1984 depicts a society where Big Brother is watching you at all times. This is scary because there would be no privacy. Is Facebook some form of this omniscient government? Over 800 million people use Facebook so Facebook’s executives have personal information about those 800 million people in the world and use it to personalize advertisements. People post things on Facebook thinking that only their friends will see it. Privacy settings on Facebook provide a false sense of security because computer wizards and employers will find a way to view your profile. This is different than 1984 because the citizens are aware that they are being watched.
The Party in 1984 fully controls people’s lives. The government censors the media so that only what the Party wants to be read is what is written. Love is prohibited and marriages are only formed so that children can be made. If you oppose the government you will be tortured. And if you try to hide your opposition you will be found out because there are telescreens and microphones everywhere. The citizens are forced to control their facial expressions because if the government thinks you are thinking about opposing the government you will be convicted of “Thought Crime”. Even the children are trained to be spies. There isn’t even love within families because children will turn in their parents for opposition to government.
Facebook is comparable to the telescreen, but not nearly as intense. They can't literally "see" you on Facebook to watch what you're doing at exactly that moment, but in a sense they can see you; they can view your profile and all of your pictures, see things you've liked and what you commented on other people's pages, your thoughts about certain things, and they even know where you are if you "check in" to places. But also, like Winston and Julia, you can hide who you really are on Facebook by watching what you post and what kinds of pictures you put up or allow people to tag you in.
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