The new myTWU

Posted by admin on Nov 2, 2006 in Community | 0 comments

Something has been stirring in the waters of Trinity Western University and infecting its inhabitants. Perhaps you too have caught the bug; it may have been transmitted through your laptop by a mere stroke of the keyboard. Perhaps you’re experiencing its symptoms: the uncontrollable itch to get on the Internet and hit that certain website. No, I’m not talking about pornography; I am referring to the itch to indulge in Facebook.

On its homepage Facebook describes itself as a “social utility that connects you with the people around you,” a description that is conveniently synonymous with TWU’s theme of ‘community.’ Home to over 500 TWU students, the website could very well be considered a reinforcement of this theme that our campus so thoroughly emphasizes each year.

Through this network, students inform others of their dating status, interests, activities, and current whereabouts, and communicate via ‘wall writings,’ which are personal notes left by friends. An observer might think, “Wow! What an example of community in action!” But I wonder how authentic this Facebook community is.

First, I am concerned by what may define a ‘friend’ on this website. After entering your email address and password on the login page, it is common to be greeted with the heading “one Friend Request,” which typically comes from a recently-made acquaintance. Many people will hit the “confirm” button on impulse; thus, it is rare for a site-member to have less than about 40 names listed on their ‘friends page.’ But I wonder if confirming a ‘friend request’ automatically qualifies the relationship as a bona fide.

When asked why she immediately confirms a request, a third year English student said, “I just add to the number of friends I have on Facebook. Plus…they might actually become [real] friends one day.” In most cases, an accepted request is just an addition to a collectionl, making ‘friends’ commodities rather than companions.

I am also concerned by the ‘message wall.’ A simple greeting from a friend always brightens one’s day; is there any harm in doing so through Facebook? Another user I spoke to feels a common symptom of the Facebook bug when she logs on the site and sees no new wall writings.
“It’s disappointing,” she says. When this occurs, she says she “write[s] on other people’s walls. That way if they’re good friends, they will write back, if they have any sense of human decency.” This behaviour is symptomatic of a true Facebook-er.

While I may seem to be attacking the website, I confess that I am an avid member as well. I impulsively confirm a friend request, and I am guilty of writing on walls to get a message in return. But I still think that basing one’s social life on an Internet social network is not the healthiest way to pursue relationships. Still, I wonder what the world would be like without ‘poking.’