Eighteen months ago I read an account of the fuss at Pomona about something called the Facebook, an online meeting place for college students that apparently had become so compelling that students were skipping class, missing homework assignments, and obsessing over communicating with their Facebook friends.
I was curious as to the response on this campus. Since anyone with an .edu e-mail address can become a member I decided to sign up and see what the fuss was about. I created my profile�the real me, not a fictional version. Just to make sure that my presence wasn�t misconstrued I made a point of posting a picture with Jacqueline and Sam. This happened early enough in Facebook evolution that only a few hundred of our almost 2,000 students had become Facebook members.
But within a few months, the CC membership had grown to 1,500. Every night I would respond to a handful of requests from students who were requesting that I become their friend. And as I would study their profiles I saw their lists of friends at other colleges growing apace. At last count I have 2,500 Facebook friends at CC. How can I have more than our total enrollment, you might ask? Fair question. And the answer is that alums who have kept their .edu address can sign up, too.
The Facebook enables students to stay in touch with pals at other schools. Keep up with plans for upcoming holidays. Share the pain of breakups and the joy of new music. In some respects, it creates a social space for those leaving high school and home to stay in touch and share common experiences over long distances.
But it does a lot more, as I see it. It has turned conversation into graffiti. If I want to contact a friend, our exchange is posted on our respective “walls”—with the first few sentences (or more often, phrases) of the most recent eight or ten exchanges displayed for all to see. It is, I suppose, the electronic version of the early days of the phone system when one could listen in on the conversation of neighbors on the “party” line.
The consequence is a display of “attitude”—bragging about how much alcohol was consumed, who hooked up with whom, and so on. The language is helter-skelter, usually coarse. I seriously doubt that this is the language these young men and women would use around the family dinner table. And I wonder how much of it is intended to be a kind of code that conveys “Hey, I’m cool.” Well, cool is certainly not the right descriptor for students of this generation. But whatever the 2006 equivalent might be.
Some of my counterparts at other institutions have expressed concerns about the consequences of Facebook participation by students. If students display photos that show illegal behavior, like underage drinking, does the college have an obligation to crack down? Should we monitor the site for indications of violations of the college code of conduct—sexual misconduct, for example, or hate-related speech?
The emergence of virtual meeting space is raising a number of issues in fresh and complex ways. Do you waive a right to privacy for example when you join something like the Facebook? One thing is for sure: college students seem blissfully unaware that their Facebook conversations and the exploits they describe and even document with photos, might at a minimum “educate” their President and, at another institution, get the attention of the Student Conduct Board.
Shortly after I became a member of Facebook, one of my favorite students—football player, singer, actor and all-round good guy—sent me a message with an inquiry. It was sent at 2:45 am. When I saw him next, I gave him a hard time: “Hey Ryan—you’re sending Facebook messages long after the coach thought you were in bed.” I received a big smile back: “Yeah,” he said, “I was finishing my homework until I messaged you.”
I met several of our new students last August who said that they introduced themselves to their new roommates as soon as they received their CC e-mail accounts. Facebook friends even before they hit the campus.
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Dick-Very true, Facebook has allowed us all to stay in touch with friends from all around the world, post and share pictures of our events (both the legal and illegal kinds). It is definitely a sign of our times and the attitudes of students, even more so since you and other college administrators and educators have become a part of the Facebook scene. Congratulations on being so “cool”, “hip” or w/e else you want to call it.-lt
We still use “cool.” Somehow, as other slang comes and goes, “cool” persists. Go figure! (I’ve also never met you, but I think you’re definitely one of the coolest college presidents out there.) I too find Facebook a little weird. I keep getting in touch with people from high school who I frankly don’t like much, out of morbid curiosity. I once got an invitation to apply for Teach For America, using information about my jobs that I only had on Facebook. When I asked how they got their information, they danced around the answer, not mentioning Facebook at all. I don’t post anything I wouldn’t want my mother seeing (or a job recruiter), but some of the things classmates post boggle my mind. It’ll be interesting to see if these things resurface when CC alums run for office 20 years from now! A possible future blog topic: what the heck is going on with KRCC? I keep reading conflicting stories, and I want to know what’s really happening. I love KRCC and “Western Skies,” and I will be very sad if anything happens to either. What’s the story?
Although, as you point out, there are some positive aspects to this form of communication, as an attorney, I am concerned about the impact these comments and pictures might have on efforts at future employment, political office, security clearance, etc. One needs to look only to the scrutiny court nominees go through and the mud-slinging that comes from those who disagree with your point of view. Justice Alito’s confirmation shows how deeply his career at Princeton was mined. The consequences of attempts at humor may well last decades, but I don’t think these young people, including my son at CC, take this into consideration.
