PRO
By Sebastian Van Bastelaer
While finishing the three weeks I spent in Tanzania over the summer, I was struck with a sad realization: once I left the village, I would probably never see those students and villagers again.
It was, after all, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to interact with these people. My fears were eliminated, however, when I heard a phrase I never thought I’d hear in rural Africa: “Do you have Facebook?”
Seven months later, I’m still in touch with those people. Having a Facebook account opens the window to stay in touch with people I would have never had a chance to contact again.
In an age where we can travel to distant corners of the globe within a couple of days, people have the chance to make friends all over the world. In today’s interconnected world, Facebook is vital to preserve and nurture those relationships.
Critics of the site tend to focus on its impact on a local scale, saying that interacting with friends through a computer is hardly interacting at all. However, when viewed from a global perspective, Facebook’s impact can be huge. Just take exchange students, for instance.
Exchange students from a school in France arrived Feb. 25, but their hosts had already gotten in touch with their guests online weeks prior, learning about each other and preparing to share a home together for two weeks. Junior Harrison Guh has learned that his guest plays hockey, and already made plans to attend a Capitals game with him. That’s something that could never happen without Facebook.
Those who argue that Facebook is a major distractor fail to realize that any waste of time is the users’ responsibility, not the site’s fault. The website isn’t forcing anyone to stay on it. Most can spend a reasonable, controlled amount of time on the site, and have fun in the process. Anything can become a tool for procrastination, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have value.
In addition, many people who oppose Facebook argue that the site’s system of “liking” people’s posts and pictures is a competitive, unrealistic view of society. However, the ability to “like” somebody’s material is just that: a chance to tell people that you appreciate who they are, or what they believe in.
There’s a reason that most people who join the site stay on it. Yet despite its widespread popularity, there are still many who consistently criticize it. I would continue to refute them if I could, but in the end, why rub it in? They’re missing out enough already.
CON
By Sarah Friedman and Samantha Zambri
In a world where one’s social life is determined by her Facebook profile page, you could call us nobodies.
My name is Sarah Friedman. Most of you probably don’t know that, because you’ve never seen me pop up on your Facebook news feed. To me, that is a good thing, given that I’ve probably never met most of you in my life. When I was 12, my parents banned me from Facebook, despite my constant begging and pleading to make a profile “like everyone else.” They finally caved when I got to high school, but by then I had realized I didn’t want a Facebook after all.
My name is Samantha Zambri and I’m a recovering Facebook addict. Like any junkie, I didn’t realize how bad my addiction was until I was in too deep. Honestly, I don’t hate Facebook. In fact, there are often days when I miss it. But contrary to my friends’ beliefs, life without Facebook isn’t agonizing or boring or isolating. It’s freeing.
Those without Facebook are outsiders to the universe of friend requests, groups with instantaneous updates and profile picture drama. In their world, they don’t have to request to be friends with anyone, the best way to do a group project is to work on it in person, and if someone wants to know what they look like, she will have to track them down in real life.
Being friends with someone is so much more than the click of a button. “Stalking” someone’s Facebook profile page before meeting him or her takes away the mystery of getting to know a person—his or her friends, interests and past summer’s events—all of which are easily available online. Making immediate judgments based on a few pictures and words on a web page doesn’t feel like the best way to meet someone in the “disconnected” world of the Facebook-less.
We admit, there are benefits to having a Facebook page. There’s a reason why 1.1 billion people—about a seventh of the world—have a profile on the network. Groups and teams can send out updates and rally their troops efficiently, and it’s nice to know what people are doing when you may not talk to them as much as you would like.
However, no one can deny that obsessing over “likes” on a profile picture is almost as ridiculous as Miley Cyrus’ VMAs performance. How many of those likes on your profile picture are from people who actually think you’re attractive? No one will ever know.
Working on a project via Facebook chat isn’t the best environment for the creative process. Computer screens act as barriers between productivity and procrastination. Completing part of a project before a physical meeting with a group feels more urgent than having to post it on a Facebook group before a certain time.
Finally: the creativity conundrum. It’s much more difficult to communicate ideas online than it is in person. Meeting in person allows ideas to flow organically, without having to type into a chat box. It’s easier to make comprehensive decisions when all group members are present and paying full attention to the task at hand, not looking at their best friend’s new profile picture, checking Edline, watching a YouTube video or taking a Buzzfeed quiz.
We’re sorry in advance to all of you who have to work on a group project with us in the future, but when it comes to Facebook, consider us offline for good.