Facebook. Rethinking and Re-recognizing Social Space.

Hi this is my first English post. 

Those who are used to my Japanese ones, well do your best if you want to read on.

英語初登校。

実はこっちのほうが母国語。

英語でしか表現できないことが多いので、たまにこういう風に発散していきまーす。

日本語で何を言ってるか知りたい人は言ってください。

Welcome to the Trump era.

Despite starting off with this, I want to leave aside all politcal arguments concerning this and talk about something else.

Something that I've increasingly seen over the past few years. 

Something that I have a serious problem understanding.

This something being about Facebook.

I rely on the social media site A LOT.

I've lived in six cities, three countries, three continents.

It's hard to keep in touch with people.

Facebook is a hug reason why I still get to continue my friendships with people from literally all over the world.

I socially interact with people halfway across the world through this.

Whether it be wishing someone a happy birthday.

Or sharing news about something I'm interested in.

Plain and simple.

Facebook is a social space.

But.

There are an increasingly growing population of people who deny Facebook as this important social space.

I've seen a lot of politcal discussion surrounding the current American situation (a few of which I've actively participated in), and I sometimes see comments about how it is pointless to have the discussion on Facebook in the first place.

wait...

what????

Yes, Facebook is an artificial space. 

It is not a conversation that is happening face to face.

And yes, there are a lot of things about social media in general that are ridiculous.

but to say that political discussion on social media is pointless is absolutely crazy to me.

how else am I supposed to have the discussion?

with someone who is next to me?

Guess what, not everyone knows or even cares about American political discourse.

Facebook is one of the few outlets I can have one.

Facebook has the diversity of ideology that I don't have in the physical social space I am currently in.

Yes. Facebook makes it so that the posts I see are more or less in line with what I want to see.

Even then, there is a greater diversity of opinion than my current existing physical social space.

So brushing aside Facebook as some safe space for a group of people who are alienated is unjustified.

All this said, I do see the point sometimes.

Some people only say things on Facebook, and they don't do anything else.

If Facebook was the only social space a person expressed their opinion in, there wouldn't be much change in the physical one we live in.

But that's true with anything.

If someone just talked the talk without walking the walk, regardless of whether it was on Facebook or in school halls, that person wouldn't be looked at that greatly.

I think that's what people are saying.

If you're going to talk on Facebook, then do something about it.

But political discussion is political discussion.

That does not change whether it is done through physical interaction or digital interaction.

This something we have to re-recognize.

Because delegitimizing a social tool that we can use to great effect is detrimental to democracy as a whole.

schools, cafes, home

Social media like Facebook is just another social space like these.

Disregarding political discussion on it is the same as disregarding it in any other social space.