In response to Jack Yates’ comment — It might interest students to know that (at least in technology-related fields) employers will regularly profile and research job candidates’ backgrounds by mining their blogs, Facebook/myspace entries, and other online activity. It is funny and somewhat surprising to see the incredulous look on a candidate’s face when we have crafted interview questions related to his/her posts. Caveat Poster
I cannot read these thoughtful comments by Jack Yates and Blake Williams without reflecting on a brief item during today’s [3-4-04] news cycle on the need for college counselors — highlighting the extraordinary competition to get into the best schools. One point made was that many schools no longer seek only the most well rounded, but someone who provides spark to the campus, often by being simply superb at one endeavor. Bard, Hampshire et al are known to welcome those with a quirky sense of humor or take on life. Nor is data mining new. For my mid ’70’s doctoral thesis, I was encouraged to focus on the ‘authoritarian personality’ since, given my years as a Jesuit in pre-Vatican II days, my professors thought few students had dealt with that phenomenon as directly as I had! Now that we are in this era of geometrically increasing data bases, shall we look for the bold spirit who may cause us occasionally to wince? Or use Alito as a cautionary tale who, with background duly mined, had to face questions from one whose pre-blogosphere included a healthy swim across the water from Chappaquiddick. Adopt we must the rule of parsimonyto deal with massive amounts of information — yet Caveat Profiler — who, if one profileth too much, misses the soaring spirit. The latter, in my observation, C C seldom if ever misses, since it provides those bright spirits with such a welcoming home.
I lament the fact that the Facebook or myspace might well become part of an extended CV of a recent Colorado College graduate–or anyone else for that matter. Still, that is a fact. But what interests me more is the question of how we present ourselves to others in this medium, which is both intensely personal and public at the same time. I wonder if someone will soon write the Emily Post of Facebook etiquette. Perhaps we could get Jon Stewart and Larry Tribe to collaborate on something that would be edited by MTV. I am glad that cool is still cool, that KRCC is still on the air, and that our students are–as Curt Schmidt points out–soaring. I just do not want them brought harshly back to earth in ways that they had not anticipated.
Many students are conscious of the issues surrounding online activities and careful of how they present themselves online. As for the rest — as blogs and online communities become increasingly common, perhaps employers will become more tolerant of employees having personal lives. Much of what students (and non-students) post online is irrelevant to work life. Does anyone worry about employers reading the profiles of 40-year-olds on swinger dating sites? I haven’t seen hysterical USAToday articles about that. While some students can present themselves online in an immature way, I resent the suggestion that all students do so. My Facebook profile looks like my resume with a list of hobbies and media tastes added. I use Facebook to track down long-lost friends from summer camp when I was 14, people I’ve been trying to get in touch with for years. Nearly all of my friends who use Facebook have similarly sanitary profiles.
don’t forget, dick, that you have your own fan club on facebook too! a group created in support of your generosity of spirit and dedication to the students at CC… i’m definitely a member. i think of facebook as a year-round yearbook — i looked at my mom’s yearbook from 1963, and there are some comments written in its bindings that i know she wouldn’t want to show her employers or college admissions offices. facebook isn’t meant to be a prerequisite for employment or admission — it’s for fun! i question whether these stone-faced interviewers ever had someone write something funny or raunchy in their yearbook annual–well, that’s not the kind of person i want to be when i leave college. where has people’s soulfulness gone?-katie
I am a recent CC grad (’04) and now work for a prominent financial consulting firm in DC. My department is comprised of about 70 workers, 90% of which are under 25 years of age. The youth of the department creates an interesting dynamic of work and play in that we must separate our office chair behavior from our barstool behavior. Some people in the office have had difficulty making those sorts of adjustments, especially 1-6 months out of college. I know it was tough for me to stay out late with a co-worker, then take orders from him the next day. As a member of my department’s recruiting team, I conduct interviews for potential employees. 99% of our candidates are either ready to graduate or are less than 1 year out of school, thus having facebook profiles. I’m not saying I base decisions on their facebook profile (if I have access to it) but it does allow people to dabble into their personalities. Personalities can be more important than resumes, graduating colleges, experience, etc. Think about this: two candidates with the exact same work experience, same major, same GPA, both 1 year out of college, and both had mediocre interviews. You extracted as much information as possible from them already and absolutely need to fill one position. You happened to look at their facebook pictures 2 weeks before you interviewed them. One is half naked and vomiting into a toilet and the other has a picture of him and his girlfriend at a formal, both holding drinks. Who do you take?
I think that both sides have points on this topic, as it has become a topic of much interest since the letter sent out by Jeff Cathey. Since the addition of CC to facebook, I have been a member, and while I do have my musical tastes, pictures of my cat and fun quotations of the block on my profile, I do not have my physical address, pictures of myself (or any of my friends) drinking large quantities of alcohol, etc, or crass language. This is not because I am concerned about future employers (the field I want to go into is small, and does not have the time or resources to police facebook), or my graduate school next year, or even because I am in fact not a big partier. Rather, it is out of respect for myself and my peers/friends. The people who will be reading my profile will not care how many people I have or have not hooked up with, and some may be offended by harsh language. I also am a college senior, and like to think myself above and beyond the petty wall conversations of “omg, u 2 so 2 kewl for this!”. I use facebook to catch up with friends from years past, to keep in touch with friends I otherwise might not get to talk to, and post pictures of my life, from my cat to the drag ball to my latest play. I feel facebook can be a wonderful forum to connect (and yes, I too am in Dick Celeste’s fan club) to all sorts of people, but it can also by misused and abused. However, I think students need to realize that by putting something online, anyone and everyone can find a way to see it, if it is that important (as experienced by TFA finding information on me from Facebook). Some people do not realize that today’s web is open to everyone, and that any thing you post can come back to either help you or hurt you.