More today than ever before, the internet has become a popular resource for connecting people through online networks. Social networks such as MySpace and Facebook have become widely popular around the world in connecting people from all walks of life. Websites such as these allow for people to keep in touch with existing friends and they also provide the ability to create new contacts as well. Wherever there is access to the internet, social networks are able to provide a digital communication tie to others.

 Facebook began in 2004 on the campus of Harvard, but spread to 2,000 more schools within a year. In 2006, Facebook began allowing high school students and businesses to begin joining the Facebook social network. “More than half (55%) of all of online American youths ages 12-17 use online social networking sites” (Electronic). Social websites such as Facebook have grown rapidly over the past few years. In “2007 Facebook was reported to have more than 21 million registered members generating 1.6 billion page views each day” (The Benefits). For many, logging onto Facebook has become a typical daily routine. It is reported that at least two-thirds of all users log onto Facebook for about 20 minutes everyday (The Benefits). Social networking has many positive effects for its users as well as a few negative effects.

 The positive effects of social networks such as Facebook include its ease of use and its convenience. You can keep in contact with someone much easier and the search utility on Facebook allows you to reconnect with past friends. Anyone with a Facebook profile can be found simply by typing in their name. After finding the person, simply request to add this person as a friend and all the work is done. Even though social networking websites seem like a perfect communication tool, there are multiple negative impacts of using these applications.

 While Facebook profiles often always have user’s pictures, it also has the option for the user to provide more personal information such as their home location, phone number, and class schedule. This information can be used in the wrong manner against an unexpecting victim. It only takes one person with a grudge to turn someone’s life upside down. Someone else who is another potential threat to Facebook users is known as the “Facebook stalker”. The Facebook stalker is someone who becomes obsessed with a particular person and constantly views someone’s profile and pictures just to see what he or she has recently been up to. Generally, this occurs after a girlfriend-boyfriend break up.
 
 Businesses use Facebook as a research tool for looking up employees. This allows employers to take a quick look into the personal life before hiring new workers. This could be a serious downfall during the employment process for students because many college student profiles contain many pictures including things like drinking and smoking. But, students have the ability to restrict access to outside viewers. To stay on the safe side, it is recommended to either take down offensive images or to add restrictive settings. As a student at Ohio State, I have even heard campus career services recommend making changes to our profiles in order to not allow employers to view such things.

 Studies have shown that the majority of Facebook users have a lower GPA than those who do not use it. Facebook can become a major distraction when using the internet. Since it is generally apart of most student’s daily routine, it is easy to become intrigued by additions to others profiles such as new pictures. It is much more exciting to take a look at some pictures from the party last weekend than it is to prepare for the upcoming exams. Facebook has recently decided to include the option of adding integrated applications such as Bumper Sticker, Naughty Gifts, Groups, Graffiti and NCAA March Madness Bracket. There are endless time wasting opportunities such as these on Facebook.

 Facebook is a great way to connect with other people interested in specific topics. “Groups” allow students to join together to make others aware and discuss something in particular. Recently with upcoming presidential election, groups dedicated to a particular candidate have become widely popular. Its way a to show others who you support and a way to show who you do not support. For example, I joined the group “Stop Hillary Clinton: (One Million Strong AGAINST Hillary)” and it currently contains over 905,000 Facebook members. Other types of groups on Facebook include ones called “I love the Mirror Lake Ducks” and “Hell yea I use Coinstar on a regular occasion” which are essentially useless with providing anything valuable.

 MySpace.com and primarily Facebook.com are two websites that are popular with all demographics but are heavily focused towards teenagers and college students. “MySpace and Facebook combined are reported to cover more than 85 percent of all students in high school through college. They are connecting to each other-and not just casual connections but sustainable, global connections for life” (Electronic). As a college student, I have a Facebook profile and I cannot think of anyone my age that does not have their own. Facebook is widely popular as a way of leaving messages with friends and as a way of sharing pictures. It is definitely a popular trend in today’s culture and it is not likely to change anytime soon.

Work Cited:

Ralph Gross, Alessandro Acquisti. “Information Revelation and Privacy in Online
Social Networks.” 2005. Accessed Online. http://www.heinz.cmu.edu/~acquisti/papers/privacy-facebook-gross-acquisti.pdf

Nicole B. Ellison. “The Benefits of Facebook ‘Friends:’ Social Capital and College
Students’ Use of Online Social Network Sites”. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication. 2007. Accessed Online. http://www.swinmc.net/documents/facebook.pdf

Mathew Boogart. “Uncovering the Social Impacts of Facebook on a College
Campus.” University of Wisconsin. 2004. Accessed Online. http://www.krex.k-state.edu/dspace/bitstream/2097/181/1/MatthewVandenBoogart2006.pdf

Daniel Mack. “Reaching Students with Facebook: Data and Best Practices.”
Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship. Summer 2007. Accessed Online. http://southernlibrarianship.icaap.org/content/v08n02/mack_d01.html

Harvey Jones, Jose Hiram Soltren. “Facebook: Threats to Privacy.” December 14,
2005. Accessed Online. http://ocw.mit.edu/NR/rdonlyres/Electrical-Engineering-and-Computer-Science/6-805Fall-2005/8EE6D1CB-A269-434E-BEF9-D5C4B4C67895/0/facebook.pdf

Paper written by B. Willis