Facebook and Social Authenticity
Facebook can lead to a validation of authenticity.
The act of allowing friends to tag their friends in photos gives that particular person being tagged instant authenticity. If the person being tagged is in 10 photos uploaded by different people (who are tagged by different people themselves), it assures someone that the original person is legitimate and who they say they are. It leads to authenticity.
When social networks were first starting out and gaining popularity, there was always the problem of people being “fake” and impersonating others. By making the tagging of others in photos the norm, Facebook almost eliminated this problem entirely.
They set the standard at “being tagged in multiple photos.” In addition to giving their users the ability to upload photos of themselves, they made the social network social and allowed friends to tag friends in photos.
Because of the norm that Facebook put into place, those who aren’t tagged in multiple photos are suspicious. And those that would be suspicious because they are fake/impersonating others probably aren’t being tagged in photos because they don’t actually exist.
There are of course exceptions: people new to social networking’ people who are authentic, but simply not photographed; and people who might actively remove tags of themselves from photos. However, these exceptions are just that - exceptions - and not the norm.
Facebook increased the authenticity factor even further by basing accounts on networks of schools and workplaces. These groups are groups where people know one another and can subsequently vouch for or prove authenticity (someone that Facebook requires you do).
It’s amazing how a simple feature like tagging can have an important function way beyond its apparent purpose. By adding features like tagging, Facebook helped remove (or at the very least, curtail) the stigma of social networks being laden with adult sexual predators posing as teenagers.