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.