Whither the Individual?

Whither the Individual?
As we join groups and social networks from affinity sites to Facebook, are we extending and expanding identities, or increasingly conforming to the cookie-cutter profiles demanded of these interfaces? Is the loss of "personal space" and "reflection" so many users complain of merely the necessary surrender of "ego" as we learn to participate as members of a more evolved "collective organism" of "hyper-people?"


I feel as if social networking sites, such as Facebook, do not necessarily compromise the individual's identity, but does create a compliant cult of sort. Facebook profiles encourage users to list a plethora of personal information, such as likes, hobbies, and even "philosophy". From here a unique sense of a user is created, with a variety of information that can be similar or dissimilar to other users. However, it is in this sense that people are conforming, and in a way abiding to the rules of the cult. The individual keys in this information, "likes" certain pages, perhaps after seeing their friends do the same or having discovered it on Facebook. From here they create their online persona, a world of "hyper-people" if you will.
Though it might sound as if I'm criticizing this turn of technology, I too fall guilty to this reality. The online world's affect on daily reality is alarmingly increasing. For example, the other night I went out and met a boy that caught my interest. The next morning I logged on to Facebook and was greeted by a friend request from him, much to my pleasure. Accepting his request I quickly gained access to a vast bank of information about him, more than I would have known by the fifth or sixth date. By subscribing to this collective organism of an online world, I viewed his profile similar to that of flipping through a filing folder full of personal information. In minutes I learned his favorite bands, past times, hometowns, educational background, even family lineage. Just as quickly as I learned all of this, I could click over to another profile and learn an equal amount about this other individual. Without even realizing it, we as users of social networking sites have diminished ourselves into nothing more than a filing folder. We are a unit among millions of other, 500 million to be exact that use Facebook.
However, to continue, I then sent him a link of a YouTube video regarding something we had discussed, which he then liked, sending me in a fit of joy. Now, I laugh in reflection to think that a click of a mouse was enough to induce a fit of "butterflies" in my stomach. Value and self worth are now derivatives of how many people have commented on your profile picture, or what boy you met out "poked" you in reflection of his interest the night after you met. And debatably those who argue their sense of self or personal reflection has not been compromised by social networking sites are certainly just enjoying their riverfront property on "de-nile". People blog for reactions, post pictures for comments, and write on walls for responses.
You might feel as if you are making a personal statement by adding "bikram yoga" to your list of likes on your Facebook profile, but click on the link and you will be surprised to see 400,000+ other individuals that also have that listed. Although it is argued that there is no such thing as an original thought, social networking sites have provided the forum to mass-share thoughts and ideas, collecting and cultivating them further with other users.
Furthermore, this influx of merging users together, particularly on Facebook, is becoming ever more prevalent. Games, such as Farmville, encourage trading and interactions between users, so much so that they take precedence over reality. I have known people to trade tangible items in real life for corn and other crops on this hyperworld we live in. The world of Facebook is beginning to consume our lives and take control over the real world, if we even know what that is anymore.