Wake up. Change my status on Facebook and read a couple of other people’s statuses. Get on Twitter and tweet to everyone that I am on Facebook checking statuses. Go to class. While in class, get on Facebook and see what everyone is doing while in class. Tweet to see if anyone wants to go eat after class. Leave class. Go eat. Change my Facebook status and tell all my other friends I am eating at Hopper and how the food is that day. Go to an event on campus and continuously tweet on how it goes, and read everyone else’s tweets on the event because if they are there, they are sure to be tweeting also. Leave the event, go to my room and tell Facebook and Twitter I will be unavailable for about an hour so I can study. Go study. After I am done studying, I go Tweet and Facebook everyone goodnight. Typical day.
Twitter and Facebook are outlining the lives of many college students now, especially myself, as you can see. The question is: Is this new technology advancement a pro or con?
First, consider the cons. Both of these social networks can be distracting. If I am in class that doesn’t require my hardcore attention, I find myself on Facebook and Twitter. I find myself talking to my fellow classmates via Facebook and Twitter.
Despite the networks’ popularity, there are those who find the constant exchange of tweets and Facebook chatter simply annoying.
“One of my friends stays on Twitter all day. She gets on as soon as she wakes up, before she even brushes her teeth, [and stays on] until she is going to sleep. All I hear all day is, ‘On Facebook, so-and-so said this, and did you see so and so’s tweet.’ I want to tell her sometimes, SHUT UP,” Alexis Simmons, sophomore biology major, said.
It can be annoying if someone only wants to talk about what happened on Facebook or what someone tweeted, but it is up to the individual to separate the social networks from the rest of daily life.
However, Facebook and Twitter do have pros.
“I find out about all the CAB events, the talent shows, and meetings for organizations and people through Facebook. Everybody is on it and will probably see it sooner or later,” Isis Remarco, sophomore early childhood education major, said.
Others see the networks as places to “get things off their chest,” or express their feelings.
“Facebook and Twitter is like a release place to me. If I feel a certain way one day, I can just tweet it, and it’s let go,” Candace Hutchinson, sophomore accounting major, said.
Whichever way you view Facebook and Twitter, they’re both major parts of society. Many artists, companies, restaurants, TV shows, and countless others are using Facebook and Twitter to reach audiences.
So here’s a challenge, if you think that the two websites are pointless, join for a couple days and see what happens. You might be surprised. If you know that you are a Twitterhead or a Facebook addict, see how long you can go without the sites. Use some of the other communication channels in your life and see how far you get.