Cultural Inversion

We express Individualism but value Community
We express Independence but value Relationships
We express Commercialization but value Authenticity

- Social networking has altered the way we interact, the use of English language has changed to suit the purpose, in real life situations conversation is filled with 'phatic talk' the use of body language and gestures are lost as we enter the online age, this has lead to a new breed of emoticons e.g ;) :p :) to express emotion, tone e.g I AM NOT HAPPY (the use of capital letters to express shouting) and a new vernacular of initialization (BRB, G2G etc.) shortening and phonetic spelling e.g. wen we gonna...
Social networks such as Facebook claim to 'reconnect' people, yet, in my opinion, they are merely used to chat with friends that you regularly see, or to view peoples photos etc. You are able to follow what said 'friends' are doing without ever having to speak to them. This idea is called 'Ambient Awareness'
Youtube is a site primarily used to view videos, the added bonus of being able to post your opinions allows for 'conversation' that usually consists of prosumers creating a series of a posts dissing each others opinions - commonly filled with profanities - and siding with others who share your views. The ability to have total freedom of speech without fear of any real harm has allowed for a realm of safety as you are able to hide behind an alter ego that you create when choosing your online name.

- The 'Online age' allows people to feel more free to express their individuality, e.g Facebook groups, I like this... but by joining such groups they are demonstrating their value of community as they are longing to share their appreciation with others.

- By copying others e.g "OW CHARLIE" prosumers express Commercialization, but show their value of Authenticity. People long for what is real in a media that is full of fakes, e.g Lonelygirl15.

http://www.nitmesh.com/blog/2008/08/context-collapse-of-media---an-anthropological-study-of-youtube-web-video.html

http://www.nitmesh.com/blog/2010/09/how-social-engagement-is-changing.html