When the word digital media came to my mind, what I can immediately think of is Facebook. Facebook is a very convenient social networking site. It brings everyone nearer to one another. Many people have the same point of view as DavinciRed:
One of the main advantages that Facebook provides for individuals is that it allows them to easily connect with their friends and family wherever they might be.
Once I have a Facebook account, I check the status of my friends everyday. I leave comments to them. If not, I can click the “like” button to show my interest. Or if I want to share something about my life, I can also update my Facebook status. Then my friends can catch up about my life. It seems that Facebook can reduce the distance between my friends and me.
However, I do not think Facebook can really help to maintain social network effectively. Communication should have a message conveyed by a sender to a receiver through a media which contains meaning. A receiver will then send back the feedback to the sender. This is the simplest way for communication. However, on Facebook, communication may not perform accurately. For example, “I failed my examination!!! What the……!!! :’(” What the sender will receive as feedback is “like”. What does that mean? Does it mean that many people are happy because of your fiasco of examination? Why the receivers just click “like” instead of leaving comments on it?
If we have a conversation with our friends face to face, will your friends say like for everything you mentioned? Does Facebook help to communicate effectively?
