Facebook Screenshot and Annotation

This is Facebook. Through a simple layout and user-interface, it is able to attract a variety of users. By maintaining a large selection of social networking options, Facebook is able to keep their users occupied for hours with no certain end. Some of these features you'd be able to do without. But most of them are in place to make the user's experience much more convenient and efficient. With these features, a user can reach out further and with more people, socially. There's a never-ending variety of options for the user to occupy himself thus keeping the social quest permanent and ceaseless. Until you get bored anyway.

The following labels and descriptions should help to analyze how the design of Facebook promotes self-expression:

NOTE: These are NOT merely descriptions of functions, but anthropological analyses of them. I tried to focus on the in-depth impact of these functions on social lives, interaction, and self-definition.

1: Friend requests: This is where you see new friend requests on Facebook. You have the option of confirming your friendship status with this person, or choosing the "not now" button, which is a euphemism for declining the relationship. Having two options, yes or no, gives the user the simplicity of discerning friends from non-friends, with no in-between option. This promotes the appearance of popularity and selectiveness, that these people are your "friends." The term itself carries a connotation of intimacy. Nonetheless, this is merely the friend request tab.

2: Messages: This feature allows you to see all of your personal messages and manage sending/receiving them. Messages on Facebook are accessible only by the user and whoever the user sends them to. This allows for a setting of privacy in an otherwise public display of your profile, which gives users the luxury of sending intimate, embarrassing, or even gossip-like messages that would be met with resistance from the Facebook public.

3. Notifications: The Granddaddy of every Facebook feature. This small button alone notifies you of any interaction with your friends and you. That is, anything dealing with your status, your comments, your pictures, your notes, or anything else which you interacted with, is susceptible to being commented on by a friend. With their comment, you are notified and it shows up here in a number with a red circle. Clear and simple. This allows users to see how others define/judge them, and it is by far the most addicting feature of Facebook. For example, the Facebook server refreshes several times a second (without impeding on your browsing) to give you immediate feedback when a friend comments on something of yours. Such clear indicators of others' opinion constructs the large web of social networking which allows the user to then manipulate his/her profile to receive the most desirable feedback. Genius.

4. Search: Enter anything, and I mean ANYTHING in this box and Facebook will find something for it. It can be a friend's name, a hobby, a group, a metaphysical concept, or even food. This is a way for users to really identify themselves. Belonging to a group makes a person feel welcome, and that's what Facebook wants for it's users: a welcoming experience. It's a way to identify yourself through interests that thousands of others have in common. The best part: everybody's collection of interests is different. BAM! Self expression right there.

5. Home: Collect yourself wherever you are on Facebook. This button allows you to return to the home page, A.K.A. the web page you see here. Just a simple tool to rescue you from being lost in the abyss of profiles, pictures and whatever else you may find yourself exploring for hours. It's always good to simplify an interface to prevent the user from feeling incapable and frustrated when you're lost. It happens in a mall, it can happen on the internet. This home feature is just another way for Facebook to re-enchant its users. What would you do without it? Click more, that's all.

6. Profile: Go directly to your wall and see what has changed, what you can change, or what hasn't changed at all. With a single button that leads you to your wall, you have plenty of opportunity to edit some of your public information. Always being able to simply alter your outward Facebook appearance allows nobody to pinpoint your true persona but rather, whatever you want them to see. "Self" expression. Or at least whatever "self" you want others to see. Without the profile, well, it would be called Blankbook.

7. Account: The nitty-gritty of Facebook. This is where you change whatever settings which pertain only to you. These settings involve your friends, your account, your personal information, and of course the ability to log out. Facebook has improved with their security so that when you change these settings, they are visible only to you. You can change to what degree you want your profile to be private. You can change which people you want to keep as friends. And, most importantly, you can change your Facebook DNA. You can practically assume a whole new identity, since, of course, nobody who doesn't know you well can't object. I think this is the most cunning feature of Facebook because without it, you would be sacrificing your entire identity to others. With it, you are able to have a foundation from which to build your virtual self with predesignated templates such as Beliefs, birthday, hometown, hobbies, music etc. Express yourself, how Facebook allows you too anyway, without risking your safety. Mostly.

