Student Life

Face to InterfaceHow today's students stay in the social loop
by Brittany Averette

It’s another late night on Grounds and William Anderson (Col ’08) is wasting time "the perfect way": surfing Facebook.com. He uploads some new photos and begins browsing his friends’ updated profiles (he has nearly 500 friends in his list). He sends a quick instant message to his roommate—who is in the same room, up on his loft. His computer screen is the last thing he’ll see before he goes to bed tonight and the first thing he’ll see in the morning, when he wakes up to check his e-mail.

Traditionally, U.Va. students have spent their free time hanging out in dorms, on the Corner, or in the shade of a tree on the Lawn. Their few close friendships were largely limited to fellow students they met first year on their hall, went to high school with or shared classes with.

But today, students visit the most happening social scene from their computer chairs. Their gathering place: the World Wide Web. It’s not uncommon for a U.Va. student to "befriend" hundreds—even thousands—of students from universities across the nation. Many of these friends they’ve only met briefly, haven’t seen in years or never met in person at all.

Thanks to a slew of new social networking sites, online communication is easy and widespread. Internet socializing is no longer a supplement to face-to-face interaction; it’s a replacement. And it’s changing the social behavior and norms of a generation.

Facebook.com, founded in 2004 by a Harvard undergrad, is one of many virtual hangouts to gain massive popularity. Users create personal profiles, load photos, befriend one another and send messages. Facebook "friends" are different from those in the real world: to befriend someone, an invitation is simply sent and confirmed. Those friendships are then listed in the students’ profiles. A profile contains a wealth of personal information—interests and favorites, class schedules and relationship status.

The behemoth among these online communities is MySpace.com, which launched in 2004 and boasts 90 million members. While Facebook is exclusive to students (a profile can only be seen by friends or peers at the same school), a MySpace profile is viewable by anyone. MySpace offers additional features, such as the ability to add audio clips or a blog, and more control over the appearance of an individual page.

But Facebook offers a unique intimacy, as members often share a common lifestyle and location. They can see their social network mapped out—the tens of thousands of people they’re connected to by geography, school or mutual friends.

Students, like Anderson, spend hours scrutinizing their peers’ profiles. Facebook profiles are thus carefully constructed to portray a person’s ideal self-image. A friend count serves as a popularity measure. An impressive list of favorite books connotes intelligence. Virtual groups—such as "Hoos Against Collar Popping" and "All Hail the Gusburger"—are created and joined to define facets of identity and show off a clever sense of humor. This new medium allows an individual meticulous control over his or her public image.

"People obsess over their Facebook pictures. Every picture that’s taken, they review to see if it’s ‘Facebook worthy,’" says Anderson. "If a person wants to be known as ‘cool,’ even though it might be completely inaccurate, all they have to do is find a picture that provokes the connotation they’re aiming for, put a few references to it in their personal information, and there you have it."

While their parents share a more task-oriented view of the Internet, the youth of 2006 go online to spend hours just hanging out. More than 99 percent of U.Va.’s Class of 2009 brought a computer with them to school and most have never lived in a home without one. They’ve been e-mailing since they were old enough to reach the keyboard. A typical U.Va. student will check his or her e-mail, Instant Messenger, Facebook and MySpace profiles countless times a day. According to Facebook, two-thirds of their users log in daily. Many students own portable devices that connect to the Internet to send and receive instant messages, so they can be constantly tuned in.

Online socializing is so seamlessly incorporated into students’ routines that they hardly notice it. "I guess I check Facebook and MySpace whenever I get a chance," says Kimberly Diaz (Col ’09) with a shrug. She considers herself to be a conservative user, as do most students when asked. Students will admit to spending anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour per day on Facebook alone—updating their lists of interests and favorites, adding pictures (more than 1.5 million are loaded onto Facebook daily), responding to messages or checking their friends’ (and friends of friends’) profiles.

But they are always willing to emphasize how much time their friends spend online. "I have friends that spend hours a day in front of their computer screen," says Diaz. "I know a lot of people who spend a lot of time on Facebook," says Anderson, "more than me for sure."

