The Independent Student Newspaper of St. John's University

The Torch

The Independent Student Newspaper of St. John's University

The Torch

The Independent Student Newspaper of St. John's University

The Torch

Facebook: not just the favored tool of procrastinators

Ask college students today if they have Facebook and chances are pretty good that they will say yes. Facebook has become one of the most visited sites by college students, who sometimes visit it three to four times a day.

A very common question people who have just met ask each other is, “Do you have a Facebook?” It is safe to say that Facebook has become a phenomenon.

And why is this? Facebook is a great way to keep in contact with people, whether it’s those you go to college with, went to high school with, or even people you know from as far back as grammar school. A great aspect of Facebook is that it has become international.

International students here at St. John’s can use it to talk to family back home. Students can write on their friends’ walls to ask about class assignments or just to say hello. Also, you can wall-to-wall any conversation, which makes it a lot easier than going back and forth between Facebook pages.

Another great benefit of Facebook for students is the event planner application. Anyone can plan a party or a club meeting and invite friends. A helpful feature within this is that people can R.S.V.P. or decline the invite, making the planning process much easier.

The networks on Facebook allow students to find out who goes to St. John’s or who lives in what city. Through the St. John’s network, as well as the search engine, we have access to countless students’ Facebook profiles, which makes it easy to find people in our classes.

A third asset of Facebook is the thousands of groups. Whether it’s about the upcoming election, like “NoBama in 08,” or for a political issue such as, “Pro-Choice, Pro Woman,” there are groups for just about anything. There are even silly groups like “Dunkin’ Donuts is kind of a big deal in my life” or, if you have seen the legendary Superbad, “After seeing Superbad I’m officially changing my name to ‘McLovin.'”

For the Freshman students before school started, the group “St. John’s University Class of 2012! (Queens Campus),” brought a feeling of school pride and community even before they set foot on the campus. Through this group, they were able to see who they would be going to college with and it made it much easier to find anyone they met at orientation.

Aside from the groups on Facebook, there are hundreds of applications that allow students to express their individuality. The “Pieces of Flair” application boasts over 100 pins to browse through and it is very easy to make your own “flair” and send it to friends. Similarly, “Bumper Stickers” are also a popular feature. Perhaps the most beneficial thing about Facebook is the privacy settings.

You can control who can see your profile, who can search for you, what shows up in your newsfeed and wall, and what information is available on your applications, making Facebook one of the safer sites. Also, if you don’t want someone to see you on Facebook, you can easily block them.
Those who use Facebook know the benefits are tenfold. It is a great tool that has become a significant part of college students’ lives, particularly for procrastination. It is no wonder that Facebook is still going strong.

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