Social Networking

Has anyone been on Facebook long enough to remember when it was called The College Facebook? My husband and I have debated whether or not the Social Networking site ever had this title and I distinctly remember when I signed up for it in 2005 or 2006 that was what it was called. If anyone can back me up on this I'd appreciate it! :)

When I first got on Facebook, I loved it. It was a way to reconnect with my friends that I shared a dorm with my freshman year or to find out if the cute guy who sat next to me in my history class was seeing anyone. You could enter what classes you were taking prior to the new semester and see who else you would have that class with. I loved finding friends from high school to see what they were majoring in, who they were dating, whether they're married or have any kids. You could see what your ex was up to and who he was dating. Then you were able to add pictures and update your status and have had graffiti walls and flair (both of which I enjoyed having for a while). But then it snowballed to Mafia Wars, Farmville, Yo Ville, Fishville, Astrology, etc. That's when Facebook became more like myspace. I blocked all of these applications and even weeded through my friends list, but the novelty of it has definitely worn off. I have planned to delete my account for a few months now. Once I found out about the 23 things, I figured there would be some Facebook aspect, therefore I kept it for this purpose. Now that the Facebook task has been completed, my account will be gone within a week.

I become more and more Anti-Facebook by the day. It kills me that so much time is wasted on the library's computers on Facebook when there are people out there who genuinely need to access the Internet to file for unemployment, pay bills, or look for jobs. I even had a 9 year old's mom tell me that her child didn't get on the children's computer because she couldn't access her Facebook. Hmm...don't you have to be 14 to sign up?! I'm probably about to sound stuck up and I sincerely don't mean it that way, but I really wish that Facebook hadn't opened up to everyone. One of the key things that made Facebook different from myspace was because it was for college students. I think they even say that in the movie The Social Network. It was some kind of club you had to have an invite (or a college e-mail address) for. I feel that if you still had to have a college e-mail address to sign up that it would not have been overwhelmed by the "crap" that had overtaken myspace that has turned me off to it.

I heard on the radio recently about colleges setting up Social Networking sites for their students in order to make students feel more comfortable in their college atmosphere and to enhance student life on campus. They can form groups and clubs and let incoming freshmen "meet" their roommates and others in their dorms and classes prior to starting at the school. This is what Facebook was initially set up to do, but it has just become too big, so I think that these colleges and universities are on the right track for creating their own.

Enough of my "anti facebook" rant. The task was to play around with security settings, which I have done quite frequently. I used to be in "Super Ninja Mode" where NO ONE could find me. I would have to seek them out if I wanted to be their friend. I then loosened my settings by letting people at least see my high school, college, and my picture in case there was anyone out there that was like "Oh...I wonder if Stevie is on Facebook." When I was teaching, many of my students would try to friend me and then be sad that I denied their request. I finally set up a myspace specifically for them to add me, but eventually gave in and let them add me on Facebook. They have their own special group (as do my coworkers and some members of my family), where they can't see some of my pictures or my phone number and address, etc.

I think that being able to adjust your security settings for pretty much every friend you have is a nice aspect of most Social Networking sites. In theory it also cuts down on stalkers and Internet predators, however if you were savvy enough you could find loopholes in what people think are security settings. For example, my 15 year old nephew has a facebook and "friends" write on his wall "I think I know you...". He says his basis for adding friends he doesn't know is how many he has in common with someone. So...a person could set up a fake high school account and start friending people. Even if they don't know you for sure they might accept, then others will see that you're friends with people they know and add you and so on. Unless your account is Super Ninja Mode or you are selective about who you allow to be your friend, there is still a way for people who you don't want to see your information to find out about you.

Moving on to Twitter...once I started cutting down on my Facebook use, I became more interested in Twitter (I have to have some mindless entertainment in my life, right?!). I don't follow people I know, but I follow celebrities. And yes, I am one of 7 million to follow Justin Bieber. I also follow authors, School Library Journal, YALSA, Conan OBrien, Anthony Bourdain, etc. I find it interesting to see what celebrities have to say about various things and following SLJ and YALSA are nice to have quick access to their new blogs or book reviews. I set up my account to get a text message from the Harry Potter Films' twitter in order to find out right at that moment when tickets for the new movie will be on sale...true story!

I think I've only tweeted once or twice, but I enjoy the observer aspect more than my own pointless tweets. I found it interesting that on Grey's Anatomy they were tweeting what was going on in the OR and had doctors around the world following them, asking questions, or even giving advice. It made me wonder if hospitals (especially research hospitals, hint hint UofL!) would really be doing that. I haven't gotten a chance to look into that but I think it would be neat, especially since in a past life I wanted to be a surgeon!

Using Twitter as a search engine is also nice. Friday afternoon I searched for Mubarak and got new posts on my phone constantly. As it said on the 23 things website, this would be very handy for patrons when it came to things that haven't made it to mainstream news yet.

I created a LinkedIn account for the "extra credit". I'd heard about it a few years ago when my husband signed up, but I never created an account. I can definitely see how it would be useful for business networking and even seeing what long lost classmates are doing when it comes to their career. (That is, if you maintain your profile...my husband's profile says he still works at a place he worked 2 years ago). I'm not sure if I'll maintain my profile, but it would definitely be a good source if I ever wanted to move to a new city to make business connections prior to moving.

To conclude, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are all definitely great tools for social networking, but, as with anything, you're only going to get out of these websites what you put in. And in the case of Facebook, you'll likely get way more than what you want.