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Facebook: A Paradise for Friends and Stalkers

Facebook.com is the No. 7 most-trafficked location on the Internet. Seven-point-five million people have joined since its launch in February 2004. It has become a common tool. More complex than a screwdriver or a hand-held calculator, perhaps, but one that should not be ignored.

Facebook is the all-in-one diary, telephone, bulletin board, drive-in, and schoolyard for many young adults.

On most campuses the word Facebook is used as both noun and verb as in I'll "Facebook" my friend for class notes. It gives students the ability to express themselves artistically without an agent, a gig or a studio show, meet new friends even when they don't have money to go out, and allows them to interact with classmates on assignments without the added pressure of finding a time and a place to meet in person.

Faceebook feels safe because unlike Myspace and Friendster the site requires members to have a valid ".edu" e-mail address from a supported college or high school. This leads lots of undergrads to think only their friends are surfing the site.

Jill Creighton, a graduate assistant at the Office of Student Conduct, says this false sense of security contributes to the plethora of extremely personal information, compromising photos and audacious statements posted every day. "I feel like students are saying Oh so it's only my friends, it's only people at my school, it must be safe to put my room number, my class schedule, my home phone If you go through people's Facebook profiles it's all there. And so basically it's a stalker's paradise."

Users are not limited to students, faculty, staff and alumni. A person with connections to a university can access the site. Potential employers can take a closer look at applicants through their profiles. This can help students project a positive picture of themselves or it can damage a student's chances of success in the job market after graduation.

Posting information about extracurricular activities such as volunteer work done for charities, or connections to on-campus groups that contribute to the enrichment of the university will go over better in the outside world of contractual obligations and a.m. meetings than proclaiming one's love for tequila.

The About Facebook page describes it as a social directory enabling people to share information, and the page expresses a desire to help them better understand their world. And that's the key: realizing what and with whom a person is sharing.
Creighton suggests that school-organized groups and parents need to educate new students about which kinds of personal information should not be posted. It is not enough to rely on common sense when each person has a unique point of view and all motives are possible.

In the case of one Oregon State University student, the wrong kind of personal information in her profile lead to an erroneous online job offer. After being contacted with the details of the employment opportunity, she agreed to meet for an interview. The location was a hotel off campus. As the student entered the room she quickly became uncomfortable with the situation and left without incident.

Jackie Balzer, Dean of Student Life, is working with Creighton and Public Safety officer Paulette Ratchford to create and implement a long-term networking safety plan.
Their goal is to guide new students through the hazards without restricting their access. It is Creighton's belief, "Preventing people from doing something only makes (the problem) worse It never works to say don't do that, don't do that. People have (the) freedom of information (that) they can do with what they want, but they need to be educated."

Learn more about this author, K Shawn Edgar.
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