8. Profile picture/status update: Ah yes. The lens through which the Facebook world sees you. Literally anything you do on Facebook carries your profile picture thus leaving your fingerprint, or really your "face" print. With so much pressure to display unto the world an appealing image, it is no wonder why profile pictures are given precedence over all other self expression mechanisms. Most pictures show a profound scene where the user seems happiest or most enlivened. You've all done this before and can see that the majority of pictures seem pleasing, even if the status may contradict such feelings. There are also pictures which don't show the person at all, show the person in a group of people, or show an avatar of the person. This just goes to show you the lengths at which people are willing to go in order to avoid direct exposure of themselves to the Facebook world. What does this all mean? Facebook profile pictures are iconic and representative of the individual, more than any words. Therefore, there is great emphasis to portray yourself as the way you want others to see you. For most, this is best described as a feeling that is happy. Without the profile picture there would be far less expression, life, and color.

9. Top News: What Facebook thinks you'd find most important among all of your friends. It evaluates this based on who you interact with the most on Facebook, which may not necessarily translate into real life, but how is Facebook supposed to know that? Messages on Top News are what you make of them. Really. The "filtered" self expression.

10. Most Recent: Almost every single action that is not privatized by your friends shows up here. Click it, and you will see second by second status updates, wall-to-wall posts, picture changes, etc. This is what fills your Facebook with the information of your friends' worlds. Your actions are recorded here too, just so that you can keep track of everything that goes on. Truly self-expression, truly public. Think of this feature as the stock market ticker of your friends list.

11. Status update: With a question such as "What's on your mind?" how can you not immediately answer? This feature makes public every thing that you type into the box and click enter. Thus, you can be as careful (or careless) as you want with letting others into your stream of consciousness. It's Facebook's rhetorical "how are ya?" and it's up to you to answer, thus giving you the torch of self-expression to carry and light up on your friends' news feed.

12. Events: It's nice to know that you have things to do. It's even nicer when it's displayed right in front of your eyes on your Facebook home page. This feature tells you about awaiting RSVP's, time and location of events, and upcoming events that you'd might be interested in. All of these options are at your fingertips. To feel more exclusive, the event shows who is going and who was invited. This way, you can judge for yourself if you want to be in the event with the people listed. It is a different form of self-expression where you can display to the event-goers that you want to be included among them, or that you cannot (or do not) want to go. It is a way of selecting certain friends to go to an event of your creation. It is a way of showing your ability to go out into the real world. But most of all, it is a way of convenient planning. Just another way how Facebook synthesizes itself into a necessity of your life.

13. Simple Access to Above Features: Self-explanatory, but it labels the function of the buttons above, just in case you weren't sure what those dark-blue on blue icons were.

14. Display of Updated Statuses: Self-explanatory.

15. Facebook Suggestions: How to Expand Your Facebook Empire by Facebook. It gives you a list of recommendations that you might find interesting based on relative interests, mutual friends and other algorithms that Facebook uses to try to caste you into their perception of what you might find appropriate. If you were forgetting that one person who is friends with so-and-so, well, chances are he/she will show up here. And if the people shown aren't relative to your interests, simply click the x and see that, ho! There are more! Many recommendations work there way into this box and it is up to you to assess and evaluate the relevance of each one. How do you express yourself here? Well, you choose to accept people whom you missed (which shows how important they are) when adding friends. This generates your selectivity as an image, but also tells you what to accept as a factor of inhibiting your freedom of choice to seek out these people yourself. But it may just safe the effort of a days' search. Good or bad, who knows?

