I decided to spend some time on the Judaism Facebook page today. In particular I have focused my ethnographic research today on the photo section of the page. If you "like" the page you are capable of uploading photos to the photo album. Currently the page has 235 photos uploaded by others. I was curious to see what kinds of photos people would upload to this page; would they have to do with Judaism? Would they be offensive? Would they spark discussions amongst people? Would people caption the photos?
I first noticed the first batch of photos were uploaded by one particular Facebook user. She captioned her photos asking questions, and stating facts. Her photos were meant to have an impact on the viewers and promote her viewpoint. For example she captioned one photo "The Palestinians are one of the world's largest beneficiaries of foreign aid, receiving over $3 billion annually (not including the budget of UNRWA itself). In 2009, over 60% of Palestine's gross national income, and almost 100% of government expenditure, came from aid. PA budgets allocate ten times more money to secur...ity than to agriculture. The Palestinians' NGO sector has become a byword for corruption, incompetence and meaningless job creation. Thousands of NGOs have sprung up, bloating the aid industry without delivering long-term benefits. Naseef Mu'allem, director-general of the Palestinian Center for Peace and Democracy, revealed that "JICA - the Japanese government aid mission - invested $5 million last year, but practically what they spent is $600,000. The rest is given as salaries, accommodation, hotels...and transportation for the foreign employees here but not for the Palestinians." (Guardian-UK)".
I was pleased to find that Elena's photos (the one users uploading the beginning photos) were sparking discussions amongst the Facebook users. People were responding with questions, quotes from the bible, and most importantly their feelings. People were also disagreeing with one another but in a mindful way. Unfortunately I began to notice many of Elena's photos were one-sided. She was posting photos and captions that said things like "Muslims lie", "All Muslims hate Jews". It turns out that a good deal of the photos in the album were uploaded by Elena, but there were also photos uploaded by people from opposing views, even non-Jewish users. It seems to me that no-one is monitoring this page if a user called "Ask Islam" was able to upload a photo of young Jewish children holding guns with the caption "Do you teach your children to kill?"
In the end it seems that the photos do spark discussion but from many of the same users as I kept noticing the same people were commenting on photos and uploading photos. Many of the photos were also not pictures that had to relate to Judaism but rather pictures of flowers with captions that related to Judaism. There were also many offensive cartoons. I wonder why the creator of this page has allowed people to continue to upload these photos that negatively reflect Judaism. Photos are a way to represent yourself and I do not feel that the photos of the Judaism Facebook page adequately represent this religion.
It's interesting to read an analysis of a Jewish themed Facebook page, not only because I am Jewish myself but more importantly because I have never particiapted in one as a Jew and have never felt inclined to. When I read your post, I couldn't help but think about what drives people to participate in the way that the people you talk about have. They upload photos, engage in intense discussions, and spark heated debates: all for what? Personal satisfaction? Glory? Or do they simply not have anyone to talk about these things with in person, so they resort to the internet? Maybe one day I'll find a Facebook page that I feel compelled to participate in, and then I'll understand their behavior!
ReplyDeleteGoing off of what both of you said, this is very interesting how a group that is seemingly devoted to representing Judaism has pictures and comments that seem to make it come off as demeaning other religious groups. Instead of having pictures celebrating what makes Judaism what it is, it sounds like it has turned more political -- just sparking somewhat "heated" discussions. I feel like they should rename it or something. I'm not Jewish myself but if I came across a page that was defined as such I would think that it would be cool to peruse and learn more about that religious group, but with the way it's shown now, it doesn't do too much of that.
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