Facebook Profile Picture: Hey, there. Please, Who Are You …??!!

Many of our friends on facebook use a picture of their preference which might reflect a psychological aspect or let us just say it gives an impression of how this or that person thinks. To reveal the secret of this enigma, I have been observing the increasing number of my friends on facebook to categorize them or at least endeavor to understand with whom I am sharing my opinions and who is tagging me, commenting my articles, or posting on my wall his or her ideas….

I should say that I have failed to classify my 900 friends on facebook; this sense of failure has stimulated me to write this article in which I will try to figure out the extent to which the profile picture on facebook can be a symptom of the real person who has chosen it to be his/her face on the virtual book? How these pictures respond to the instantaneous need or expectation of the facebookers? Why many men and women do not want to appear on facebook with their authentic pictures rather than hiding behind a flower, public figure, religious slogan, or just a picture of an beautiful singer or an attractive Hollywood actor….?

I would not say that such reading (misreading) of profile picture on facebook is a thorough psychological analysis of the reason why people choose not to display their pictures and prefer to stay unidentified, this fact of being anonymous sometimes gives a better chance to publish or comment unreservedly on articles, status, or pictures of others…..

It seems that people change their profile pictures sporadically in accordance with their political or cultural affiliations. In the previous weeks, we have seen how many Mauritanian facebook users consumed graphics of a ship, symbolizing the Caravan of Freedom that has tried to break the siege on Gaza. Now, we are witnessing many facebookers replacing their profile pictures with the slogan of World Cup in South Africa. So, the facebook profile picture keeps changing in attempt to be updated. Has it become a way of expressing one’s political or ideological positioning in relation to the current issues revolving around? Does the profile picture on facebook characterize or categorize the users’ creed or credo?
This phenomenon is not only limited to the choice of a profile picture but it also includes names and personal information. For example, while surfing the list of your friends you can come across names such as: Weld Mauritani, العراد, Mint Ehli, الشبيبة, or ابن الوردعروة…. to mention only few. These names illustrate the dilemma of being afraid of using real names and having the desire to take a hand into the revolution of New Technologies that affects all the aspects of our traditional society……

There are many other people who use their facebook accounts with pictures of religious or political figures. We can see some of them with the picture of Med Hassen Ould deddaw, Mohamed Hassan, Ibrahim Edewish, Youssef Garadawi, or Amer Khalid…..et cetera. But others would prefer to use political figures such as: the president Aziz, Maawiya Ould Taye, Jamil Mansour, Ahmed Ould Dadah, Massou ould Belkheir, or Jamal Abdenasser…...

Maybe, these people find themselves more apposite when they expose themselves with different pictures. But here one can ask the question: why should anybody prefer to use any picture since he can use his own image? And I am saying HIS, I mean men because we all know what some fanatic Mauritanians did with the pictures of some women on facebook and the insulting group they created…..

It is to say that Facebook profile picture has been a way of dissimilating one’s self within a latent/manifest discourse which many people are already involved into. This discourse permits us to be available on Facebook but do not physically exist in reality; this availability has been seized by many hipster to express themselves freely or to attack others’ whenever they disagree with them. On facebook, we are making friendship on daily basis with some people who are almost ghosts for whom we do not have any name or shape. Sometimes, I want just say: Hey, there. Please, Who Are You….??ꜝꜝ