16. Group creation: Ever had trouble summoning users of the internets who might just share your same interests, passions, or idiosyncrasies? Now you can articulate that group into a collective and become part of something greater than an individual. Prove to everyone that you're not alone, even in your wildest of hobbies. This group can be anything you want it to be. Then, you can invite anyone you want to this group. Thus, your hobbies can be represented by a popularity. See, not everyone is alone? Facebook makes it so that even if you feel like a pre-existing group doesn't quite describe you, or if you feel as though you'd be more comfortable leading a movement, you can do so without the hassle of face-to-face interaction, physical meetings, or flyers. There is a sacrifice though. This group has to follow the Facebook designated template. A group only needs a title and a description. But, without this feature, there would be far less of a "community" feeling on Facebook. It provides an escape from the every-man-for-himself mentality on the internet. Now, people have an alliance.

17. Other requests: Because Facebook isn't just about friends. It's about a virtual life. Here you will find requests which pertain to groups, applications, games, and pages. Each and every "other" request is a way for you to acquire a Facebook identity. It's very easy to become addicted when you can play games through Facebook and have your friends "request" that you keep playing through gifts of virtual items, expansions, alliances or practically anything that will build your Facebook gaming experience. Application requests are when friends want you to join them in a new Facebook peripheral such as quizzes, Facebook enhancements, flair, bumper stickers or other paraphernalia which might "re-enchant" you into the ever mystifying and expanding Facebook empire. You don't want to fall behind, do you? Maybe it's best to keep up with all of these cool features which don't necessarily belong to Facebook, but keep your Facebook experience ever expanding and enhancing. The other requests are basically a way to relieve yourself from the social world, while still remaining in the social world. Let me explain. Say you don't want to deal with comments, pokes, or overwhelming Facebook drama. You can escape by finding alternate ways to communicate yourself (ie. self expression through quizzes, polls, icons, etc.) or escape completely through a video game (which is still communicated through high scores displayed on your friends' walls, thus creating a competitive atmosphere for you to contribute your skills). These are the Facebook apps. This is where the rest of your life goes to spend its time.

18. Link: This is how you and your friends bring in other websites and how you are aware that there is a whole world that exists outside of Facebook. Facebook conveniently allows you to link anything on your profile and it will appear with the title of the webpage and a short description. This is very useful for users who want to show off their expedition into the unchartered territory of the internet wilderness AKA Not-Facebook. It helps a user express his/her diversity and ability to keep up with the news, find something funny or interesting, or even link another Facebook page. Without the simplistic display of the link, Facebook users would just type in and show off a complicated web address with a useless caption that is nearly meaningless without context. It's not just the ability to link something that makes it a desirable feature on Facebook, but more importantly the ability to express oneself clearly and explicitly through yet another medium. Also, through linking and commenting, it makes everyone a critic. By this, I mean that if you link another page and comment on it, you are making a concerted judgment on a piece of information, thus developing and exercising your freedom of speech and critical thinking. Not many websites make it that easy for you.

19. Likes: Where oh where do I begin? Let's start with the simplicity of clicking one button to make an assessment on another users' (or even your own) action, words, picture, link, or anything on Facebook. One click and in an instant you have made a judgment. But, lo and behold, there is no 'dislike'. Thus, if there's nothing you like, or something you dislike, then you simply don't show your opinion (unless you go through the effort of commenting). Facebook makes it so that negativity requires more effort than optimism, so it's easier to just "like something," or don't take any action at all, than to type out your thoughts. With one button that says something as vague as "you like this" without any magnitude, what exactly does a like mean? Facebook has obscured users' opinions by watering down a phrase, "like", through it's effortless mass distribution. Little thought is required in the clicking of a like button compared to an original comment. Conclusively, Facebook creates an atmosphere of either positivity or neutrality. Positive when you "like" something (which is the equivalent of "I approve"), and neutral when you abstain. But this form of self expression has become so overused and tossed around that saying you like something and meaning it is like saying you had lol'd and you literally laughed out loud. It just doesn't happen. A like now is a way of conveying that something a person said caught your attention or your interest enough so that you spent the time and effort to click a button and move on. So, to compensate, there's the comment box.

