Not every face has a Facebook.
Cassie Pence, freshman, is one student on campus who has not signed up for a social networking site. To some, the decision to live a life without Twitter, MySpace, and
Facebook may sound impossible, but to Pence it’s simply not her outlet.
“I don’t have Facebook because when they first came out I was still young enough for my parents to control my time spent on the computer and therefore the computer was only really used for schoolwork,” Pence said. “By the time I had free computer usage, the local news in my area had done a report on some of the dangers found on MySpace and after that I didn’t feel the need nor real care to get a Facebook or Myspace page.”
Pence uses e-mail, Blackboard, and her cell phone as primary methods of communication, a method that suits her well.
“I figure if the people I’m friends with can’t send a text message, tell me face to face, or e-mail me about something then it isn’t all that important for me to know,” Pence said.
Sophomore Vanessa Healey used to be without Facebook, but signed up for a page last year.
“I held off because I really didn’t think I needed another account to remember a password for,” Healey said.
However, she soon realized it would be a good way to keep in touch with her friends and family.
“I had to give in eventually or lose contact with a lot of people,” Healey said.
Associate Professor of Humanities Tonia Salvini Facebooks frequently, and sees it as a means to keep in touch with students and faculty.
“It’s a tool,” Salvini said, “Like any tool, you have to exercise discretion and use it responsibly.”
Salvini often comments on social and humanitarian issues via the social networking site.
She is just one of many professors who use Facebook, and some professors, such asShannon Dyer, Chair of Communications, encourage its use as a means to network instead of gossip.
Ottawa University itself uses Facebook extensively to reach out to students, yet with each upside there’s a downside to consider.
“It has just given me more mindless, useless things to do to waste time,” Healey said.