Facebook: The good,

the bad and the ugly

Michael Bertner
Leslie Jo Shelton

Part 1: Orientation Session

This session is meant to give a

general overview of:
What Facebook is
The history behind Facebook
Basic features of Facebook
General Student Issues Regarding
Facebook
General safety tips for all online
communication

The History of Facebook

Facebook is an online directory that connects

people through social networks at schools
(Facebook.com)
Launched to the public Wednesday Feb 4,
2004
Harvard students created the site as a tool to
connect with other students in their
community
It announces birthdays, events and invitations
Start-up based in Palo Alto, California
Begin small and is now one of the top ten
most visited sites on the web and is profitable

(Information compiled from New York Times.com, The Chronicle of Higher Education,
Facebook.com and Wikipeda.com)

Why Students Make

Facebook pages

Generates a sense of community

Can be used as a form of advertisement
Seen as a forum to postulate views
High School Facebook might lead to College use
Fun way to stay connected to old friends
Easy way to make new friends
Academic support (Connects people through classes,
fosters partnerships)
Allows for self-expression and self-representation
Student groups use it as a form of communication
Part of the new on-line communication movement
Free form of mass communication

(Information gathered from Personal Experience, New York Times. Com and The Chronicle of Higher Education)

Features of Facebook

There is a function that allows you to block people

There are standards as to Facebook names (no
profanity, celebrity, etc)
There is no way to see who has looked at your
page
Efforts to stop spammers exist
Facebook groups exist by college only, you can
not belong to a group that was created at another
college
Offensive groups can be reported and shut down

(Information gathered from Facebook.com)

Features continued

High School Facebook does not connect to

College Facebook so the two groups of
students can not mingle
Facebook supports more than 2500
schools in several countries
Can not mass mail all of your friends
Only people on your friends list can post
on your wall
You can anonymously report offensive
pictures and content

(Information gathered from Facebook.com)

Student Issues concerning

Facebook

Unless you specify only friends anyone can

see your profile
You will not know who has viewed your page
Information can be used against you in a
number of ways

Stalkers
Practical Jokers
Thieves
Con artists

Universities are beginning to use Facebook for

a number of functions:
Background checks
Judicial Sanctioning
General information gathering

(Information compiled from New York Times.com, The Chronicle of Higher Education,
Facebook.com and Wikipeda.com)

Safety Continued

Communications created through Facebook

are subject to the same laws and policies as
written/verbal communication:

Therefore threats and intimidation can and

will be prosecuted in both the Judicial and
Legal arena.

Knowledge of the safety issues can keep

you out of danger, both personally and
Academically
An example of what can happen when
Facebook is used inappropriately (Diversity
College example)

(Information compiled from New York Times.com, The Chronicle of Higher

Education, Facebook.com and Wikipeda.com)

Basic Online Safety

All online communication

(journaling, instant messaging,
Facebook, rate my professor, etc)
can be used in both positive and
negative ways
All of these sites are public forums
and as such what you write can be
viewed by others
The First Amendment does not
cover all speech (threats or
inflammatory statements for
example) and students should
make themselves aware of the
limitations

Safety continued

Repercussions can stem from postings

Such as:
Employers can use Facebook to check
backgrounds
Judicial Officers can use Facebook at a
sanctioning tool
Threats placed through an electronic forum will
still be taken as serious and authorities will act
as if the threat is real

Password safety and identity theft

(Information from ASJA listserve)

Why this presentation is necessary

The recent situation involving one of our

students is the perfect example of why
such presentations are necessary.
Such a presentation shows us to be proactive,
aware of issues and willing to institute change
This presentation not only benefits our
students, it gives us something to point to
incase students plead ignorance of such rules
and protocol in the future

Part 2 Online Tutorial

Why do students need this?

It is important to go slightly more into depth
with students so that they have a solid
understanding of their obligations and risks
Students are more likely to retain the
knowledge if we use multiple ways of
presenting information
Students will learn better by doing something
engaging rather than sitting passively through
a presentation

The Topics of the Tutorial:

Threats Specific to Facebook

Uses of Facebook
Possible Harm Coming from
Facebook
General Electronic Safety

Threats Specific to Facebook

A discussion looking at the positives and

negatives of Facebook and other online
communication tools
Looks at:
What a public online space is and what
responsibilities a student takes on when
creating one.
How information posted on Facebook can be
used by others to cause students harm and
distress.
Specific attention paid to Theft, Stalking,
Emotional Distress and Identity Theft

Uses of Facebook

Discussion of how postings, groups

and other media can portray
students and affect future chances
for success. Looking at topics such
as how:
Prospective employers use Facebook as
a background check
School Administrators use Facebook for
academic decisions and judicial
sanctions

Possible Harm Relating

to Facebook

Postings, communications and other

media can cross lines from legal to
illegal and have serious
repercussions in the personal,
academic and professional arenas
Discussion of where these lines are
clearly drawn, where they are hazy
and what students need to know

General Electronic Safety

A look at password safety (what it

should/should not be, how to store
it), browser etiquette (closing
windows that had sensitive/personal
information), online relationships and
general risks involved and public
viewing rights (who can see what)

Why These Topics?

