Physical appearances do not really show our real personality and that is what facebook is doing. The activity of facebook is only to entertain our mind in communication. Yes. It really helps us to improve our life in communication. It is also true that we can reach out our friends through facebook. As what I have been considered to facebook, I still like to use it. I do not doubt that I have two facebook accounts but it does not mean that it should be our life. Facebook is only immediacy. It does not have any accurate to know and understand things. It is only for a quick way of communicating. It only gives us an easy and better way that is why most of us are now so addicted to facebook. Facebook users tend to think that this network becomes now usual social network just like Friendster before. We admit it that it is nice to have a facebook account. We enjoy it so much. We love it that is why this social network site added some games just like Farmville and cityville. I saw many of the facebook users are now playing games in facebook. This is so surprising and another entertainment again for the facebook users. It is really true that facebook is not only for communication but also for entertainment.

As I conclude, the three things which I have learned in reading the article make me to summarize them that facebook is a picture. At some point, facebook represents who we are. In some realizations, facebook pictures our life in a glimpse way. In a glimpse, we see first impression things of our friends. In a glimpse, there we learn that there is at least idea about our life but not totally as a whole. Facebook has become my album. It is a collection of my many pictures. Each picture represents my personality, my life

Submitted to: Rev. Fr. Paul Angelo Calimlim