Gatsby, Facebook, and the Facade of Friends

           Facebook is a social network that was first invented by a Harvard student named Mark Zuckerberg. Since Facebook was launched in 2004, the social-networking site has become the new fashion and obsession for teenagers. Users can create a profile with photos, share personal interests and information, and communicate with hundreds of “friends.” Facebook was only meant to be used as a student directory among Harvard students, but since Mark Zuckerberg expanded the social network site to other parts of the world, people have been using Facebook in order to create the identity that fits with society´s standards of fashion and social status. Facebook has also become a performance of popularity because people add an immense number of “friends” without even knowing the people they are adding. Similarly, F. Scott Fitzgerald shows in The Great Gatsby how Gatsby puts on a performance of popularity by throwing big parties with a large number of people, but without sharing any connection with them. In addition, Facebook users create identities the same way Gatsby creates an identity in which he is amazingly wealthy in order to gain society´s approval and to impress the woman he “loves.”

Facebook is a site in which people are able to have hundreds of friends, but in reality just a few of those contacts are truly called friends. Some Facebook users´ purpose in having a great number of contacts is so that people who visit their profile will think they are popular. Researchers at Western Illinois University studied Facebook habits of some students, and discovered a “socially disruptive” element of narcissism – exhibitionism. The study states that exhibitionism includes “self-absorption, vanity, superiority, and exhibitionistic tendencies and people who score high on this aspect of narcissism need to be constantly at the centre of attention. They often say shocking things and inappropriately self-disclose because they cannot stand to be ignored or waste a chance of self-promotion.” Another popular application on Facebook is the possibility of creating “Events.” This application allows people to invite hundreds of friends to important events or parties. The people who receive an invitation on Facebook tend to invite even more friends of their own without consulting the host. Hundreds of people end up attending these parties without caring if they know the host or not.  The same happens in “The Great Gatsby”. Gatsby is known for throwing big and luxurious parties in which people “[come] without [meeting] Gatsby at all, come for the party with simplicity of heart that is its own ticket of admission” (41). Thousands of people attend Gatsby´s parties but he is not really connected to his guests. Gatsby is usually seen “standing alone on the marble steps and looking from one group to another with approving eyes” (50). The fact that he is staring at people with “approving eyes” is a signal that, like on Facebook, he is satisfied to see how popular his party is, without realizing that in reality, he is alone and empty inside. Also, the lack of attendance at Gatsby´s funeral in the end of the book is an example of how his popularity was a performance because he was always surrounded by hundreds of people but none of them came to the funeral. The only people interested in his death were newspaper men and photographers. If Gatsby were a Facebook user, the news of his death would appear on the “News Feed” and all of his “friends” would post comments offering condolences but none of them would attend his funeral.

            Facebook has also become the new way in which people can create an identity. People construct identities based on how they wish to be seen by others. Facebook users select with extreme care a profile picture and upload fashionable photos because they feel like their image has to look “cool” or pretty all the time in order to get the approval from the Facebook society. Users´ way of measuring other peoples´ approval is by getting “Likes.” Thanks to the need for “likes” to appear more popular, Facebook users create new identities through pictures. It is common among young girls to upload sexy pictures in order to get “likes” from popular and cute guys. Also, other people upload photos in which they appear to be wealthy in order to have a sense of belonging to a certain social status. In an effort to be popular, people post photos and personal information to represent their ideal selves instead of showing their true personality or identity.

 A young woman in a New York Times article said,

“When I choose my profile picture, I want people to ‘Like,’ it,” ... In fact, she and her friends are keenly aware of how to goose the numbers. “You get more ‘Likes’ if it’s a model shot and not a goofy picture with your friends,” she explained.

              


                 Also, Facebook has brought a modern way of dating in which you can even post what your relationship status is. People are able to see each others´ interests and personal information so that they can search for their “perfect match.” It is common among some girls and boys to use the chat application to flirt and talk to people that they barely know in order to start a possible romantic relationship. The fact that some young people date online leads again to a performance of their identities, image, and interests because they are always trying to get the other person to like them back. Also, the relationship status is really important for users because posting a relationship status makes a relationship official. Young people are obsessed with announcing they are in a relationship because they want people to “like it” and they want to get approving comments from all of their “friends.” It is their way of showing they have succeeded in finding their perfect match. Gatsby parallels a Facebook user because he recreates his world and his identity in order to obtain the American Dream of being wealthy and possessing the woman of his dreams. When Gatsby first met Daisy, before becoming a powerful and successful man, Gatsby started dreaming about possessing this wealthy woman, and as a result, he “[took] Daisy under false pretenses. He let her believe that he was fully able to take care of her. As a matter of fact, he had no such facilities, he had no comfortable family standing behind him and he was liable at the whim of an impersonal government to be blown anywhere about the world” (149).  Since Gatsby is obsessed with possessing “the golden girl,” he is forced to leave his poor past behind in order to construct the identity of a glorious and wealthy man that would impress Daisy. Similar to the fact that Facebook allows people change their user name, Gatsby changes his legal name James Gatz to Jay Gatsby, “so he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen-year-old boy would be likely to invent” (98). However, Gatsby´s love towards Daisy is just an idea because having a relationship with Daisy represents the last piece of his success; his goal is to get society to see them as the golden couple. In an effort to get the “likes” of other people, Gatsby creates a really powerful character because he believes that luxuries, popularity, and the possession of a woman determine his success and “happiness.”

  
Gatsby´s actions parallel those of Hollywood´s version of Mark Zuckerberg. The success and wealth of Gatsby and Mark do not come in a natural way because both committed some kind of crime to obtain it. While Gatsby committed the crime of bootlegging to start his new identity as a wealthy man, Mark stole the idea of Facebook from two other students in order to become famous and a billionaire. Similar to the fact that Gatsby dreams of possessing Daisy, Mark also is obsessed with getting his girlfriend´s love back, but in reality, they see these women as prizes. Even though Gatsby creates a really powerful and successful character, he is empty inside because his popularity is false and Daisy does not love him back. In a similar way to Gatsby, Mark also becomes famous and rich and as a result, he obtains thousands of “friends” on Facebook. Even though Mark is extremely popular on Facebook, he ends up empty and alone because he does not have any real friends. Aaron Sorkin depicts in the movie“The Social Network” how Mark Zuckerberg is a stand-in for all the other users. The same way Mark uses Facebook to perform an identity and popularity, Facebook users follow his example by creating ideal selves. Aaron Sorkin illustrates through this movie that even though Facebook´s goal is to be connected to people, users can end up having a lack of connection to real people.

Succesful man but alone in the end.