While we know Facebook is a large entity with any

number of different topics which could be
discussed; the topics we have focused upon are
the ones most likely to create problems for our
students if they are not made aware of current
dangers
These topics were agreed upon after research was
conducted using news outlets (New York Times),
higher education journals (The Chronicle of Higher
Education), various on line sources
(Wikipedia.com, Facebook.com) and reviewing
professional discourse (ASJA Listserve)

Tutorial Test

The test would consist of 20 questions which would be a

mixture of multiple choice and true false questions drawn
from the variable topics (5 per topic). The quiz would be
made in the form of a Facebook page, with each of the
groups representing a topic students would be quizzed on.
Questions on the quiz would occasionally reference the
mock page to further engage the student.
Sample questions have been included below to indicate
tutorial content and correct answers have been bolded.
Correct answers were identified using New York Times.com,
The Chronicle of Higher Education, Facebook.com and
Wikipeda.com and the ASJA Listserve

Question Set 1

Questions for Threats Specific to Facebook:

1. Who can view a Facebook page:

A) Anyone who is on the Facebook network
B) Only people I chose to
C) Anyone who is on the Facebook network unless I select the friends only
feature
D) Anyone who has access to the internet
2. Who can create a Facebook page?
A) Anyone with internet access
B) Anyone with a email account that ends in .edu
C) High School Students, College Students and Alumni who satisfy the sites
requirements to sign up
D) Parents of college students
3. True or False: You can be can be held legally or judicially responsible for
information you post on the internet
4. True or False: Facebook does not monitor account names, site content,
multiple accounts, ect.
5. True or False: There is an official reporting system on Facebook if you find
offensive material

Question Set 2

Questions for Uses of Facebook:

1. How can Facebook be used:

A) It is only a social site
B) Employers, Schools and other entities can use it as a screening tool
C) A site to find friends and parties
D) All of the above
2. How might judicial officers currently use facebook?
A) They cant, the information is protected under the first amendment
B) They can use the information as a sanctioning tool
C) Depending on a schools code of conduct and policies judicial officers can
hold students responsible for any content found on the site
D) They dont look at it
3. True or False: Others can chose to put information on your page
4. True of False: People who visit your profile can see what has been written
on your wall
5. True or False: You can make people take picture down of you that they
post on their site

Question Set 3

Possible Harm Coming From Facebook Questions:

1. Can statements (threats/harassment) made electronically have legal or

judicial consequences?
A) Yes, they are a form of communication and are covered by the same rules
that cover spoken and written communications
B) Yes they are not something people are allowed to do
C) No, saying something electronically is not the same as saying it personally
D) No, its on a website
2. Is it a bad idea to list personal information on your Facebook like our
sample page individual?
A) No, friends will be able to find me much easier that way
B) No, none of that information is that big a deal
C) Yes, that information puts me at risk for identity theft, stalking or personal
theft
D) Yes and no, its a personal choice
3. True or False: People could potentially find out where you live, who your
friends are and your schedule through a Facebook account
4. True or False: Police may find party invites and crash parties using
information they find
5. True or False: Facebook is responsible for any negative actions that occur
as a result of information posted on their site

Question Set 4

General Electronic Safety:

1. Where should you store your password:

A) It is fine to write it down and stick it in a drawer
B) Written down in a secure location only you and people you trust have
access to
C) On your desktop with the file name Password
D) Just tell people, its not that big a deal
2. What should you do when you are finished looking at a secure website?
A) Close the browser window so no one else can see it
B) Minimize the window, it will cycle out of the page eventually
C) Just put in a new website, no one would be able to get back to what you
were looking at
D) Leave it where it is, with out your information people cant do anything
with it
3. True or False: Utilizing the automatic login feature on computers which
stores user name and password is safe
4. True or False: There is no risk in having your AIM profile contain links to
pages with more personal information included
5: True or False: Online relationships are completely safe because you can
always log off and the other person knows only what you have told them.

How do we know it works?

Receiving results: Before distributing student scores they

would be required to fill out an online survey regarding the
tutorial and test. This would allow for quantitative and
qualitative research
The data will be stored and this committee can compare
student behavior pre and post tutorial to see if there are
correlations between the new program and decreased
incidents of risky student behavior
While the committee will meet bi-monthly to discuss
current needs and concerns, a more formal analysis will be
conducted one year after launch to analyze necessary
change and usefulness

Recommendations

Faculty and Staff should complete the orientation

and tutorial as well because:
The issues affecting students will bleed over in to faculty
life as well
Students are using online tools more and more as their
preferred form of communication, if we want to meet
students where they are, we need to know how to talk
in their language
There are numerous education opportunities Facebook
presents if used correctly
Judicially it is a powerful fact finding tool and can be
used in a number of different capacities
Staff can enjoy the social aspects of the site too!

Final Thoughts

As student affairs practitioners we have the

unique experience of working in a time where
communication tools grow faster than anyone
ever thought possible.

We realize that in order to understand our students

world we must understand the tools they use to engage
one another
While online communication may seem like a fad, the
extraordinary growth of such enterprises suggests it is
not going anywhere
As with new tool or application, when used appropriately
Facebook has extraordinary potential to form community
and bonds between students. It falls to us to educate
our students to be sure they enjoy all of the befits but
none of the risks