Analyzing Facebooks
In the twenty-first century, social media has become a very large part of society. People use social media to express their desires, styles, and things they do or like to do. Some people utilize their social media to catch up on current events and such. The way society uses their social media accounts reveal their social and economic class without realizing it. How is it possible that a person can reveal their standpoint in society just by posting photos, statuses, and likes? Contributing factors like race and gender can also aid in determining one’s social and economic class. Looking at all these aspects, it can reveal a sense of inequality amongst people living in the United …show more content…
Social class is a “category of people roughly equivalent of statuses in an unequal society” (Defining Social Structure ppt.). With constant pictures and posts of family and her three kids, it’s evident her social status is high ranked within her family. This is concluded because of her role as a mother of three and the constant communication of her two brothers through statuses and comments. Also, a social class outside of her family is indicated through Barbara’s friends on facebook. It appears she ranks highly yet again amongst her friends that are also mothers of children about the same age as hers. Her popularity within this social group is explained through Mead’s Social Behaviorism Theory. All the mothers she is friended with are influenced by each other’s thoughts, and all their opinions become very alike. Her behaviors of being a mother is brought out more by the focus of motherhood within her social media outlet. Comparing Barbara’s profile to her her one brother, Martin, we see she is more focused on family, education, and local news. Martin, on the other hand is more animal oriented, and is more focused on sports such as hockey. By taking all of Barbara’s posts, likes, and statuses …show more content…
Gender could alter economic class slightly in Martin’s case, because, women like Barbara, are generally more socially involved. Martin had time to work and increase financial stability because of the lack of social interaction. Race only seemed to change economic class in Joe’s case, because of different college scholarship benefits for minorities. Analyzing all three facebook profiles, it was evident that through their statuses, photos, and likes, economic and social class were identified. Social class was discovered through expressed dialogues and activities that are with other social media users. Economic class was identified by desires, styles, and activities the individuals pursued. Taking all the information into consideration, it was sought that social media profiles can in fact reveal one’s social and economic