As humans, we are considered social beings. We interact with each other in one way or another. The barrel model of culture demonstrates how Facebook is utilized in America, starting with our environment. The environment is where we live in American culture; it is all around us. Our environment affects the way we live and interact; and when we use Facebook, we are in Facebook’s environment. This leads to infrastructure and social structure. Infrastructure focuses on the technological, economic, and demographic systems of a culture. Facebook lies under the technological side, and also connects to the social structure. The social structure focuses on how a culture is organized socially and politically. Facebook falls under social structure since its sole purpose is to be a social tool. This affects how we socially interact. The last example in this model is superstructure, which links the ideas, concepts and values of a culture.

Facebook changes the way we socially interact by creating an easy and efficient way to connect to the people in our environment. By logging into your Facebook account, you are able to socialize with millions of other individuals from America and around the world. Most people on Facebook choose to interact with those close to them. The infrastructure of Facebook allows users to create their own profile page, add friends already using Facebook, and join different social networks. These networks are divided into regional, high school, college, and even workplace networks. Most people fail to see, however, that they can learn a lot about the people around them by just observing the social and cultural happenings within their Facebook networks.

Facebook has greatly affected how we learn about each other. The social structure of Facebook allows it’s users to share information about themselves, and because of this, a plethora of cultures in America is displayed. You can see a lot of different cultures in America just by observing your friend’s or mutual friend’s profile pages, anything from their ethnicity and religious backgrounds to their favorite books and television shows. This affects how we see the culture and people all around us, and also shows that there is widespread cultural diversity in America.

Facebook has become a key social tool in American society. It has changed young American culture by allowing individuals to learn more about the people and the diverse culture around them. It has successfully linked the American superstructure into one easy to use social utility, and has opened a new world of opportunity for seeing American culture at work.