2008 Woodie Awards
Facebook, a necessity for knowledge
Nadine Goldman
Issue date: 2/22/07 Section: Focus
'll admit that I'm something of a Facebook junkie. When my sister started her freshman year at American University, my Facebook activity increased dramatically so I'd still appear popular while her freshmen friends reveled in the novelty of wall posting (I'm still beating her, but she's getting close). With the addition of News Feed, you can even track how much of an addict I am (go ahead, I dare you), as I have about 17 billion new "stories" per day. But all kidding aside, I believe Facebook has some real benefits other than self-esteem boosting.
There's the obvious benefit of networking. I've spent many pleasant hours finding my old friends from school, sleep-away camp, Young Judaea and pretty much everywhere else. And while discovering their Facebook profiles hasn't necessarily led to a true rekindling of the lost friendships, I'm still interested in seeing what these people are doing, who they're in and out of relationships with, and where they went on vacation. Facebook has also made it much easier to keep in touch with my friends who have graduated. Yes, there's MySpace, but their search engine is so impossible to use; I can't find anyone unless I already know everything about them. Whereas Facebook neatly organizes users by network, MySpace users are so scattered that you need to know the email address of whomever you're trying to find, which, if you're tracking long-lost friends, you aren't likely to have. Not to mention that while not everyone has a MySpace account, everyone has Facebook.
And because everyone has Facebook, it's an incredibly effective organizing tool. I would know nothing about upcoming Senior Pub Nights if it weren't for Facebook. The Events feature not only tells me when the next Senior Pub Night will take place, but also who's planning on coming. I've seen Facebook used to generate interest for new campus organizations like the newly started Renaissance Culture Club. A simple Facebook event for an organizational meeting helped me build a talented editorial staff for Hatikvah, the new Israel magazine coming out on campus, by allowing me to publicize to a broader range of people.
There's the obvious benefit of networking. I've spent many pleasant hours finding my old friends from school, sleep-away camp, Young Judaea and pretty much everywhere else. And while discovering their Facebook profiles hasn't necessarily led to a true rekindling of the lost friendships, I'm still interested in seeing what these people are doing, who they're in and out of relationships with, and where they went on vacation. Facebook has also made it much easier to keep in touch with my friends who have graduated. Yes, there's MySpace, but their search engine is so impossible to use; I can't find anyone unless I already know everything about them. Whereas Facebook neatly organizes users by network, MySpace users are so scattered that you need to know the email address of whomever you're trying to find, which, if you're tracking long-lost friends, you aren't likely to have. Not to mention that while not everyone has a MySpace account, everyone has Facebook.
And because everyone has Facebook, it's an incredibly effective organizing tool. I would know nothing about upcoming Senior Pub Nights if it weren't for Facebook. The Events feature not only tells me when the next Senior Pub Night will take place, but also who's planning on coming. I've seen Facebook used to generate interest for new campus organizations like the newly started Renaissance Culture Club. A simple Facebook event for an organizational meeting helped me build a talented editorial staff for Hatikvah, the new Israel magazine coming out on campus, by allowing me to publicize to a broader range of people.