Facebook Becomes a Face-Changing Mask

Playing on Facebook has become the current trend among young people and a daily chore. In the world of the internet, the earth is truly flat, and so are human faces. Staring fixedly at computer screens, typing away, this is an age of communication. It is an era where communication exists only for its own sake; communication is also flat. There is no longer anything substantial to share that requires nuance or depth. The simplest things are whose birthday it is, what happened to someone, what food is available in a certain place, clipping and sharing news and pictures of their concerns. What happened in my family, what I saw, ate, drank, did, how I felt, "so fun." Everything is flat. Or else, venting complaints, complaining about backaches, leaning on others, or even sharing trivial gossip. These require likes; without liking, you do not exist. The design is clever—everything gets liked. One doesn't know what to praise. Praising nonsense, praising nothing, irrelevant matters, matters of irrelevance. Only being seen matters. Seeing what? Irrelevant.

Of course, as a social communication tool, it is very practical. You can greet relatives and friends, make new acquaintances, chat idly, convey information about social activities, and transmit ideas. However, under constant expression, misunderstandings arise ("chickens talking to ducks"), or people show off who is the best or most professional. Self-narration, arrogance, and self-satisfaction are everywhere. In this civic society, Facebook is undoubtedly the most democratic, open, privacy-free, and direct. When encountering ideology, there is no respect for dissenters. Blushing with anger is one thing, but endless struggles are not fun at all. This is especially true for those who are not good at managing themselves; they suffer in silence, and avoidance is inevitable. Of course, true professionals cannot explain things clearly either. No one cares about anything. Expressing opinions becomes like farting—a pastime. Playing around, Facebook becomes a post-meal diversion.

Of course, sometimes many unexpected things happen. Friends lost touch with suddenly appear on your Facebook asking to be friends. Friends of strangers invite you to join friend groups, telling you who your mutual friends are. It truly grows like a snowball, getting bigger and bigger until it's unmanageable. Having many friends represents that you are understanding and serious about connecting with people. Thus, every day there are hundreds of unread messages. Browsing through them quickly, like reading a newspaper, clicking "like" here and there to acknowledge, "I haven't forgotten you," to put the other person at ease, replying with a few friendly words to maintain friendship—it seems too virtual. Yet when meeting in person, there is nothing to say. How absurd. Reality is more fake than the virtual.

Of course, the Jasmine Revolution in the Arab world or the Occupy Wall Street movement were gifts from today's internet, especially the connectivity of the Facebook system. Snowballing mass movements are extraordinary. If civil society makes good use of this connectivity and information transmission in all directions, it quickly forms a huge explosive power, gathering into folk energy. This energy is sufficient to turn the world upside down. The chatty Facebook should not be underestimated for its hidden, extraordinary power. It can not only carry the boat but also capsize it. Although usually helpless and indifferent, when signing petitions, connecting declarations, and gathering energy, standing out can overturn worlds we cannot imagine. The virtual world is more real than reality.