Facebooking: The Lazy (but efficient) Way To Meet Friends

Making new friends and maintaining friendships can take effort. You have to clean up, put on clothes, leave your room, and engage in conversations. The topic of conversations can move in directions that don't interest you, and people can drop into your group that you don't particularly care for. Situations can arise that make you feel awkward or embarrassed. Maybe you would like to disengage for a few minutes- to take a little power nap or read a book. You can't do this without offending someone.

Not so with facebooking. You are in charge. Talk with people when you want. Stop when you want.

This is part of the allure of facebooking. It is like an ever changing online yearbook. To find people with similar interest just type in that interest and there results are endless. Just a mouse-click away.

You can even form your own group and invite others to join.

You see a cute guy or girl, and you want to get to know them. Back in your room, with one click you learn not only their e-mail address, but also the classes that they are taking and their interests. This will give you good pick-up info. The person won't even know your stalking them.

Facebooking is free. If you have a school e-mail address, just answer a few questions, post your picture- and start making friends. You can do a search of your own campus or even locate old friends who might be attending college somewhere else.

You have control. You can set the privacy settings to determine who can view which parts of your profile: the contact information, personal information, courses you are taking, and a list of your online friends.

Many students find the allure of facebooking irresistible, a new form of procrastination. And in college there is so much to procrastinate from.

Facebooking has a touch of whimsy. The poke options let's you "poke" anyone you want.

Change your mind about someone? It's so simple to drop them. Just click the "defriend" button. But risky. That's a slap in the face.

Not only you see a list of your friends but also you can track your social network-the friends of friends, the people you can reach in three to fewer steps. In your couple of steps, you social network could balloon into several thousand.

The usual popularity contest has reared its head, of course. Who has the most friends listed. Large number give them bragging rights. Pathetic, but true. There is something strange about groups that exists in cyberspace, profiles that might be faked, and friends you may not even know. But life itself is strange.

On the serious side: Facebooking provides a sense of belonging on what can be large, impersonal campuses. It is reassuring to see that you are connected to others-even most of the connections are in cyberspace.

Source: Social Groups and Formal Organizations