Hi, my name is Tyler Armstrong, and I'm a junior transfer student. I was born and raised in Ithaca, leaving only for 2 years to attend junior college in Buffalo. My major is communications, and I hope to pursue a career in the mass media field, more specifically sports broadcasting.
I am willing to admit that I am a Facebook addict; not only do I find it entertaining, but who doesn't love getting a new wall post or friend request from that good looking girl you just met on Saturday night? As a fan of the infamous social networking site, I find it alarming that some people feel such a substantial sense of attachment and ownership towards it. Anytime a change is made or a new feature added, thousands and thousands of users are uproarious in protest. The first example that comes to mind is the News Feed. When Facebook first introduced it I was actually a fan. I didn't mind allowing my friends to see the things I had done to my profile, because I figured that was the point of Facebook; to keep your friends and family updated on your life. Not 12 hours had passed since the addition however, when seemingly hundreds of groups formed boycotting the new feature, with users threatening to delete their accounts if things weren't restored to how they "used to be." Little did these people know however, that the mob mentality they were feeding into was simply fueling the money machine that is Facebook.
As is the case with most media enterprises, any publicity is good publicity. Blogs and websites all over the Internet picked up on the frenzy that News Feed (and its sidekick mini feed) had created, and began reporting on it and adding their two cents to the debate. The extra attention that Facebook was garnering only added to the popularity of the site, as people who had never used the site in the past - whether uninterested or unaware - became intrigued or curious, causing a Facebook fever pitch. The increased awareness of the site brought more possibilities for the Mark Zuckerberg camp. With the demand for his product at an all time high, he opened the site to any and all users. This created an even larger outcry, as college students everywhere felt "betrayed" and no longer "elite." What many people were forgetting however, is that Facebook is a business. With more users, comes more money. Ad revenue and potential sale values have simply skyrocketed, and Facebook is as popular as ever.
I think that it's only natural for many users to feel an attachment to the site, as countless hours are spent surfing it. I feel it's important however for many members to realize that Facebook is a business first, and a service second. We ourselves pay no money to use the site (unless buying a 1.00 gift *coughripoffcough*), rightfully leaving us with limited-to-no say in its business operations. The number of users has increased exponentially since the introduction of the News Feed, so while some may have deleted their accounts in protest, their decision was pointless (and I'm willing to bet they re-activated within days).
Facebook is a conglomerate of almost every aspect of the internet. It provides a Search engine to navigate through a sea of resources and possibilities, it has its own e-mail feature (Messages), and the Groups and Wall entities allow for both asynchronous and synchronous discussions. The new Applications programs act somewhat as MUDs and metaworlds, sometimes adding visual effects, video, music, sounds and games to users' profiles.
Facebook is an internet giant and somewhat of an anomaly. It encompasses so many different areas of communication, it is an entity unto itself.
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I am willing to admit that I am a Facebook addict; not only do I find it entertaining, but who doesn't love getting a new wall post or friend request from that good looking girl you just met on Saturday night? As a fan of the infamous social networking site, I find it alarming that some people feel such a substantial sense of attachment and ownership towards it. Anytime a change is made or a new feature added, thousands and thousands of users are uproarious in protest. The first example that comes to mind is the News Feed. When Facebook first introduced it I was actually a fan. I didn't mind allowing my friends to see the things I had done to my profile, because I figured that was the point of Facebook; to keep your friends and family updated on your life. Not 12 hours had passed since the addition however, when seemingly hundreds of groups formed boycotting the new feature, with users threatening to delete their accounts if things weren't restored to how they "used to be." Little did these people know however, that the mob mentality they were feeding into was simply fueling the money machine that is Facebook.
As is the case with most media enterprises, any publicity is good publicity. Blogs and websites all over the Internet picked up on the frenzy that News Feed (and its sidekick mini feed) had created, and began reporting on it and adding their two cents to the debate. The extra attention that Facebook was garnering only added to the popularity of the site, as people who had never used the site in the past - whether uninterested or unaware - became intrigued or curious, causing a Facebook fever pitch. The increased awareness of the site brought more possibilities for the Mark Zuckerberg camp. With the demand for his product at an all time high, he opened the site to any and all users. This created an even larger outcry, as college students everywhere felt "betrayed" and no longer "elite." What many people were forgetting however, is that Facebook is a business. With more users, comes more money. Ad revenue and potential sale values have simply skyrocketed, and Facebook is as popular as ever.
I think that it's only natural for many users to feel an attachment to the site, as countless hours are spent surfing it. I feel it's important however for many members to realize that Facebook is a business first, and a service second. We ourselves pay no money to use the site (unless buying a 1.00 gift *coughripoffcough*), rightfully leaving us with limited-to-no say in its business operations. The number of users has increased exponentially since the introduction of the News Feed, so while some may have deleted their accounts in protest, their decision was pointless (and I'm willing to bet they re-activated within days).
Facebook is a conglomerate of almost every aspect of the internet. It provides a Search engine to navigate through a sea of resources and possibilities, it has its own e-mail feature (Messages), and the Groups and Wall entities allow for both asynchronous and synchronous discussions. The new Applications programs act somewhat as MUDs and metaworlds, sometimes adding visual effects, video, music, sounds and games to users' profiles.
Facebook is an internet giant and somewhat of an anomaly. It encompasses so many different areas of communication, it is an entity unto itself.
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