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WELCOME TO FACEBOOK!
By Stephanie Quade, Ph.D. — Associate Dean of Student Development, Marquette University
Whether it’s a ski trip, a summer vacation or some other good time, students usually can’t wait to share the pictures with all their friends. Popular social networking Web sites like Facebook and MySpace make it easy to share these and a whole lot of other data, such as interests, activities and contact information. Just fill out a profile, upload photos and hit the return key.
And if a couple of these photos just happen to show your student and his or her underage friends doing shots of tequila at the beach house, no harm, no foul, right? Students might think so, but a June 11, 2006, New York Times article warns that what they’re putting out there could be seen by more people than they think:Many companies that recruit on college campuses have been using search engines like Google and Yahoo to conduct background checks on seniors looking for their first job. But now, college career counselors and other experts say some recruiters are looking up applicants on social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, Xanga and Friendster.
Students might brush this off by saying, “But I won’t be graduating or looking for a real job for a while, so what difference does it make?”
It makes a big difference, and here’s why: To get an account with Facebook, which is comprised mostly of student users but also includes corporate and nonprofit organizations, users must sign off on this agreement:
By posting member content to any part of the [Facebook] Web site, you automatically grant, and you represent and warrant that you have the right to grant to the company an irrevocable, perpetual, nonexclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to use, copy, perform, display, reformat, translate, excerpt (in whole or in part) and distribute such information and content and to prepare derivative works of, or incorporate into other works, such information and content . . .
Which means in short, anything your student posts on Facebook can be used by Facebook — forever. This means that years from now, when your student is running for Senate, pictures of that bad haircut — or worse — could surface.
Because university alumni, faculty and staff also make up a distinct Facebook user segment, there’s another thing to think about: Marquette faculty and administrators can and do sign up for their own Facebook accounts. This is important for your students to remember as they apply for on-campus jobs or ask for letters of recommendation.
As recently and widely reported in the national media, Facebook will soon be making accounts available to anyone with an e-mail address. While this means your student will have to be even more diligent, as a parent, you might be thinking, “Oh, good, now I can view my student’s Facebook page and see what she's up to.”Be aware that Facebook does allow students to restrict access to their profiles to a select group of people, called “Facebook Friends.” This means that, as a parent, you’d only be able to view your student’s page if you are accepted as his or her Facebook Friend. Not likely to happen, as echoed by a student quoted in a recent USA Today article: “I don’t even want to think what will happen [to Facebook] when Mom and Dad can join.”
As the primary coordinator of Marquette’s student conduct system, I am often asked if I regulate students’ Facebook accounts or search Facebook for possible violations of Marquette’s student conduct code. While we will respond to violations of Marquette policy on Facebook that are brought to our attention, the university’s primary concern is that Facebook can be a barrier to in-person communication. For example, roommates will often post comments about each other rather than just talking to one another. Instead of resolving conflict, posting on Facebook often leads to an escalation of e-mails and a total breakdown of communication.
Together, perhaps the greatest thing we as parents and Marquette staff can do is encourage our students to get back to basics and talk face-to-face more often.
WAYS TO ENCOURAGE YOUR STUDENT TO BE A SAVVY FACEBOOK USER:
- Protect yourself. Use privacy settings.
- Because Facebook is being accessed by more and more non-university folks, avoid posting too much personal contact information, including class schedules and cell phone and room numbers.
- Make sure that your online persona isn’t saying more, and to more people, than you want.
- Before posting something about another person, get that person’s permission. What one person thinks is funny could be hurtful to another, potentially triggering an escalating posting war or other consequences.
- While Marquette administrators do not routinely monitor Facebook for conduct violations, if there’s a formal complaint or concern, the university could take disciplinary action.
