PLATFORM ANALYSIS

Facebook as a site of Interaction for Roleplaying Communities

In this section, I lay out the findings of my analysis on Facebook as a digital site of

interaction. I divided the section into three parts: creating an account, online identity and

interaction. In doing so, I mapped out how Facebook served its purpose to give people the power

to build communities and bring the world closer together, which also paved the way for the

creation of online identities, and formation of online roleplaying communities.

i) Creating an Account

The option to create an account is automatically seen on Facebook’s website

www.facebook .com, at the right side of the screen. It asks for basic information like your

name, contact details, birthday, and sex. Creating an account on Facebook is free, but can

only be used by those aged 13 years old and above. However, because the website

technically does not require a proof of birth or residence, anyone can virtually create an

account.
 Facebook recognizes the name of the fictional character and suggests the user to

create a Facebook page instead of a personal profile. Therefore, using names of fictional

characters is not allowed by the site. Role players now must invent a name of their own

or give a twist to the name of the character they are portraying to be able to create an

account.

ii) Online Identity

Since the objective of Facebook is to give people the power to build communities

and bring the world closer together, introducing yourself or identifying yourself as a

unique individual is a necessary step in doing this. That’s why the personal information

you provided at the start of account creation and other relevant information are available

in the Timeline, or Facebook’s version of a profile.

Role players use these pieces of information to paint a picture of themselves in the

community, or to create a whole identity, which is partly based on a specific media text.

(1) Intro
 The intro tab is located at the left side of the timeline. This is a summary of

information containing location, relationship status, and birthplace. You can input any

message to someone who will visit your profile. This can be viewed by anyone who visits

your profile. It can also show feature photos or a featured album/s and can display links

to Instagram (another social networking site owned by Facebook) and other websites.

Role players use this feature to introduce themselves to those who visit their

timeline that serves as some sort of summary about who the character is in order to create

a narrative with each other.

In Jasper’s Intro tab, he has chosen to put

a quote in his bio. It also shows that he’s single,

lives in Chicago, but was born in Palermo, Italy.

Jasper has opted not to put any featured photo/s or

album/s on his intro tab. But as you can see, some

of his uploaded photos are translucent, which

reveals that Facebook suggests photos that users

may feature. It also shows that only up to 5 photos

may be featured.

Kara’s Intro tab also features a quote in

her Bio. It shows that she is single, lives in Seattle Washington, and was born in Saint

Petersburg, Russia. Kara features 2 photos in her Intro. Both are selfies. The first one
 shows her sporting a cap and sunglasses while

inside a car. The other one shows her wearing a

white tank top indoors.

Lastly, Irina also has a quote for her bio,

but signed her name after the quote, Her Intro tab

reveals that she lives in Honolulu, Hawaii, but she

was born in Anderson, British Virgin Islands, and

she is actually married. Like Kara, Irina features 2

photos: one that shows her sitting on the floor

while meditating, and another where she is

decorating a Christmas Tree. Both photos look

like they were taken by someone else.

iii) Photos

(1) Profile Photo

This is a photo that is open to the public and is used primarily as an

identification. This photo will be seen in your interactions through comments,

posts, and even notifications. It is also used as thumbnail for all interactions

including posts and chat heads in Facebook. This chosen photo represents the

visual identity of a user.

“Jasper Mancini” uses the face of Sean O’Pry, an Irish American model

based in Georgia. He has modeled for popular luxury brands including Versace,

Givenchy, and Yves Saint Laurent.

 Kara Rinaldi uses the face of Antonia Clara Iavcobescu. Antonia is a

Roman-American singer, performer, and model. But contrary to Kara, Antonia is

married and has given birth to her first son back in 2010.

For Irina Hale, Louise uses the face of Phoebe Tonkin as her Profile

picture. She is an Australian actress who appeared as Hayley Marshall in the

 American series, ‘The Vampire Diaries’. But Tonkin’s is not the only face Louise

uses for Irina. Before giving birth to a son, Irina was represented as Miranda Kerr,

the Australian model whose claim to fame was being featured as one of Victoria’s

Secret Angels in 2007. Kerr and Tonkin’s faces are alternately used as a visual

representation of Irina.

(2) Cover Photo

This is a larger photo seen on top of the profile photo which serves as the

banner image to your profile. The cover photo was added to the profile back in

2011, along with the introduction of the Timeline.

Jasper opts not to put any cover photo on his profile.

 For Kara, she uses another photo of Antonia with a lollipop covering one of her

eyes.

Irina, on the other hand, used a photo of Phoebe Tonkin with her family, which

represents Irina’s RP family: Steven McGarrett and their child.

(3) Albums

These are virtual albums that can be used to categorize photos which can

include tagged and photos of you. Privacy settings of albums and individual

photos may be changed by the user at any given time, which means you can filter

which photos you want your friends to see.

 Jasper Mancini has a total of 5 albums: one for his Mobile uploads,

another for his past Profile photos, and the rest are just curated photos that

feature him with his friends.

 Kara Rinaldi has 5 albums, with one album featuring her friends. The rest

are about herself, which are either selfies or professional photos of Antonia

Iaobescu.
 Irina Hale has 5 albums, too. But she has the most albums with other

people in it, her RP family – along with Steve McGarret. Her photos feature both

Phoebe Tonkin and Miranda Kerr.

(4) About

This is a bigger intro that shows a lot of personal information like work,

education, places you've lived, contact, age, gender, birthday, family

relationships, life events, and other details.

