Facebook the other Myspace?
Facebook the other Myspace?
Even though I have heard that Facebook is not at all like Myspace.com I do have some concerns. Is it safe? I know some Stake Presidents have voiced their opposition to it. Why is it so popular with most college students? Are there other similar sites like this that we should avoid?
"Condemn me not because of mine imperfection,... but rather give thanks unto God that he hath made manifest unto you our imperfections, that ye may learn to be more wise than we have been." Mormon 9:31
facebook is popular because it's an easy way to "socialize." it's not as dangerous as myspace, but it's pretty similar. some byu stake presidents have warned students to avoid facebook, and some have outright commanded students not to use facebook at all. of course, many people ignore those warnings. byu has a huge facebook community. i believe at least half the student body uses facebook. in 2006, there were over 15,000 registered byu users. i don't know how many there are now, but it's definitely popular.
so let it be written... so let it be done.
15,000? Sheesh. Does that include alumni, or just current students? Yeah, social sites focused on young people can lead to a lot of problems. I believe that their general influence does more harm to society than good.
When God can do what he will with a man, the man may do what he will with the world. ~George MacDonald
i'm not sure about alumni... but facebook hasn't been around very long, so it's probably mostly current students. here's the link to that source:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_q ... _n16193993
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_q ... _n16193993
so let it be written... so let it be done.
This insatiable appetite for social contact...sad.
The blessed ties that bind seem to be unravelling more and more. Are college students really so isolated and lonely? Is the current campus environment really so alienating or cumbersome that the internet is the most fulfilling source for contact people can manage? Once again ... sad.
As Ian mentions, it seems to be an "easy" way of socializing.
"...but because of the easiness of the way..."
In this context, I think "easy" is a pejorative term.
I'd like to send out a general patriarchal plea for all my children to completely abstain not only from establishing pages on such sites, but even from visiting the pages of friends on such sites. Is it unrealistic to think that phones, email, real mail, faxes, face to face conversation and the like should suffice for the nurture of appropriate relationships? If not, then thanks, but I'll stay here in my bubble.
Allowing fun to trump caution is a very slippery slope.
The blessed ties that bind seem to be unravelling more and more. Are college students really so isolated and lonely? Is the current campus environment really so alienating or cumbersome that the internet is the most fulfilling source for contact people can manage? Once again ... sad.
As Ian mentions, it seems to be an "easy" way of socializing.
"...but because of the easiness of the way..."
In this context, I think "easy" is a pejorative term.
I'd like to send out a general patriarchal plea for all my children to completely abstain not only from establishing pages on such sites, but even from visiting the pages of friends on such sites. Is it unrealistic to think that phones, email, real mail, faxes, face to face conversation and the like should suffice for the nurture of appropriate relationships? If not, then thanks, but I'll stay here in my bubble.
Allowing fun to trump caution is a very slippery slope.
Last edited by John on Tue Aug 14, 2007 12:12 am, edited 1 time in total.
"Music's golden tongue flatter'd to tears this aged man and poor."
This was an interesting article from a British newspaper.
More than 4.5 million fall for Facebook
By Harry Wallop, Consumer Affairs Correspondent
Last Updated: 10:53am BST 15/08/2007
David Cameron is on it, so too, apparently are Gordon Brown and William Wales.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg
And now – official figures show – 4.5 million other regular users in the UK.
Facebook, whose popularity has snowballed in recent months, moved into the top twenty most popular web sites in the UK during July, according to Comscore, a firm which measures internet users around the world.
Back in January, Facebook did not make it into the top 100 visited sties.
It was ranked 17th last month, with the number of unique people logging on the to the site growing from 1.6 million at the start of the year to 7.6 million.
advertisementThese figures take into account repeat users, but Facebook itself said that has gained 3 million users in the UK since May 24, to bring its British total to 4.5 million – and these aren’t just people setting up spoof pages, these are people using the site at least once a month.
Nate Elliott, senior analyst at Jupiter, said that he thought that Facebook was proving to be more than just a flash in the pan.
“A lot of social networking sites have been passing fads that have come and gone.
But MySpace shows no sign of slowing down and we may be getting to the point where Facebook is getting 'stickier’,” he said explaining that users were not only returning to the site but spending increasing amounts of time on it.
With over 2 million regular users, “there is a strong chance that any Briton can log on and find quite a few of his friends on the site. That makes it far more useful than if there were only five of your friends on the site.”
He added that Facebook’s secret was to allow outsiders to add any application to the site, such as the notoriously popular computer version of Scrabble.
This allows members to play the game against each other over the internet – while never leaving Facebook’s site.
Bob Ivins, the managing director at Comscore in the UK, said: “Social networking sites like Facebook and Bebo have shown phenomenal growth over the past 6 to 12 months – and will continue to do so as the 'network effect’ gives them momentum.
The larger, more popular they become the more people that are attracted to them to find their friends and the friends of their friends.”
Experts reckon the popularity will be boosted as the internet takes off on mobile phones – “the ultimate social networking tool”, as one industry executive, described it.
Facebook is already available for some US mobile phone users, and UK operators are understood to be negotiating hard with the site to allow them to enter into a partnership, which would allow people to “update their status” as they walked down the street.
More than 4.5 million fall for Facebook
By Harry Wallop, Consumer Affairs Correspondent
Last Updated: 10:53am BST 15/08/2007
David Cameron is on it, so too, apparently are Gordon Brown and William Wales.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg
And now – official figures show – 4.5 million other regular users in the UK.
