What Lies Behind Facebook Likes

Facebook is one of the most well-known social media platforms we use today, other than Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, etc. Founded in the dorms of Harvard University in 2004 under the name Facemash, it has expanded from being Harvard alumni only to being a worldwide communication tool. We use it to be in contact with all of the people we know, friends or family members that live oceans apart from us, classmates or colleagues for when we need help with certain assignments. We post our thoughts, what we do every day, where we are, who we are with. We use it to feel more in touch with the world, to not feel alone, to feel like we matter when people like something we post. All of this is good, yet this platform has had many problems with many about personal information and how some people might try to steal all of that information to steal from us alongside other incidents. But apparently what we like on our Facebook may affect how people see us, if we get a job and can somehow know us better than our friends or family members. Creepy right?

Researchers at the University of Cambridge and Stanford University have tested an algorithm on 17,000 Facebook users, by giving them a a survey and access to their likes, basing their results on five factors:openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism. (OCEAN). Then compared the survey results to the users’ Facebook likes and activity to reach their results. Which resulted in high accuracy results, the algorithm managed to collect enough data that was congruent to the participants’ personality traits and it knew more than co-workers, family members, friend and even spouses. Which led to the conclusion that computers could be able to replace humans when it came to personality analysis. Interesting yet very creepy, kinda like being trapped inside a science fiction movie except it’s real.

Moving on to finding a job, we all know how hard it is to find good employees that meet our expectations and finding a place to work that respects you as a person (your personality, interests, beliefs, sense of style, etc.). Now Facebook could either make this very easy for employers but at the same time it could make it difficult for some people to find a job. By repeating the similar process mentioned previously you could tell maybe in what field you could work for, and it can also help employers see if a person matches the requirements they are looking for (especially job performance). Also there might be things you like that could determine your emotional stability, your IQ, job performances, etc.

But all these things may make people afraid of having no privacy, because there are just some things that people shouldn’t know about. I mean I wouldn’t want my employer to know I like heavy metal or something, his impression of me would change and he would decide I wouldn’t fit into his business. It’s not that I’m ashamed of what I like, but simply don’t want other people to get the wrong impression of me. Though this kind of tests may be good for social media, job hunts, or even dating sites, I wouldn’t feel comfortable having someone invade my privacy for some results. Also just because I like certain things doesn’t necessarily mean I’m what the results say, no matter the level of accuracy. Much rather have people get to know me personally than by what some computer says about me, that’s the right way to know someone in my point of view. Besides personality and interests sometimes can’t define how someone’s work performance is or whether that person is good or bad. Can’t really let a computer decide all of that for you, it is preferable to meet the person face to face to determine an opinion.

Social media is good to meet people that share your same interests and keep in touch with them as well, knowing about events you’d like to attend to or even about news. I just use it to talk to friends when I can’t see them everyday or they just live in the states. I can find out about events when I’m not able to watch them, I remember people’s birthdays, can see how everyone is having fun while I have no life… yeah it’s pretty fun. I like it but in a way I hate social media, it makes me get easily distracted from my work and waste hours scrolling down like a zombie, also hate all the drama or sometimes those people that just post what they do every 5 minutes. And sometimes the girls that are insanely beautiful like Victoria’s Secret models that post selfies and then say they look ugly just so 10 seconds later they get 200 likes and a bunch of comments of people telling them how good-looking they are… attention seekers with a capital W. In a way social media can make people feel insecure, like when I see pretty girls with their amazing hairs, their slim bodies, going to all these amazing events or hanging out wearing awesome couture and taking high quality pictures, even when I see people posting about their achievements… I feel like less next to them, like I’m no good or that I haven’t accomplished anything and secretly wish I were them for a day at least. Also there’s the issue with cyber-bullying, someone might post something like a picture or something about themselves and then a lot of people comment about who ugly they are and ” Oh go kill yourself, the world would be better with less ugly people like you”. So I would say like everything social media has two sides, depends on what we do with it and how we handle what happens because of it.

Use social media responsibly, don’t post things you wouldn’t want others to know, respect others’ posts, don’t take everything people post so seriously, and most importantly LOG OFF FOR A WHILE. Don’t waste your life watching the world through a screen and seeing others enjoy it. Enjoy it yourself, you’re only here once, make the most of it!