Is the Facebook party breaking up? We still hear that plenty of students and professors are addicted to the social-networking site, but a New York Times Magazine article out today says that even though overall numbers on the site are up, a vocal group is heading for the exits.
“I have noticed the exodus, and I kind of feel like it’s kids getting tired of a new toy,” one writer told the Times in the very anecdotal account.
An article earlier this month in The Guardian took note of the trend as well, arguing that the “cool cyberkids” are starting to abandon Facebook because too many old fogies have showed up on the social network.
Some professors have been part of the recent group leaving Facebook. Dan Cohen, director of the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University, left Facebook earlier this year and talked about it on his podcast, Digital Campus.
Will students’ interest in Facebook fade this year? Will professors lose interest? Or are reports of the site’s demise greatly exaggerted?
18 Responses to Reports of Facebook’s Death … Exaggerated?
greenhills73 - August 28, 2009 at 5:06 pm
Oh, yes, we old fogies are on Facebook en masse. I love it. I don’t think Facebook is dying. Kids do get bored easily, and if they take the exits, there are plenty of new old fogies who discover Facebook and will continually take their place.
greenhills73 - August 28, 2009 at 5:06 pm
Oh, yes, we old fogies are on Facebook en masse. I love it. I don’t think Facebook is dying. Kids do get bored easily, and if they take the exits, there are plenty of new old fogies who discover Facebook and will continually take their place.
florabelle - August 28, 2009 at 7:59 pm
I likely count as an old fogie, but I’m one of those heading for the exit. I explored the novelty, but discovered that the heavy posters (even among my “friends”) seem to be either lonely, isolated, or narcissists — maybe all three. It’s not even entertaining. At least half of my Facebook friends can boast Ph.Ds., but their Facebook posts seem preoccupied with the trivial, causing me to wonder if perhaps they’re not quite as intelligent as they once appeared. I wish that a few would return to writing old-fashioned e-mails, whose complete sentences and paragraphs suggested a brain that was fully operational.
paievoli - August 28, 2009 at 9:17 pm
It has no value besides being a place to play. There are no real learning experiences going on. All it does is make Zuckerberg richer. Has Facebook given one penny back to education. After all it is the college marketplace that made it what it is today. Even the local college pub buys you a pitcher or has free hot wings once in a while. What does FB do for the college marketplace besides get RAs and athletes suspended? it is a train wreck waiting to happen. And it has happened to some already.
eelalien - August 29, 2009 at 2:52 pm
Perhaps the reason many are leaving is because they are finally running out of drivel to talk about (mostly about themselves and the “interesting” lives they lead). I have never been impressed with what is going on – or not going on – in Facebook. At least MySpace has proved to be a pretty good venue for musicians, and Twitter has become the weapon of choice for people so utterly self-absorbed that they must communicate what they are doing constantly. I have never seen any educational value in FB, and social networking, aside from some of the free tools, has yet to prove its educational value to this educator.
atalanta - August 30, 2009 at 3:24 pm
I’m one of the old fogeys who jumped onto the FB bandwagon rather late in the game, but find myself checking it less and less frequently of late. Here’s a brief chronology of my Facebook usage:At first, I was reluctant to sign on for fear that my students would find me and pester me to become “friends”. When I finally received an invitation from my 75 year old mother-in-law I could not longer resist and joined. (Only one student contacted me, so my concerns were unfounded.) For a while I eagerly reconnected with old friends, posted photos (with privacy settings) and updated the relatives on my family’s activities. At that point I realized that I was actually using FB more like a blog. I discovered that blogspot or livejournal linked to a Flickr photo-sharing site would serve my purposes better, in a more aesthetically pleasing way and without the annoying bells-n-whistle ob FB. And yes, to echo someone else’s post, my acquaintances who post frequently on FB really have very little of interest to say. I’d be satisfied with perusing a blog once or twice a year, in lieu endless bad photos and updates of insignificant activities.
ksledge - August 31, 2009 at 7:36 am
I think the reports are exaggerated. Facebook isn’t dying yet. That being said, I hope it does die soon. It is, as the nytimes article says, the devil.
