The Internet and Facebook: Space and place.

The Internet and Facebook:  Space and place.

 

http://kcshaw.net/theinternet.gif 

The Oxford Dictionary (2016) defines space as “a continuous area or expanse which is free, available, or unoccupied.” The Oxford Dictionary (2016) also defines place as “a particular position, point, or area in space; a location.”  These definitions seem simple and effective enough but have proven inadequate in the modern world. 

According to Zephoria (2016), Facebook has an estimated 1.13 billion “daily active users”:  This means that, each day, 1.13 billion people visit and spend time at facebook.com.  In fact, Zephoria (2016) also states that the average time spent per Facebook visit is 20 minutes.  During these visits, people post photos and other media, buy and sell goods, celebrate, commiserate, network, and otherwise interact with each other.  However, can Facebook be considered a “place”?  Does it occupy a “particular area in space”?  To meet that requirement, the internet would have to be considered a space.  During the BA1002 week three lecture, Victoria Kuttainen (2016) stated that humans “make space through symbols, and through writing” and went on to argue that the internet, through the use of language and symbols including photos and other media, is being made into space with its own rules and conventions.  This is in line with Tuan’s (1977) view that space becomes place as humans “get to know it better”, and endow it with value.

In Space and Place, Yi-Fu Tuan (1977) offers far more liberal definitions.  He describes places as “centers of felt value, where biological needs, such as those for food, water, rest, and procreation, are satisfied.“  Facebook, where people interact in such meaningful ways, certainly meets this description.  Space, Tuan argues, is more abstract than place.  He suggests that if we are to think of space as that which allows movement, such as how we navigate our way around the internet, then any pauses in that movement become place, such as Facebook or other websites that humans have endowed with value and are inclined to visit. 

Language evolves over time.  Space and place, it seems, are due to be redefined. 

Chris Picone, 2016

References

 

Kuttainen, V. (2016).  BA1002:  Our Space: Networks, Narrative and the Making of Place, week 3 notes [Powerpoint slides].  Retrieved from https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au/

Shaw, K. C. (2009).  The Internet Mapping Project.  Retrieved from http://kcshaw.net/theinternet.gif

The Oxford Dictionary. (2016).  Space.  Retrieved from http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/space

The Oxford Dictionary. (2016).  Place.  Retrieved from http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/place

Tuan, Y. (1977). Space and Place:  The perspective of experience.  London:  Edward Arnold Ltd.

Zephoria.  (2016).  The Top 20 Valuable Facebook Statistics: Updated July 2016.  Retrieved from https://zephoria.com/top-15-valuable-facebook-statistics/