Facebook Rituals and Stereotypes

      When talking about Facebook there are some stereotypes and rituals that people have. The thing about stereotypes is that the ideas that people have about it are generally not true. If people stopped and took the time to research these stereotypes they may be greatly surprised as to how wrong that information was and could learn to love something new. I have only ever heard one stereotype when it comes to Facebook and that is that Facebook is a “hook up” site. By “hook up” I mean that two people find each other on Facebook, meet, and they have sexual relations. This is also called a one night stand. From my experiences and the experiences of my friends this is not true. I have only once had a person contact me on Facebook that was interested in how I looked and if I meet people from Facebook. None of my friends have ever had this problem so if people are using Facebook to “hook up” it is a very rare occurrence. I'm sure there are other stereotypes that people have about Facebook, but I can only speak of what I know and was not able to find any information about any others. Beyond the stereotypes that people may have come the rituals that people typically perform on a daily basis.

      When it comes to Facebook there are so many rituals that can be listed, but we would be here all day. Four of the best examples are checking Facebook, checking notifications, making a status update, and poking friends. The first example seems pretty obvious, but the ritual is how often people actually check their Facebook. For example, I check my Facebook at least 4 times a day and my boyfriend checks his 8 times or more. Checking Facebook is almost addicting and I have heard my friends say that when they get on the internet they automatically start to type Facebook in the URL instead of the site they actually needed to go to. When a person goes to Facebook the first thing that they usually check is their notifications to see if any of their friends have sent them anything. Once they are done checking notifications they change their status. Some tell their friends a little about their day, some use a song quote, while others tell jokes. No matter what status they decide to write they are all writing them with the hope that someone will comment on their status. I believe it is the notifications that keep people coming back for more. It is a fun way to keep in touch with their friends. Another ritual that I have on Facebook is poking my friends. It sends a notification to the person or people saying that I poked them. This seems strange, but I am always in what Facebook followers call a “poke war” with certain friends. We will even exchange “wall posts” telling each other to stop poking the other usually because one of us wants to go to bed, but doesn't want to forfeit. Some rituals may seem “silly” to others, but everyone is different and were raised in different areas and in different ways so not all of them will see ideas in the same way or develop the same rituals.

      The beauty of popular culture is that it is popular for many different reasons. It is because of this that people from all over the world are able to enjoy it even if it is for a slightly different reason than some others. Facebook is great because it is able to bring all of the different cultures together and help them realize that even though they are from different areas and have different beliefs they can still have something in common whether it's a certain game, a favorite page, or simply the ability to connect with friends. No matter what it is people enjoy on Facebook, it is Facebook itself that brings cultures together and helps them find that common ground.