“Stand up if you haven’t watched TV today,” Dr. Felicity Paxton instructed the 120 students in her COMM 123 class, Critical Approaches to Popular Culture. I proudly stood up, realizing that I actually haven’t watched TV since I stepped on campus three weeks ago. I wasn’t alone—a good number of my lecture classmates joined me in what I thought was a gold-star-worthy, pat-on-the-back stance against the media’s unrelenting tug on the college population.
The next question brought me back to reality. “Now, stand up if you haven’t checked Facebook today,” Dr. Paxton asked. A murmur rose in the class as students looked sheepishly around, raising eyebrows at the few who did stand, automatically considering them some kind of higher being that was able to resist temptation. Or maybe they just didn’t own a smartphone…
It’s true—our iPhones, Blackberries, and Droids allow us to be constantly connected. We all fall victim to the plight of “Oh man, I’m not doing anything, so I should probably mindlessly scroll on my phone” every once in a while. But how often are we checking Facebook? With the advent of new social media platforms such as Instagram and Twitter, many college students have begun to use Facebook differently than they used to. one billion dollars a few months ago.
Sure, it’s great to stay in touch with friends back home, but the number of photo albums documenting every waking moment of every day has drastically reduced. This is due in part to Twitpics and Instagram feeds, which allow you to instantly alert your followers to your interesting life moments rather than waiting to create a whole Facebook album. On his personal blog, Mark Zuckerberg said that it “would be worth bringing these two companies together” in order to provide “the best photo sharing experience” for Facebook users.
Freshman Alyssa Berlin said that although she’s “not a huge Instagram user,” she uses it as a preliminary step before uploading a Facebook photo. “I can edit it and make it look nice and cool and then upload it,” she says.
Growing up smack in the middle of technology’s massive rise to power has caused our generation to expect speed, ease, and accessibility. Sophomore Hannah Greene said she spends “more time on Twitter and other outlets than Facebook now because they are more immediate and iPhone-friendly than the Facebook app.”
Facebook has received many complaints about its new timeline format and the ‘Top Story’ feature—people want to know what is going on right now, even if the fact that so-and-so is eating Cheerios might not get as many ‘likes’ as something that someone else posted earlier that day.
“Twitter and Instagram are more stream of thought, like ‘I’m doing this or eating this,’” said freshmen Jillian Gutstein. “I don’t use Facebook to make status updates ever because I put that stuff on Twitter instead.” Sophomore Abby Richardson agreed, stating that she doesn’t “even use Facebook chat that much because it’s so much easier to text.”
Companies and organizations, including ones on campus, have increasingly tried to integrate all of the social media networks in order to create a solid online presence. In fact, many Penn groups and clubs have added new staff positions with titles like “Social Media Coordinator” or “Media Representative.” Students have tried to keep up with events and blog posts by merging all of their social media outlets into one. Graduate student and Ware House G.A. Lana Xu said, “What I have thought about doing (but have not done) is to link my Twitter/blog with my Facebook account. I have been reading my friend’s blogs via the links they provided on their timeline. I guess I check Facebook more often now just to keep up with info feed from other new social media.”
Facebook still is the dominant way that students stay in touch with old friends, but don’t let it consume you. Stay smart and safe, but remember to always have fun with it! Need some help maintaining the proper college student social network presence? Read “50 Social Networking Rules for College Students.”