20. Comments: This is where your true thoughts can be displayed on any of your friends' actions or interactions. Facebook grants its users to comment on anything, uncensored. This is where the true voice of the user can be publicly displayed to both the commented person and any friend of either person. Anything can be given an opinion from any user, and this is how Facebook drama comes alive. That's right, Facebook invented its own genre of drama. Through the ability of uncensored, public, social interaction, Facebook created a stage where everyone is an actor, only there is no script. It's completely up to the users to create the scene. And it works. Having friends' every action monitored and displayed gives you the opportunity to judge them accordingly.

21. Summary of Requests: Once again, it is evident that overloading the user-interface isn't necessarily a bad idea, if done well. Though the requests can be accessed through the list on the right, it is through the introduction of icons that these catch the readers' eyes first. The same psychology is used in advertising through imagery. It's much more easier to understand a concept if it is brought to life through visualization, thus it is much better to attach to Facebook a list with icons. The same technique is replicated through their introduction of a portrait based friends list, accompanying every post with a picture, and making the focus of a profile, group, or event its photo.

22. Chat List: Observe all of your online friends instantly with or without them knowing. A way to observe their online patterns, choose whom to chat with, or simply just use their online status as a way of avoiding them. The chat list provides a new outlet into others' lives where you can know their location without being next to them, or even in touch with them. Facebook now shows online status, and, if granted the opportunity, the location of the individual. Great for meeting up, troublesome for avoiding stalkers. With so much information at the dispense of your "friends", there's no guarantee to privacy or security. With that being said, it is sometimes better to not know how much of your information is available to others. That's why it is best to thoroughly go over the privacy functions to best mask your identity, if you so choose. It is only through critical analysis of given information that one is able to best understand how to defend against the influx of technological overflow and technological manipulators with ill intentions. But it's hard to tell whether we'd be safer without this function, or even better off altogether. One thing is for sure though, it's introduction has caused us to redefine privacy and personal space. What place does the ability to see others online have in society? That answer we will find soon enough, but already we see a label of "stalker" applied to those who utilize this default function. Maybe more measures will take place to ensure ones safety, but the idea that someone is always watching you is certainly intimidating.

23. Pictures of chat list: See 21, 22

24. Chat box: The quickest way to contact someone who's online, this instant messaging system has proven to be the source for many private and quick conversations. With it's convenience of instant messaging only online friends, you are almost guaranteed an immediate response. You are also allowed multiple chat windows, thus simulating multiple conversations with different people simultaneously. Something which is nearly impossible, or simply rude on the phone or in real life. Without the real time demand for response, the chat function allows for more thought and consideration than a verbal response. Thus, people can erase, rewrite or disguise their words. This produces a troublesome conflict of authenticity: how real or authentic are the words sent in a chat message? The quick answer, who knows? Once more we are faced with a look at the integrity of our interpersonal relationships and the challenge of the spoken word vs. the written word. Without the chat function, immediate convenience would be lost. But something more may be lost if we keep the chat function and ignore it's consequences.

25. Pokes: All your friendly e-violations are listed here. For more information on what this is, see "What is a Poke?"

26. Expand your Facebook: It wouldn't be an addiction if there weren't ways to extend your dependence. With features like find a friend and invite a friend, you are staying all the more "connected." With Facebook mobile, you can track your friends while on the move. Nothing can escape the grasps of Facebook if you don't want it to. This feature is a great conclusion to this snapshot guide to Facebook. It shows, for one, that Facebook has no intention of slowing down or stagnating. It also proves the ever-expansive array of opportunities for you and your future friends, colleagues, or even family, that, through Facebook, you are promised the appearance of being truly connected with and socially networked to all of your online friends. What would Facebook be without this function? Incredibly exclusive. To say that they are always accepting users and willing to expand says a lot about a company. It takes a great company to make features so openly available to the public and to keep it free. Without a website like Facebook, there would be many difficulties keeping up in this fast-paced society. But, by no means is Facebook perfect. Many steps need to be taken in order to ensure the user of Facebook's unerring benevolence, and many precautions need to take place in order to promise the future generation that a friend is still something more than a 500x300 pixelated image.