Unless you have been on a particularly lengthy holiday on the moon, it is fair
to assume you are familiar with Facebook, the ubiquitous social networking
site that has become something of a phenomenon. But for us, the students of
this world, Facebook has been the zeitgeist for quite some time; before it
was discovered by tens of millions of users and before it became an
international media obsession, it was our student secret.
But that was in more innocent times. That was before our parents and, shock
horror, our tutors, swooped in on the frenzy. Since its real explosion in
Britain earlier this year, the ‘F’ word has been littered all over the press
and television in the same way that it has been smattered across our inboxes
for the last few years. Indeed, this very website has its own
section devoted to the thing.
The threat to our online social lives comes from a Federal court case brought
by three of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's fellow students at Harvard.
The three founders of rival site ConnectU have accused Zuckerberg of fraud
and misappropriation of trade secrets and are asking for ConnectU to be
given ownership of Facebook.
According to ConnectU founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss and Divya Narenda,
they began developing a social networking site back in 2002, but after
asking Mr Zuckerberg to finish off the code, he essentially went AWOL until
Facebook materialised. Facebook now boasts around 34 million users, compared
with ConnectU’s modest membership of 70,000. Legal experts are sceptical
about the likely success of the Winklevoss’ claims, and the hearing is now
on hold after Judge Woodlock gave the claimants the chance to file a fresh
plea, and declared that “dorm room chit-chat does not make a contract.”
But now that we have set up camp in this virtual phenomenon, what would we
really stand to lose in the (albeit seemingly unlikely) event that Mr
Zuckerberg comes unstuck? Are our friendships really as brittle and
ephemeral as a Facebook poke? Will our capacity for social interaction be
forever stunted? Or, might we emancipate ourselves from this unbridled
addiction to social trivia and our oppressive and compulsive need to
document the inane details of our paltry existences on the web?
We have been branded the Facebook generation. And it’s a rather telling
description. It says a huge amount about how we choose to express ourselves,
to communicate, and to live our lives. While everyone else is griping about
state intrusion into their lives, we’re busying ourselves posting the
intimate details of our lives on full view to a global audience of tens of
millions of people (and counting).
God forbid the authorities were to use Facebook as some sort of surveillance
tool. They wouldn’t just know where we’ve parked our car or whether we have
been engaged in a bit of petty theft recently, they would know our
up-to-the-second relationship status, a detailed run down of our wardrobes,
our sex lives – and what we had for breakfast. But, then again, we are the
generation that far from whining about the potential realisation of George
Orwell’s apocalyptic doom-mongering, sitting down to watch ‘Big Brother’ as
an hour’s worth of delicious, voyeuristic, entertainment. This is 21st
century communication, and we’re revelling in it.
There’s something just utterly fantastic about the concept. It’s hard not to
marvel at the ability to share photos, messages, videos, gifts and
increasingly, actual real life, at the click of a button, and to a viable
worldwide audience. Following my graduation last month, photos of my peers
and me in our gowns were up in minutes. I have been accepted onto a master’s
course and the university in question recruited me to their Facebook group
before I even knew it. It allows for the possibility to spark grass-roots
movements in minutes, with the potential to enlist tens of thousands of
activists to your cause, and, in the current climate, even gain an
accompanying dose of media attention. For those who can’t resist the urge to
be unremittingly nosy, social networking sites offer the opportunity to
indulge in spying on a global scale.
Anyone who is anyone appears to be jumping onto the friendly bandwagon.
Facebook and the like now seem to be the new political battleground on which
to woo Britain’s youngsters. Referring to the internet, then Labour deputy
leadership contender Peter Hain told Times Online: “Young people tend to be
the early adopters. People of my generation catch up eventually.” But Tom
Miller, creator of a Facebook group for one of Mr Hain's rivals, Jon
Cruddas, was far from convinced about the authenticity of political debate
on social networking sites. “It would be nice if more of the candidates
would actually have the debate, rather than relying on purported personality
merits or press attention via fake profiles on Facebook.”
Facebook’s appeal is obvious, but there is a dark side to the phenomenon. In
the eyes of many, it propels an insidious blurring of public and private.
The Virginia Tech tragedy showed the power of the website, offering grieving
students the chance to share in their loss together, and immediately. But it
also offered the world a window into their experiences. This was often far
from welcome and was seen by many students on the VT network as a
distasteful intrusion. But we must realise that unless we’re very vigilant
with our privacy settings, this is a very public platform on to which we are
posting our lives.
In the US, colleges and universities have been known to resort to Facebook to
detect underage drinking and violations of dry campus policies. But some
students haven’t always taken it lying down – and the weapon used to wage
their fight-back? Facebook, of course. When one group of students at the
George Washington University advertised their party online, it wasn’t long
before they were raided by campus police. To their horror, the police
discovered only a stash of illicit cake; no alcohol; and later claimed that
the break up was the result of a noise complaint. To top off what sounds
like delicious revenge, the party-goers posted photos of the party on
Facebook, including mug-shots of one flummoxed officer. “The look on the
faces of the cops was priceless,” beamed one of the guests.
And only a few weeks ago, Oxford University inspired the wrath of students
around the world with the news that they were using it to spy on, reprimand
and fine their students engaging in so-called ‘trashings’. Well it was only
a matter of time. Such sites are simply too valuable a source to go
untapped. Then there was the story that parents are invading our personal
[cyber]space. Some things never change. Although the mother of a friend of
mine persists in referring to it as Bookface. So it still may take some
time. More worrying for our future prospects though, stories have been
abounding that employers are increasingly using social networking sites as a
tool to screen potential employees.
There are many who can’t help thinking that a little piece of the magic has
been lost, now that it isn’t just our little secret. For some, that started
when it was opened beyond the bounds of just the elite institutions. “What,
Birmingham’s on Facebook!” was one of the many cries from early Oxbridge
addicts. For others it was when the site was opened to anyone regardless of
their student status. And who would rejoice that our parents, our
institutions, and our potential employers are all now trying to use it,
sometimes against us? But with 150,000 people said to be joining each day,
and the site conquering everything that lays before it, this juggernaut
shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon.
That is unless the court case is successful, which it should be said, legal
experts are doubtful about. But let’s think the unthinkable. Were Facebook
to be confined to legal history – as the new academic year begins to dawn on
us – perhaps students around the country, deprived of the absolute king of
distractions, might do the inconceivable, and put their faces into some real
books. You know, the dusty, academic, three-dimensional kind.
Should Facebook bite the dust, wouldn’t we be losing the greatest thing since,
well, the last big thing? The simple answer is no. Because, with or without
Facebook poking, wall posts and turning friends into zombies, social
networking, the en masse accumulation of friends, and the relentless
updating of total trivia, are here to stay.