Transfer, international and incoming students find Facebook helpful for more practical reasons. It’s an easy way to meet people. "I’m from Florida and I don’t really know many people going [to U.Va.]. I’ve befriended a lot of people using Facebook. It’s very useful. I feel comfortable with the amount of people I can recognize and approach when school starts this fall," says RJ Cubarrubia (Col ’10).

The prevalence of these sites on Grounds is apparent on a random stroll through the main floor of Clemons Library. More students are logged on to Facebook or MySpace than are checking their e-mail. This trend is nationwide: Facebook is the seventh-most trafficked site on the Web; MySpace is the first, beating out giants such as Google. U.Va. alone has more than 24,000 registered profiles on Facebook.

Because of the sheer number of members, these portals facilitate instantaneous mass communication. Gone are paper invitations, the crude flyers stapled to bulletin boards. Students are able to send a message to their entire list of friends, or the entire University if they desire, through Facebook. It’s an extremely popular way to plan an event—"particularly a surprise party," says Diaz. "You can send the invitation to all of their friends and leave no physical evidence."

These sites have also changed social confrontation. Secrets are no longer whispered amongst friends—they’re broadcast over the Internet. "If you take your ‘relationship status’ down, everyone’s immediately talking about whether you broke up," says David Dang (Col ’07). Annoyed with someone? You can take them out of your "top 8" friends on MySpace. A pointed song lyric in your profile is a useful way to convey anger at a significant other. "A profile is never just a profile. There’s always deeper meaning," Dang says. "But you don’t want the wrong people to think the wrong thing." Because digital communication lacks the intonation and body language of face-to-face interaction, misinterpretation is a common problem.

With so much personal information freely available, there have been recent concerns over student safety. MySpace has received coverage in the popular press regarding the safety of younger members from online predators. Diaz has never had any trouble with privacy issues, but she remains wary. She never befriends someone she hasn’t met in person, for instance. "I feel safe [posting personal information] on Facebook," says Anderson. "If someone contacts me, at least I know they go to U.Va., which means they can’t be all that bad. MySpace is different. That person reading my profile could be an ax murderer."

But the voyeuristic aspect of these sites is also what makes them so appealing. It’s easy to check out someone before meeting them, or spy on a crush. You don’t have to worry about knowing when your ex starts seeing someone else. A blind date is never truly blind; that information is available with the click of a mouse. "I don’t think there is anyone on Facebook who has not [spied on people they’ve never met]," Anderson says.

Fellow students aren’t the only people examining the content of these profiles. Potential employers are researching prospective hires on Facebook and MySpace, looking for any racy content. School administrators are also catching on. A student at Fisher College was expelled for joining an offensive group on Facebook. Students at North Carolina State University were given citations when pictures surfaced on Facebook providing evidence there had been underage drinking in dorm rooms.

U.Va. administrators are so concerned about the amount of student information online that they’re addressing it at new-student orientations. "We’ve seen a rapid rise in the usage of Facebook," says Penny Rue, dean of students. Orientation leaders are discussing the dangers of these sites, and safe Internet practices, with new students and their parents. "Basically, the thought is that it’s not as private as you think it is," Rue says. "Employers, law enforcement and predators all have access to this information."

Young alumni also regularly log on. In fact, according to Facebook statistics, college alumni retain nearly the same log-in rate as current students. "Facebook is a fun way to see what friends from high school and college are up to these days and to keep in contact with people," says Justine Gozzi (Engr ’04). "It’s also nice to have location networks, so you can quickly find fellow U.Va. alums in your area."

As these online communities continue to grow, this generation spends more time in front of a computer and less time experiencing face-to-face interaction, raising concerns about the long-term social consequences. "It’s just a lot easier to send someone a Facebook message than to call them. But it’s much less personal," says Haley Burton (Col ’08), who has more than 800 friends on Facebook. "You don’t get to know people as well. You just judge them by their profiles and what they say about themselves online."

But it’s unlikely that the stampede to get online will ebb. The social pressure to have a Web presence is high. If you’re not online, it’s hard to exist socially at U.Va. "A couple of friends got me on Facebook the summer before my first year. I just wanted to meet people in my dorm. Then I got addicted," Burton says, then adds, "Now I always have to get online and check Facebook."

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