Facebook, whose popularity has snowballed in recent months, moved into the top twenty most popular web sites in the UK during July, according to Comscore, a firm which measures internet users around the world.
Back in January, Facebook did not make it into the top 100 visited sties.
It was ranked 17th last month, with the number of unique people logging on the to the site growing from 1.6 million at the start of the year to 7.6 million.
advertisementThese figures take into account repeat users, but Facebook itself said that has gained 3 million users in the UK since May 24, to bring its British total to 4.5 million – and these aren’t just people setting up spoof pages, these are people using the site at least once a month.
Nate Elliott, senior analyst at Jupiter, said that he thought that Facebook was proving to be more than just a flash in the pan.
“A lot of social networking sites have been passing fads that have come and gone.
But MySpace shows no sign of slowing down and we may be getting to the point where Facebook is getting 'stickier’,” he said explaining that users were not only returning to the site but spending increasing amounts of time on it.
With over 2 million regular users, “there is a strong chance that any Briton can log on and find quite a few of his friends on the site. That makes it far more useful than if there were only five of your friends on the site.”
He added that Facebook’s secret was to allow outsiders to add any application to the site, such as the notoriously popular computer version of Scrabble.
This allows members to play the game against each other over the internet – while never leaving Facebook’s site.
Bob Ivins, the managing director at Comscore in the UK, said: “Social networking sites like Facebook and Bebo have shown phenomenal growth over the past 6 to 12 months – and will continue to do so as the 'network effect’ gives them momentum.
The larger, more popular they become the more people that are attracted to them to find their friends and the friends of their friends.”
Experts reckon the popularity will be boosted as the internet takes off on mobile phones – “the ultimate social networking tool”, as one industry executive, described it.
Facebook is already available for some US mobile phone users, and UK operators are understood to be negotiating hard with the site to allow them to enter into a partnership, which would allow people to “update their status” as they walked down the street.
"Condemn me not because of mine imperfection,... but rather give thanks unto God that he hath made manifest unto you our imperfections, that ye may learn to be more wise than we have been." Mormon 9:31
Those are the numbers for the UK...here's a look at universal stats (according to Facebook's corporate office):
- Over 150,000 registrants daily since January.
- 35 million current users.
- 47,000 Facebook groups.
- In September there were no users from outside colleges, today that user base consists of over half.
When God can do what he will with a man, the man may do what he will with the world. ~George MacDonald
Well I know that President Wilke in the BYU 1st stake has made it totally clear that no student in the stake may use "myspace, facebook, facespace, or any other similar kind of website--at all!"
Pretty clear if you ask me. Plus he was good enough to draw the conclusion for the doubtful--if you still use it, then yes, you are disobeying your stake president, and consequently, the Lord.
Don't you love how clear they can make it for us?
Pretty clear if you ask me. Plus he was good enough to draw the conclusion for the doubtful--if you still use it, then yes, you are disobeying your stake president, and consequently, the Lord.
Don't you love how clear they can make it for us?
"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us"
there are many perceived dangers of myspace and facebook, but honestly i'm not an expert on this. myspace seems to be worse, but facebook is similar. here are the issues that i'm aware of (at least with myspace):
content: myspace isn't censored. there is a lot of profanity and sexual/violent/drug-related content. many sexually-suggestive images and videos.
predators: a lot of predators hang out on these sites. it can be dangerous even if you don't give out your cell phone or address.
weirdos: there are lots of other weirdos on these sites (i.e. unsuitable friends). we've been counseled to be careful in choosing our friends. to use myspace/facebook is to ignore that counsel, in my opinion. it's very easy and common for people to lie about themselves on these sites. so for example you could be talking to a 45 year old pedafile who claims to be a teenager.
secrecy: what people do on myspace and facebook is usually private from their families. so, for example, if a teenager is using one of these sites, their parents often have no idea what's going on. our bishop told parents to create an account so they could join their kids' list of friends (i think that was before our stake president told everyone to close their myspace accounts).
waste of time: a lot of people i know who use these sites spend way too much time on them. these sites are addicting because people feel like they have lots of friends. unfortunately these sites create a false sense of popularity.
those are the first things that come to my mind, but i'm sure people have other concerns.
content: myspace isn't censored. there is a lot of profanity and sexual/violent/drug-related content. many sexually-suggestive images and videos.
predators: a lot of predators hang out on these sites. it can be dangerous even if you don't give out your cell phone or address.
weirdos: there are lots of other weirdos on these sites (i.e. unsuitable friends). we've been counseled to be careful in choosing our friends. to use myspace/facebook is to ignore that counsel, in my opinion. it's very easy and common for people to lie about themselves on these sites. so for example you could be talking to a 45 year old pedafile who claims to be a teenager.
secrecy: what people do on myspace and facebook is usually private from their families. so, for example, if a teenager is using one of these sites, their parents often have no idea what's going on. our bishop told parents to create an account so they could join their kids' list of friends (i think that was before our stake president told everyone to close their myspace accounts).
waste of time: a lot of people i know who use these sites spend way too much time on them. these sites are addicting because people feel like they have lots of friends. unfortunately these sites create a false sense of popularity.
those are the first things that come to my mind, but i'm sure people have other concerns.
so let it be written... so let it be done.
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