Is Social Networking Encompassing of a Bias?

When one integrates the use of a social networking site into their life, they obtain the ability to manipulate the technology to their advantage. These sites give us, humans, control over one part of what we present to the world, or at least our "friends". If we are not all interested in proving something, then chances are that we wouldn't be so actively engaged in the use of such a technology. Facebook encompasses a sort of “formal bias”, in the sense that our social values, for example a desire that we may have to control our image, has been embodied into the very creation of this social networking system. The idea that people prefer to document their life through photographs is understood and built into the construction of social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace. Essentially, the various ways in which people desire to express themselves and control their social realms are understood and avenues under which they can continue these forms of expression are built into the structure of these social networking sites. Feenberg states that a bias excludes certain considerations and includes others in the design of technology. Facebook and MySpace are an example of this bias, in the sense that they assume that people have specific social needs, that their system can fulfill. Assumed is that, in peoples desire to observe the way in which others conduct their lives, they will be willing to expose their own private selves. Furthermore, assumed is the fact that people are utterly image obsessed in today's time and thus in order to be able to portray a desired image of themselves, they will engage in a trade of valuable personal information in return for this “control”. Essentially, social networking sites are not incorrect in making these assumptions as it seems that around the world people are adapting their lives around the adoption of this form of technology. However, in the design of these technologies, conventional forms of privacy are not valued or considered, nor is value placed on physical social relationships as being significant within society. Thus, the bias of social networking is in the very root of the system itself.