The average college age Facebook user has from a lower GPA than those students who choose not to use the popular social network, according to an Ohio State University study.
Facebook is a social networking community used by millions of students worldwide to connect to each other and express themselves. Facebook is definitely one of the greatest inventions of this era. Beating out MySpace, Twitter and Hi5, Facebook combines the best features of all social networking Web sites to present one of the most addictive sites on the Internet.
To some people, this statistic might not appear surprising at all since previous studies over the past years showed similar results for other social networking networks, most evidently MySpace. But for some, it is very surprising.
Most of us had to leave home to come to Mississippi State, and we had to leave behind all the people we know back in our hometowns. We usually have to leave friends who go to other colleges to pursue different paths than the ones we chose for ourselves. We leave behind our parents and family and we leave our best friends. And here, Facebook comes to aid.
When there are 200 or so people back in your hometown you have to stay in touch with and want to keep them updated, you add them as Facebook friends. You are now able to connect with all your friends through one portal, one social network. Your friends and parents ask you to keep updating your status so they know what you have been up to day by day.
It is very convenient to keep all your friends updated without having to call them or send them letters or even text them, which would be very time demanding. Asking me to deactivate my Facebook account seems very irrational – I personally find people who do not own a Facebook account are missing a big part of this century’s life experience.
The Reflector even has its own Facebook page. You should become a fan of it, by the way.
It might seem that Facebook is a bad decision all around. It is an obvious potential distraction for all employees and students. But, like all other distractions, we should be able to be control ourselves and manage our time wisely.
Television, video games, parties, social gatherings and such other temptations distract college students every day. When your mom is not around to yell that you need to study, there is less pressure and desire to study. So Facebook should not be special. Facebook is just another tool available for those who want to have fun. Checking status updates and what level you are in FarmVille seems important, and sometimes it is.
We just need to be careful, the same way we handle everything in our lives. It is not a big deal if we use Facebook for 20 minutes every day. It is not a big deal if we update our Facebook status a few times every day using Facebook’s text messaging service. It is definitely not a big deal to log on Facebook just to check the newest tagged photos.
We all know students with 4.0 GPAs who have Facebook and use it frequently. Anything more than 20 minutes is just a waste of time. Going around and stalking people’s profiles, checking their profile pictures and commenting on all their photos is definitely a waste of time. Those who do it know that. You will find Facebook active during days where people do not want to work, like on exams week.
We cannot really blame anyone who is using Facebook. There is no crime in wanting to be connected to friends and family.
Lower GPAs might be a big problem, but Facebook is not entirely to blame. Students who want to procrastinate and not study are going to do so no matter what. Blaming it on Facebook is the excuse of those who are trying to find a lame excuse to justify not doing homework. Those who cannot prioritize their time to the best of its use, have a tendency to blame Facebook or, more specifically, FarmVille.
And Facebook is trying to make it more time efficient to be on Facebook. The new live feed and news feed give you all the information you need to stalk people without having to go to everyone’s profile and look for news there. It is all in your hands now. There is no need to waste hours to know what your friends have been up to. Everything from who they befriended to their relationship updates is all now listed in one Live Feed.
Don’t try to make Facebook the bad guy. It is just a Web site.
Abdallah Abu Ghazaleh is a freshman majoring in electrical engineering. He can be contacted at [email protected].