jenwolf - August 31, 2009 at 9:04 am
Another fogey arriving late to FB, and similar to another poster above, finally deciding to give it a shot after learning even my 80-year old mother has a page. She uses it to keep in touch with widespread family and friends, which is what I now use it for. I’m enjoying catching up with old friends, seeing photos of their kids and grandkids and pets, and hearing about their days. I appreciate that the format invites brevity, and I like how easy it is to share photos and post links to things I find compelling. On that count, my group seems to exercise restraint with the soap box, which I certainly appreciate, and I don’t see much of the self-absorption other posters have mentioned, either. Mostly, just friendly exchanges.
fixsen - August 31, 2009 at 9:18 am
Another old fogey who likes Facebook.There are plenty of other places to read serious material; FB is perfect for sharing daily life and keeping in touch with folks you don’t get to see very often. And my many jazz musician friends use FB to post announcements of their shows – the announcements come right in my e-mail, so I can easily plan my week’s outings. MySpace is better for posting actual music, but otherwise it lacks FB’s ease of use in conversation.
dank48 - August 31, 2009 at 10:20 am
Why do we mistake our own wishful thinking for reliable prognostication? If I don’t like it, it’s on its way to the ashheap of history. If I like it, it’s the answer to all the world’s problems, mine included. It seems to me the one reliable principle is that, whenever something new comes along, whether it’s a paradigm-blasting revolution or just another trinket to play with, there will be an avalanche of commentary, opinion, prophecy, and best-guesses about it, 99.999…% of which will be mistaken, off-target, short-sighted, ill-informed, ideologically skewed, or just plain wrong.
utepdevelopment - August 31, 2009 at 10:30 am
Wellll said, dank48. Love Facebook.
mystery345 - August 31, 2009 at 1:30 pm
Love Love Love Facebook.I have found long lost friends, many many of them. These are friends from high school and even elementary school, not just college. I keep in touch with the day to day ins and outs of family members. I can play games when bored. I can keep track of my middle school age kid and his social life. I can see who his friends are and what they are doing. This is a biggie. There is no hiding from me. I have his user name and password. (My kid is required to friend me or he doesn’t get an account.) Did I mention I can play games when bored? Beware of Farmville.Why does something have to be educational. Why can’t something just be entertaining and informative. And why can’t people just relax and enjoy technology.
reallyrosemarie - September 1, 2009 at 2:29 am
Yes, there are an increased number of adults using Facebook, and many younger students have become angry and feel that their privacy is being invaded and have expressed their opinion quite vividly on FB groups and pages. That doesn’t indicate that this site is becoming less popular. Like many other social networking sites, a person will get out of it what they are looking for. If all they want is to play games, so be it. However, FB offers a way to meet people from many countries we would otherwise never meet, gain a global perspective on current issues, a way to keep in touch with friends living abroad and many other valuable tools. These are just some of the reasons that it has gained in popularity with so many adults. In case you were wondering, yes, several of my friends have not only advanced degrees, but Ph.D.s and we have no intention of giving up Facebook. If the younger crowd is bored with it, let them move on to some other site. They’ll become bored with that site too or find something to complain about.
kmeddings - September 1, 2009 at 5:43 am
“It has no value besides being a place to play.”And what’s wrong with that? Why is everyone looking for educational or professional value in FB? It’s just a bit of fun – take it or leave it, but don’t get so worked up about it!
reallyrosemarie - September 1, 2009 at 9:33 pm
Facebook and other networking sites are fun, yes, but for many areas of education, such as foreign language instruction & many international fields, they offer an invaluable means of connecting to other countries and cultures for both students and instructors in ways not possible previously. Education should attempt to embrace newer technologies as an additional tool for teaching rather than automatically dismiss them.
reallyrosemarie - September 1, 2009 at 9:33 pm
Facebook and other networking sites are fun, yes, but for many areas of education, such as foreign language instruction & many international fields, they offer an invaluable means of connecting to other countries and cultures for both students and instructors in ways not possible previously. Education should attempt to embrace newer technologies as an additional tool for teaching rather than automatically dismiss them.
reallyrosemarie - September 1, 2009 at 9:36 pm
Didn’t mean to post that last comment twice. Sorry everybody!
asanjume - September 3, 2009 at 5:17 pm
“It has no value besides being a place to play.”And that isn’t enough? I think it’s fun and a good break on occasion from the serious work we do.