Relational Aesthetics: Social Identity

In Bourriaud's book called "Relational Aesthetics," he says that technology, new media, and the market is replacing social interaction. He states, "the general mechanisation of social functions gradually reduces the social space. Just a few years ago [keep in mind this book was written in the mid-90's], the telephone wake-up call service employed human beings, but now we are woken up by a synthesised voice... The automatic cash machine has become the transit model for the most elementary of social functions, and professional behavior patterns are modelled on the efficiency of the machines replacing them... Contemporary art is definitely developing a political project when it endevours to move into the relational realm by turning it into an issue" (17).

And my "political project" takes place on the social realm of Facebook.
I had three people who are each close to me on a different level (my boyfriend of two years, my best friend from home of 7 years, and my close friend from Lawrence of less than a year) create a Facebook profile for me to the best of their ability. Each of them had to fill out my personal information, my interests (movies, TV shows, music, etc.) including choosing a cover photo that I would like and an outfit that I would wear in a profile picture.
By doing this, I aim to comment on the changing social realm of the 21st century. We put so much time into creating our online identity in hopes (sometimes) that it influences how we are seen in the real world. But how accurate is this only portrayal? Are people really able to get to know someone just by browsing their Facebook page? Well... that is what I wanted my three subjects to think about as they were creating my new profile.
Here is the profile made by Augie (my boyfriend), Haley (my best friend), and Izzy (my LU friend).

I noticed a lot of similarities in what my three participants chose to include on my profile page. Two of them chose artsy cover photos, they all chose mainly hip-hop music as my musical interests, and they all chose some of the same movies and TV shows that I watch. But when asking each of them what they realized after participating in this relationally aethestic political project... here is what they said.

Izzy: "I might not know specific interests such as your favorite movies, or where you have traveled, but that seems to be superficial information. People get to know others on social media through a superficial lens and it is often times a doctored image of that person because you can choose what people know about you. You can choose parts of your identity to share, but it doesn't really mean anything. The shows you watch and books you read do not say anything about you as a person. But I was still able to be more or less accurate because I know you as a person... so I could make educated guesses."

Haley: "I guess I don't know a lot about what you like to watch on TV. And it's really easy to create a random profile and make yourself seem like whoever you want to be, and I see how people can so easily set up false profiles... which can be so creepy."

I didn't write down what Augie had told me, but he felt the same way Izzy felt. During the process of creating my new profile, they both expressed uncertainty while choosing my interests... but in the end they made an overall very accurate facebook profile because they know me as a person in real life, not as I come across online.