Being Everywhere at Once

Last night, I went to see Paranormal Activity with two friends that teach at my old high school. My one friend had done an England exchange program in high school and said that for a long time she lost touch with the girl she had stayed with. They used to be good friends and she felt sad that they were no longer in touch. Recently though, her British pal found her on Facebook and they were able to catch up. She said that she absolutely love Facebook because there is no other technology or media that one can use to find and connect with people. The two of them are now able to be in each other's lives, even though they're in two different countries.

Facebook has really changed the social and physical places that Meyrowitz discusses. He writes, "When we communicate through telephone, radio, television, or computer, where we are physically no longer determines where and who we are socially." This is extremely true of Facebook. I can talk to people all over the world and have a social life, while sitting on my couch. Physical place doesn't matter that much in this case and socially I can be whoever I want. Something that I find interesting with social and physical place is that online we can be everywhere. Our "identity" can be right on the screen at one of our friend's houses. Our lives are basically accessible from any place that has wifi. For instance, a guy I graduated from high school with joined the army and was deployed to Iraq. Facebook was the fastest and easiest way he had to connect with his friends and family who were halfway across the world. He also used it to upload pictures and videos of himself and other soldiers doing patrols; he even posted several videos of him with other soldiers in a convoy going through the streets of Iraq. Even though none of us were there with him, we saw some of the things he was seeing and going through. I think this is a pretty powerful connection. It is so different seeing war through a soldier's eyes than seeing it on the news. Although he was in the Middle East, he was still able to have a social life outside of his physical place. Our experiences are no longer limited to where we are physically, because online we're everywhere.