Vandalism is a form of advertisement, which can be exemplified in the graffiti of social networking sites, such as Nexopia and Facebook through which individuals decide to promote themselves. Vandalism is perceived as “malicious and deliberate defacement or destruction of somebody else's property” (Encarta). Advertisement is a calling to the attention of the public through forms such as newspapers, magazines, the radio or television.
Vandalism and advertisements can be seen to have similar qualities. For example, advertisements are made to capture the attention of viewers by being placed in strategic locations. Vandalism uses similar strategies, as individuals choose to proclaim public space as their own to “advertise” or even deface property. However, recently we have seen a trend of vandalism in which young adults advertise themselves. The growth of Facebook and Nexopia has promoted this type of graffiti. By individuals displaying themselves in these public spaces, it creates a greater form of social capital. The argument of vandalism arises as it is still seen as a destruction of property regardless of what it is being used for. Nonetheless, the use of this property by individuals creates a new meaning as it is used to express themselves through graffiti.
Nexopia became very popular in 2005, catering to all ages. It allows users to create and design their own profiles, friends’ lists, blogs, galleries, articles, and forums. This means that it has greater personal preferences compared to Facebook which can be seen in the ability to create personal usernames to express oneself. Creating personalized usernames allows a certain form on anonymity, which facebook does not present. Due to this fact, individuals will be more likely to advertise with graffiti on their Nexopia profiles rather than Facebook. Furthermore, Nexopia is less popular than Facebook. Facebook’s wide availability and fame have made it open to people of older generations as well. This leads young people to advertise and exhibit themselves in a different manner on Nexopia when they know that their parents/elders will not be able to see what they are up to. These social networks can be used as a form of marketing because users can advertise personal belongings or businesses which follow Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of social capital. Social capital is the idea that the more people you know, the larger your social network is, and the larger your social network is, the more people you can meet and become friends with. Through Nexopia, users will post pictures that expose body parts to draw a crowd and capture the attention of the viewer. The concept of the gaze can be seen here as the subject is caught up in the dynamic of desire through trajectories by looking (Sturcken and Cartwright). This can also be seen in the forms of graffiti, as the viewer is forced to gaze upon the “art.” Graffiti with more flamboyance is more likely to keep the attention of the viewer and stick in their memory. With youth using attractive forms of graffiti they are more likely to keep attention of others and advertise themselves.
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The use of graffiti on ETS buses may seem as an in the moment type of vandalism. However, this location on buses is widely available to many people. The demographic on buses contains people of many walks of life; one of the most common riders being students attending school. Not all students are available to afford their own transportation (godamn tuition) and are required to use public transportation. The vandalism that takes place on these buses means that many students will be able to witness it. This creates a larger social network for individuals performing this graffiti as it is accessible by youth of similar age.
Facebook is the biggest social networking site, with over 400 million active users (http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics). Celebrities and those with involved in active campaigns have noticed this popularity and used it to their advantage to gain popularity. The users of Facebook are also more mature than the users of Nexopia, and because of this, Facebook fan pages and famous profiles are targeted to more of an adult demographic than a youth demographic. Facebook users can join networks organized by workplace, school or college. Politicians have also taken advantage of this by adding people that belong to their network, which allows them to get their ideologies to the masses. Facebook is tied into symbolic culture, which is another one of Pierre Bourdieu’s form of capital. Symbolic culture refers to how political figures will post their expressions, and are able to run a mini campaign. This is exemplified in the link below, Barack Obama has used Facebook to get his name out there and post his latest views. http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/graphic/2007/02/14/GR2007021401309.jpg, http://vanelsas.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/facebook_use_1.jpg
The use of networking has created a new form of graffiti that is easily visible. With the availability and easy accessibility of buses, individuals have used this public space as an area to advertise themselves. The theory of social capital shows that by knowing more people, one is more valued in today’s society. By outright displays of graffiti to advertise themselves, individuals believe their character can gain social capital and popularity.