Jasper’s About page shows his past employment in Zenith – Brunch &

Cocktails. It also shows that he studied Business and Finance in Harvard, and that
 he currently lives in Chicago, Illinois. It also shows his birthday, and that he has 1

family member on Facebook.

Irina’s About Page also shows her current employment, Educational

Background, Location, Marital Status and Birthday. However, her phone number

is also seen on the page.

Kara has the least number of information on her About Page, with only her current

employment, Educational Background, Location, and Birthday shown.

(5) Notes

This provides a larger space for writing than wall posts, but it is rarely used

nowadays.
 However, the Notes Page is used differently by role players. The Notes Page

may contain text and images for any purpose. But for role players, the Notes Page

serves as an autobiographical entry. This is where they put their character

background. If a role player wants to connect with someone else, it is important to

read the Notes to understand the player’s background. Then, they continue the story

together based on their backgrounds.

That’s how Jasper Mancini used his Facebook notes. He dived deeper into his

character, his personality, his history. But that’s not a set rule for role playing, as
 both Irina and Kara do not have biographies in their notes.

iv) Timeline

(1) Wall Post

A wall post may be a text, a photo, a video, a GIF, or a link that is posted on a

user’s timeline.
 A role player may post about his/her thoughts and feelings. Other times, a role

player uses the wall post to invite people to “role play” with them.

As an example, on March 19, Jasper posted on his wall that he had been

listening to ‘Say You Won’t Let Go’ by singer James Arthur. Aside from posting a

link to the song and singer, he also wrote down some of the lyrics that struck him the

most.
 Meanwhile, Irina posted a GIF showing Steve and her, as first-time

parents who are still getting used to being a mom and dad.
 Meanwhile, Kara just wrote what she felt on the day.

(2) Comment

This is a way of replying in a post through a text, a photo or a GIF. But

role players use this to engage quick narratives with their virtual friends – just like

Jasper Mancini, with his RP girlfriend, Catalina Kim.

This is also how Irina talks with her RP husband Steve.

(3) Reaction

This is a form of non-verbal communication by using symbols for Like,

Haha, Angry, Sad or Love. It is a simplification of facial expressions depending

on the emotion that the reactor felt upon seeing a post. Because of its simple use,

this is one Facebook feature that role players use as is.

(4) Tagging

This is a way to call the attention of your friend to a post, a photo, or a

comment. This can appear on your timeline, depending on your settings.

 Role players can use this to “tag” their friends and engage in virtual

interaction. Just like in the case of Jasper and his friend, Gabriela, who is another

role player.

Meanwhile, another role player, Robert Wooton, tagged Irina as a way of

thanks for adding him to her list of friends.

On the other hand, a role player named Amara Sinclair, tagged Kara

Rinaldi to sort of promote Kara’s account and gain more friends and followers.

v) Messages/ Messenger
 This can either be a personal or group conversation with friends, contacts or

someone who asks to connect with you. A person can be your Messenger contact

without being your friend.

This is the main feature role players use to make stories or interact virtually

with their friends and contacts. I will dive deeper into this Facebook feature and how

role players use this to create and maintain relationships online, in a different chapter.

vi) Stories

b) Online Community

i) Stories

These are photos shared to friends that expire after 24 hours. Someone can

reply to Stories, but these automatically become messages, instead of comments.

 In Jasper’s Stories, the real person behind the account of Jessica Blackwell

decided to share her new manicure job. This is evident through the use of the double

slash (//) she used, before her caption.

Irina’s Stories showed a Facebook Ad of Canadian boy band, “Cold Play”

which promotes their new album, “Everyday Life”.

For Kara’s Stories, it showed the text post of role player Elle Santori, who is

about to change her character, and wants her contacts to know this beforehand.
ii) Newsfeed

This contains posts and photos shared by you, friends, and pages you follow. This

is also an income generating tool for the site where companies or organizations can

promote through specific advertisements.

iii) Friends

In order to be Facebook friends, a user must “add” another user to his contact.

If the latter accepts, then they become connected. Being connected means they

will be updated with content that are shared only to friends including posts,

photos, and videos. There is also a “follow” option for friends where you may opt

to see or hide posts of specific friends on your Newsfeed.

iv) Groups

Facebook Groups are spaces for sharing content to a specific collective.

This is also a means for semi-exclusive messages for individuals depending on the

need. Groups can be public, where anyone can join and posts are visible to anyone

who checks them out. Groups can also be closed, where people can see the group

but posts are not visible, and a person must apply to get in, Group moderators and

administrators facilitate the discussion and entry to the groups, They can ad/d or

kick out members. Secret groups cannot be searched and can only be accessed

through getting invited into the group.

v) Pages

A Facebook page is a platform specifically used for promotion. Pages are used

by public figures who do not want to give access to their personal accounts,

companies who want to reach out to their customers, or even organizations who need

to raise funds or awareness on certain issues. Pages are access through giving them a

“like”. Updates from pages automatically go to your Newsfeed once you like and

follow them.
vi) People You May Know

This feature gives suggestions to users for “people you may want to add on

Facebook. This depends on the number of mutual friends and similarities in location,

likes, work, and educational background.

vii) Search

Search functions mainly as a tool to look up people, posts, groups, and pages.

After inputting keywords like names and titles, a selection of information is made

available to a user, showing the name, profile photo, and some information like

school and work. Through this, people can look up and add more friends, pages, and

groups to their social network.

 This feature works the same for personal profiles and for online role players, as

well. Through the search function, role players can connect to other characters from

their chosen narratives, or explore other characters that may be available to them.