Not so long ago, college students lived in a world without Facebook, the social networking site that launched in 2004 and now has over 500 million users. For today's college students, Facebook has become as commonplace as school sweatshirts and dreary cafeteria food.
But is Facebook good for college students? Has it added a valuable element to college life, or does it detract from a quality educational and social experience? Here are some arguments on both sides of this debate.
Resolved: Facebook is Bad for College Students
College students have always had study distractions, from video games to parties to the cute girl in the front row. But Facebook really takes distraction to a new level. Bored college students can spend hours reading their friends' updates, looking at pictures, playing Farmville or whatever the latest game is, and doing all kinds of things other than their homework. And thanks to mobile devices and laptops (which come to class allegedly so that students can take notes), the Facebook distraction can go anywhere a student can go.
Another problem with Facebook: it promotes student drama. College students have always been fighting about who's dating who and who's dissing who, but previously this generally stayed within groups of friends and dorm room floors. Today, angry students can vent drama to the world before common sense sinks in and prevents them from hitting "share." Amusing as this may be for some, this kind of public drama certainly does not promote friendship or civility.
In relation to both of these issues, some might argue that Facebook distracts students from paying attention to more important social concerns. College is a time when many students hope to concern themselves with politics, philosophy, art, and other matters more serious than drunken pictures from Ashley's party.
And speaking of Ashley's party, another problem with Facebook and college students has to do with TMI, or "too much information." Now that parents and professors and future employers and just about everyone else is on Facebook, it isn't really private anymore. It can be tempting to post incriminating photos, obnoxious status updates, assorted drama, and other things that shouldn't be viewed by one's 1,245 friends.
Resolved: Facebook is Good for College Students
On the other hand, Facebook is a fantastic social networking tool, and can be used to help students communicate with each other about all kinds of things. Fall asleep in history class and need someone's notes? Looking for a tutor or a study partner? Need a ride home for the weekend? Need a lead on a campus job? Wondering where the party is? Moreover, since many professors are on Facebook too, this may be a good place to ask a quick question about an assignment.
Perhps even more importantly, Facebook can continue to serve as a networking resource after college, when it comes time to look for a job. Those hundreds of college friends on Facebook, who live all over the country and the world, will work for hundreds of companies in the near future. That constitutes a significant network.
Facebook has also proven to be a great resource for high school seniors and others who need information about schools. Need to know what a school is really like? Log onto Facebook and find some school fan pages, and ask students about their experiences. Once students are admitted, Facebook is a great place to meet classmates ahead of time and to get to know college roommates.
Since many college students are away from home, another advantage of Facebook is that it gives students the opportunity to stay in touch. Students who are homesick can keep in touch with family members and friends back home, and students who are in long distance relationships can have an easier time feeling connected.
As for the issue that students are tuning out more serious issues to hang out on Facebook, there's the matter of political organizations and other groups that have a Facebook presence. Students who want to get involved in campus or off-campus organizations, or who want to learn more about issues and ideas, may be able to find information and a network of like-minded people on Facebook.
Ultimately, Facebook is what students make of it. For many, it truly does serve as a distraction that makes it hard to study, and for many others, it's a valuable social networking tool (and, of course, for many students, it's both). At any rate, Facebook has greatly changed how students interact on college campuses in a very short period of time, and until something else comes along, it appears to be here to stay.
Naomi Rockler-Gladen - Instructional designer and freelance writer, Naomi Rockler-Gladen writes some of Suite101's most read work.
