Mention facebook.com to a univerity student and be prepared for instant conversation...mention the term facebook to a faculty member (or a mom or dad) and be prepared for a deer-in-the-headlights look. Last week, I did just that with my Media Studies students at Belmont and what I gleaned from the discussion is that facebook is not a fad, but a phenomena that has spread like wildfire across US college campuses...and as one student explained, it is apparently "useless to resist". Everyone eventually signs up.
How does it happen, I asked? Peer pressure...disguised as 'encouragement'. I heard it from several students that a year or so ago when facebook became a part of casual conversation on campus, signing- up became a 'must do' in order to consider oneself a college student or a member of the university community. Some estimate that 85% of all college students now have facebook accounts (do I hear a wow from any marketing professionals?)
How would you feel if faculty and staff joined facebook at the same explosive rate as students (they can, if they are aware of it...and at least 7 Belmont faculty members have active accounts)? One student, seated in front of a computer looking at her profile on facebook, immediately blocked access by faculty and staff to her facebook account. It was much like I rained on someone's parade...facebook is considered by many to be the insider's view of college students. I had somehow violated that space. I received a verbal 'get-outa-jail-free card' because I am still, technically, a graduate student.
Mom and dad wouldn't want to see some of this stuff. I let everyone in class know that I had viewed their facebook profile pages and asked, "What's with all the hookah stuff?" NOTE: I do remember water pipes from several decades ago and know that they were hardly used for legal purposed back then. To my relief, a student educated me on the current 'legal' use of flavored smoking products and assured me that all was perfectly legal (as a non-smoker, I was less than amused or truly 'relieved'). There are other issues with drunken party pictures, revealing clothing, language found on 'wall' postings, and an assortment of online groups with less-than-flattering names that moms and dads might (and do) find objectionable...but facebook is NOT for parents...it is a new right-of-passage phenomena that is still evolving.
- For an assessment of uses from the 'other' side of the generation gap, Google 'facebook' :
- Facebook used for behavioral assessment
- when employers (university alumni) get accounts and look at job applicants
- getting busted for drug use
- facebook study = viral marketing on steroids
- when VOIP Skype meets Facebook
I would define Facebook as THE most visual representation of a loosely connected online community...the number of images make it the equivalent of a personally edited yearbook or viewbook. Students are learning that it is a representation of who they are and that there are repercussions for projecting an image that may not be in their best interest, whether that means personal life or life as a prospective employee, friend, spouse, or whatever. If facebook survives the invasion of critics, snoops, and researchers it may be a good barometer of what we can expect of our next generation of employees who understand the power of networking electronically...if it doesn't survive in its current format, I would predict that an even more powerful version would arise to take its place. This is NOT going away!