Freaked Out About FaceBook

 thought the creepiest things to happen to social networking was when old guys, claiming to be eighteen-years-old started roaming social networks like MySpace and FaceBook looking to hook up with fifteen-year-olds.But now there’s a whole different kind of creepiness. And this one includes old guys in white lab coats roaming through FaceBook profiles. A bunch of scholars at Harvard University and University of California have decided to turn the vastly popular FaceBook into a giant mouse maze.

If you’re a constant visitor of the site then you’ve probably added those quirky applications that let you throw your friend out window, bake them a cake, head butt – or make up your own little creative action.

Researchers have begun studying one class of students at a particular college, where applications like ‘Hot or Not’, ‘Pirates vs. Ninjas’, and cute little digital pets have become tools in determining certain aspects of social interactions online.

The story in the New York Times didn’t specify if the class being studied knew that these creeps – I mean – scholars had informed them that they were looking at every little program they added, picture they posted, and whether or not they liked the movie Fight Club or not.

Now, I understand that if you want to get a juicy perspective on youth culture – Facebook would be a good place to start. But there’s something about social science freaks digging through my profile and trying to find meaning in the fact that I just dropkicked my friend that makes me a little uncomfortable.

Most of the time, I think social networking profiles are just a plastic exterior that doesn’t necessarily represent us as an individual. It’s more like an external attachment, like a external hard drive. It isn’t really apart of us but it can be – but it’s temporary and changes without us having to change along with it. Trying to draw together some conclusion and hidden meaning in stuff like this can only end with misinterpretations.
—Eming Piansay

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