The Town of Facebook
Currently in one day a quarter million people create a Facebook account. They then set out on a process of “friending� and essentially creating a community on Facebook. Since the original group of Facebook users were college students in select schools, the level of comfort for displaying personal information was relatively high. The original use in the community was to arrange activities, show off your photos, find people with similar interest, sound witty and much more. Since it was a community of peers it became appropriate to display very personal photos and information (some of which is typical for certain age). The original purpose was also different then other networking sites. It was selective i.e. you needed a college email address to join so there was a higher sense of security as opposed to a more open MySpace. It was also not intended as a way to stay connected to your work colleagues like LinkedIn is.
Due to the popularity of the application changes happened quickly on the platform. It soon became open to all users and then it even became searchable by google. With those changes Facebook went from a private club of college students to a small town in the country. In a community where everyone knows a lot about others typically there is a fair amount of self-policing or self-censorship. But not everyone sees Facebook as a small community and everyone has different ideas about what their network is suppose to be. However due to the very public nature of the application please have gotten into non-digital trouble. Despite real-world consequences for online activities, the amount of Facebook faux pas continues to increase.
It then begs the question, in an era of web 2.0 and beyond if there should be basic education about the does and don’ts of online behavior? For older people tips about how to use the platform could be useful. For example if you supervise people you probably should not be friending them. For young people it might be helpful to have some advice about security issues and how not to Facebook your way out of a job. Most importantly, the longevity of online information is important to understand. A wall post that was made in high school quite possibly could still be on the internet 10 years later. Or more simply, helping people understand the manners surrounding online behavior could help avoid issues in schools, workplaces, and political campaigns.
