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  • 8/7/2019 7 Things About Facebook

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    7 things you should know about... Facebook

    ScenarioAngela will spend next semester studying at a univer-sity in Budapest, andso she can make the most o

    her time in Hungaryshe wants to learn as much as

    possible beore she leaves. For a couple o semesters,

    Angela has had a prole on Facebook but hasnt post-

    ed much inormation about hersel and doesnt use the

    site requently. Because she attends a relatively small

    college without extensive resources or study-abroad

    students, she decides to nd out what she can learn

    rom other Facebook users.

    Angela starts by updating her prole to include inor-

    mation about her upcoming semester in Budapestand her major. She joins several Facebook groups

    related to studies abroad and international student-

    exchange programs. Through these groups, Angela

    nds students at her own college who have studied

    abroadeven some she knows but who never told

    her they had studied overseasand many more rom

    around the country. Contacting members o these

    groups gives Angela insights into aspects o studying

    abroad that she otherwise would not have gained un-

    til she got there. She searches or users with Buda-

    pest or Hungary in their proles and nds dozens

    o students rom that part o the world or who have

    traveled there. From their perspectives, Angela learns

    about the current and past political climate o ormer

    Soviet Bloc nations. This, in turn, leads Angela to other

    Facebook searches ocused on European politics and

    culture generally.

    As the weeks progress, Angelas Facebook prole be-

    comes increasingly detailed. She creates several new

    online groups, one o which quickly has more than

    200 members. Other Facebook users regularly con-

    tact Angela, sometimes with questions, sometimes

    with answers to questions. By the time she leaves or

    Budapest, she has a good understanding o what to

    expect in terms o the study-abroad program and o lo-cal culture, restaurants, and weather. She has also met

    online several students rom other universities who will

    be studying in Hungary next semester and whom she

    will meet or lunch in Budapest her rst week there.

    What is it?Facebook is a social networking site designed to connect users.

    Sites such as MySpace and Friendster are similar, but Facebook

    is generally considered the leading social networking site among

    college students. Facebook allows individuals to create proles

    that include personal interests, aliations, pictures, andwith

    some limitationsvirtually anything else a user wants to post.

    Inormation entered in a prole links that user to others who have

    posted similar inormation. For example, all users who list a par-

    ticular band or movie as a avorite or who share the same home-

    town constitute a group. In user proles, each o these pieces o

    data is a link; clicking on it displays everyone else in the network

    who included that element in their proles. Other connections

    are more structured, based on user-created groups that typically

    have descriptive titles, such as Feminists are un! or the name

    o a raternity.

    Whos doing it? Although some aculty and sta have proles, most Facebook

    users are students. Because social networking sites constantly

    create connections among users at participating institutions, the

    appeal is broad. Jazz acionados, women in science, aspiring

    veterinariansall o these and others have built groups o riends

    on Facebook. Others are star ting to use Facebook also. At some

    institutions, ollowing an incident such as a party that got out o

    hand, campus police have ound inormation or photos on Face-

    book that incriminate the students responsible. Some employers

    look up students on Facebook to get a uller picture o appli-

    cants. Not all Facebook proles result in positive outcomes or

    the students.

    How does it work?To create a prole, userscurrent students, alumni, aculty, or

    stamust have an e-mail address in the domain o an institution

    that is aliated with Facebook. Once you establish an account,

    you can update it as oten as you like, adding or changing inor-

    mation including pictures, avorites, and blog-type entries. Users

    build networks o r iends, people who have agreed to be added

    as riends to users proles. You can browse proles based on

    criteria such as age, relationship status, or major or search the

    database or people you already know and contact them through

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    private messages or public notes on their proles. You can also

    send group announcements, such as a message about a politi-

    cal rally to all users at a particular institution who identiy them-

    selves as politically liberal.

    Why is it signifcant?Creating or rening ones sel-identity and values is an important

    part o college. College students are encouraged to discover who

    they are and how they relate to others. For many, Facebook has

    become a tool in that development, allowing them to dene a pro-

    le, nd others with similar interests, and then reassess how well

    they t. This reedom can be liberating, but it also carries risks or

    students whose just joking around comments might be taken

    seriously by readers o their proles. Facebook oers unprecedent-

    ed ability to nd other users based on specic criteria. Its a mass-

    market tool that acilitates niche relationships. Using Facebook,

    students can build the kinds o connectionswith students and in

    some cases with acultythat make them eel like they belong and

    are accepted. Connections with others are an important actor in

    student retention. At the same time, surrounding yoursel with only

    those who have similar interests potentially limits your exposure to

    new ideas and experiences.

    What are the downsides?Concerns about Facebook center on its being public even though

    it eels like a private orum. Moreover, there is little assurance that

    the people behind the proles are who they represent themselves

    to be. The number o connections you have is sometimes consid-

    ered a measure o personal popularity, and the desire to have a

    cool prole and large groups o riends tempts users to post inor-

    mation or photos that in other contexts they would keep private,

    such as embarrassing pictures or boasts about drinking. Although

    some students understand how and when to separate private

    rom public content, many lack the discretion to present them-

    selvesand othersappropriately online. Not only can students

    nd themselves in hot water over pictures and comments about

    themselves, questions o libel and copyright come into play when

    users post content created by others or comments about other

    people. Internet caching exacerbates this problem, making Web

    content available even ater it has been changed or removed rom

    a Web site. Stories o Facebook addiction are also common.

    Many users say that ater creating a prole, they ound themselves

    spending hours a day updating their pages, looking or people

    with shared interests, and reading others proles and looking at

    their photosexactly the kinds o activities Facebook acilitates. A

    seemingly innite web o connections, however, poses a risk or

    never-ending wandering, seeing who knows who, who likes what,

    and how it all ts together, with no particular goal in mind.

    Where is it going?Students will continue to think o creative ways to use Facebook

    to collect and share inormation among an always-changing net-

    work o riends and colleagues, moving beyond the strictly social

    aspect o the site. For some, the ability to send messages to tar-geted groups o users is the most important eature o Facebook.

    Leaders o campus groups can select a data point, such as politi-

    cal aliation or hobby, and share messages and resources to all

    such sel-identied users. I this practice grows, students not using

    Facebook may eel pressure to join so they can participate in and

    contribute to areas o interest.

    As social networking sites become more mainstream, online

    groups might begin to resemble existing campus communities

    and be infuenced by the social norms and protocols inherent in

    such academic communities. As users become more sophisti-

    cated and a broader population is represented online, students

    will start to use social networking sites to make proessional con-

    nections with people through topics o deep intellectual interest to

    them. Connections to aculty and alumni might also provide new

    opportunities or proessional development and networking.

    What are the implications or

    teaching and learning?Inormation literacythe ability to negotiate the opportunities and

    risks o the Internet ageis an increasingly important aspect o

    higher education. Facebook presents students with choices about

    how to use technology in creative and useul ways while avoid-

    ing the pitalls. Even as a purely social activity, Facebook has the

    potential to teach students about appropriate citizenship in the

    online world. Like many emerging Internet applications, Facebook

    also emphasizes the importance o creating content over simply

    consuming it. By encouraging students to crat compelling proles,

    Facebook allows students to express themselves, communicate,

    and assemble proles that highlight their talents and experience.

    Facebook has struck a chord with millions o college students,

    drawing them in to an online world where they spend countless

    hours browsing proles, meeting new people, and exploring rela-

    tionships. Any technology that is able to captivate so many stu-

    dents or so much time not only carries implications or how those

    students view the world but also oers an opportunity or educa-

    tors to understand the elements o social networking that studentsnd so compelling and to incorporate those elements into teaching

    and learning.