Tisha Lee
Facebook Assignment
Frankie Morales
An ancient Indian proverb recites, “Don’t judge any man until you have walked two moons in his moccasins. Meaning, don’t be ethnocentric and compare another mans culture to your own. One cannot judge a man or his culture until he or she personally drowns themselves in the ideas and practices that may be different from their own. This is how the culture of Koobecaf is. One my look at Koobecaf and think that it is superficial, a time wasting mechanism set out to invade personal privacy and set pre-conceived judgments.
If many people believe that Koobecaf culture is set out to destroy humankind, then why are there millions of people across the globe that comprise their membership? As humans, we have contradicting opinions on many different subjects, and Koobecaf is one on them.
A typical day in the life of a “Koobecafian” might include waking up, brushing their teeth and checking their “wall”. What is this wall? It is similar to a letter sent from a friend. It may include questions, ideas, or even something so small as to say, “Hey”. Now, if Koobecaf is supposed to be so malicious, what is wrong with a “wall post”? Millions of people send letters to friends’ everyday! This wall post could be seen as a faster way of dropping a quick note. After this Koobecafian reads their wall posts, they check to see if other Koobecafians have sent them a “bumper sticker.” These “stickers” can be classy, funny, or just down right vulgar. What is a “bumper sticker”, and why would one send a vulgar one? Just as a wall post can be considered a letter, a bumper sticker can be considered as a present from other friends. It is a cyber-present. Like any gift, some people send serious heartfelt ones, while others send funny “gag” gifts. If this serious/ funny gift giving idea is already part of a culture, why is it so malicious with the Koobecaf culture?
Many Koobecafains base their popularity on these “wall posts” or these “bumper stickers.” Every post they receive and every bumper sticker that they open increases a sense of belonging. In addition, who sends these little gifts and letters plays an immense role on their culture. Maybe it was a cute girl, or the captain of the football team, whoever it may be plays a role on the “status” of this post. Through participant observation, one will realize that these Koobecafains are obsessed with their culture. For many, it acts as their God, being the first thing they come to in the morning, and the last thing they talk to before they go to bed at night. They also say things such as, “It’s not official until Koobecaf says so.” This reiterates the idea of the Godly role, being as if they have to get it approved from this “creature.”
Koobecafains are able to generate there culture to their own desire. They can make their “page” as personable as they wish, or just as vague. Many consider it a way of expressing their self and promoting their individuality. However, many argue that this is not individualism, because they tweak their “page” to make it more desirable to others. They want others to believe that they have millions of friends and that they live just as an exciting life as any movie star. Many koobecafains will only display pictures of themselves where they look “good”. One koobecafain even quoted, “I need to take a HOT picture tonight with another boy so my ex-boyfriend will see it and get jealous.” This reiterates the idea of how they personalize their “individual” page for others to see. However, if they have “others” in mind, is this really promoting individualism?
Another aspect of the Koobecaf culture is the idea that it generates gossip and the invasion of personal privacy. One may notice that Koobecaf ians are obsessed with “creeping”. Just as the boyfriend example, many check on their friends to see what is occurring in their life, and who they are “dating”. With a Koobecaf application, the mini-feed, others can see all the recent updates of fellow Koobecaf ians every time they log on. Who broke up with whom? Who was out with their enemy? It may seem as a gossip network to many!
If one pays close attention, they can see that Koobecaf parallels the American culture perfectly. The American society has actually created this culture, without even realizing it. Nobody sends letters anymore because they are not fast enough. America has become an instant culture, and Koobecaf” is a product of that. Americans communicate through e-mails and text messaging because it is faster. Many believe that having a Koobecaf culture will allow them to keep in touch with friends, but does it? Koobecaf actually promotes laziness in the American society, just as e-mails and text messaging. It takes away from the personalized letters and allows one to communicate without ever talking in person. The infrastructure society of the Koobecafians is the exact same as Americans. Many argue that technology has actually hindered Americans. Why do Americans take part in the Koobecaf culture? To maintain friendships? As previously stated, these inventions have made us lazy as a whole. Koobecaf is an infrastructure within itself. It is technology that allows others to communicate. Therefore, Americans relish in Koobecaf because it is a network of friends. One is able to “snoop” on the other and see exactly what is occurring in their life. Just as Americans are obsessed with tabloids, they are obsessed with Koobecaf culture. Koobecaf plays a part in the American economy by personally pinpointing ads to certain members, who may find these products desirable.
The social structure of Koobecaf is what drives the mechanism. Just as the social life of Americans, drive us to “be more.” Koobecaf tries to promote individuality, but many argue that it cannot because everyone has a standard “page”. View it like this, Koobecaf is a culture, just as being American is ours. A Koobecaf page is like our individual rooms in our homes, each having walls and doors. The structure is still the same, but what one does inside of it is different. Many people add bumper stickers and funny quotes; they want to be perceived as something. Americans act as individuals’ everyday by the style of their hair, the style of their dress, and the style of their make-up. Koobecaf is a “cyber-individualism.” Just as one chooses the pictures they put on Koobecaf, they also choose which picture goes in the school yearbook and newspaper. There is no difference.
The superstructure of Koobecaf includes it values, beliefs and ideologies. Koobecafians value the idea that “the more they have on their page, the more popular they are.” This parallels American society. The more “status” friends Americans have, the more popular they are. Relating to the quote, “It’s not official until its Koobecaf official”, shows the belief that Koobecaf is a God. Many individuals will not believe things, until they can see it with their own eyes on Koobecaf, ranking Koobecaf as a human form of hierarchy. Now, using participant observation, can one say they walked the two moons of Koobecaf in another man’s moccasins? Because Koobecaf is a product of the American society, an American who is a member of Koobecaf is able to see the outcomes that this cite is providing. Now, would Americans call their society a malicious, superficial, time wasting mechanism set out to invade personal privacy and set pre-conceived judgments? No one likes to think of their personal society as bad, therefore one cannot think of the Koobecaf society as bad. Koobecaf is a by-product of who humans are. It is identical to the American culture, only it is “cyber”. Through technology, it has started to change the lives of many people, not just Americans. McLuhan stated, “We shape our tools and thereafter they shape us.” These “tools” shape and change our lives everyday and will continue to do so as long as technology is around. The Koobecaf culture is the beginning of many more others to come. .