Student Perspective: Facebook for Better or Worse?

Facebook is a relatively new social website made up of a database of personal information posted by willing individuals. It allows you to see whatever information fellow students on your campus have made available—their interests, jobs, classes, photographs, phone number, or even their address. That adds up to something pretty interesting. Initially I passed on all the hype, thinking The Facebook was just another tech-fad. But I eventually discovered that The Facebook was inescapable; I had no other choice but to join. When I first joined the site, I was bombarded with emails of folks requesting to become “friends” with me, some from my high school in Bakersfield and some from UCSB and other colleges. Some found my profile by noticing that I was “friends” with one of their “friends.” I now apparently have 36 Facebook “friends.” While Facebook thrives on virtual “friendships,” many people use it to arrange face-to-face meetings. Members can click on courses they have listed on their profile to find a roster of students in their class who are also online. Facebook allows you to send messages to other students in your class, and you can use this to organize study sessions or get the notes from the day of class you missed. Recently, I have been receiving more Facebook messages than regular emails. But like most new technological innovations, Facebook can be used for potentially evil purposes. I have heard stories of pseudo-stalking incidents. Students have had strangers show up at work seeking to meet them, based on similar interests posted on The Facebook. Facebook is now going wireless allowing users to access other members’ information via cell phone or PDA, which means people do not have to be sitting at their computer to find information about you that is posted. In spite of potential downsides the social interactivity via Facebook at UCSB continues to grow. Facebook seems to have become another indispensable technology in students’ lives, both for good and bad.