Concerns surface over Facebook, other online communities
Ask any college student, and chances are good he or she knows what it means to “Facebook” someone.
The online community that began just two years ago at Harvard College has taken the country by storm, with more than 6 million student profiles as of December, according to Wikipedia.
With the growing popularity of Facebook and other online communities, though, surface concerns of safety and privacy at universities across the nation, as well as at NDSU.
“ The university is not at a point where we’re going out looking for violations of policy, but we’re looking at it as a safety issue and how we can encourage people to be safe,” Janna Stoskopf, director of the Memorial Union, said.
Facebook, by far the most popular college-focused online community, was created in early 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg at Harvard. Originally intended as a way to connect that campus, the site has grown to include universities across the nation and other countries.
Profiles include photographs, contact information, hometown, relationship status, political views, interests and more, as well as a list of friends, groups, courses, organizations and messages.
“ (Online communities) can be a good tool for students to get to know each other and share information,” Casey Peterson, assistant director of learning services and intercollegiate athletics at the Office of Orientation and Student Success, said. “But they can also create risks.”
While Facebook attempts to limit access to those with .edu e-mail addresses, Peterson points to the example of Joseph Duncan, a former NDSU student and high-risk sex offender who was arrested last summer on charges of the deaths of four people.
“I randomly checked 10 female student athletes’ pages, and five had their exact room numbers posted,” Peterson said.
In addition to safety concerns, privacy and freedom of speech, issues surround the concept of online communities.
For example, in terms of use for Facebook, users grant a “broad license to use, copy, perform, display, reformat, translate, excerpt in whole or in part, and distribute the information and content that is put up on the service,” Stoskopf said.
In addition, student athletes and some student employees, like resident assistants, sign contracts of behavior and responsibility.
“ There’s a different level of education and a higher level of expectation,” Karla Thoennes, associate director of residence life, said. “It’s not our role to go out and look at everything, but when it comes to our attention, we can’t ignore it.”
More than 300 student athletes recently gathered to discuss the risks of Facebook, including posting photographs that show activities like underage drinking.
“ We were there for the appropriate use of a good tool,” Peterson said. “Not to single anybody out and not to penalize anybody.”
In addition, Peterson said information and photographs posted on Facebook could possibly be seen by future employers and internship supervisors.
He offered a rule of thumb for users of the site and other online communities.
“ Post only information you’d be OK with your mom, dad, coach or teacher seeing,” he said.