Its fun to think of what college may have been like years ago. 10 years, 20 years, or even longer. Colleges have been around a long time, and as they have evolved, so too has the technology that surrounds them.
Did our parents message each other over Facebook to find out when they could study together? Did a “25 Things” note initiate that spark of interest that later led to your birth? I’m guessing not, but you’re still here anyway.
I can only begin to extrapolate what may have occurred on campuses decades ago, but it is interesting to look around at the present.
Study groups meet in chat rooms. Text messages for possible lunch locations. Facebook messages for everything from complaining about professors to letting everyone know you’ll be attending an NEIU Stage Theatre event.
Indeed, Facebook has become such an integral part of campus life that it has evolved from a noun into a verb. “Facebook me” is a rather common saying in many classrooms.
It’s hard to say if we’re better or worse off than leaving messages on each other’s answering machines. Surely it allows us to schedule meetings and discuss homework more quickly and efficiently than ever before. But is the time saved overshadowed by the time lost?
While many have undoubtedly used Facebook or MySpace for the activities listed above, the sites are also used for more than that. Much more.
Did you hear that Kelly broke up with Drew? He found out through Facebook! Or that Samantha likes mustard on grilled cheese sandwiches, according to her “25 Random Things About Me” note? What exactly are we discussing here? Are these meaningful uses of our time? Can I write an entire paragraph with question marks?
The answer is 42. And in addition to that, I’d venture to say no, these are not complete wastes of our time.
What Facebook does on a Web site is what has been going on for generations and generations, just in a different form. I highly doubt our parents didn’t have some way of wasting time together, discussing the latest gossip at the soda pop stop. We just do it through computers as well as face-to-face.
So don’t feel too bad if you’re procrastinating a little bit on that term paper. We all do it; you’re not alone. It only becomes a problem if you end up not turning that term paper in. And that’s your own fault anyway, not Facebook’s.