Addicted to Facebook

I was at a party last week when a friend snapped a picture and immediately said it was going on her MySpace. Another friend snapped one more and said it's going on Facebook. I laughed at them both, thinking how ridiculous they sounded, and then realized that I'm also totally addicted to Facebook.

I tried to remember what we did with our photos (and our time) before we had social networks like MySpace and Facebook. As soon as I walk in the door I'm at my computer checking my e-mail and my Facebook. But I'm not the only one addicted to the online social network craze. There are 9,800 students, faculty and alumni currently listed as part of FAU’s Facebook network and 2,600 on FAU’s MySpace group.

But as college students, which one is better - MySpace or Facebook? For me, it’s Facebook. In fact, I think the 7,000 more students who have an account with Facebook, and not MySpace, would agree.

Facebook, which was originally created for only college students, is more practical for what us college kids want to use it for. Although it is not as pretty as my custom-designed MySpace profile, Facebook is way more user-friendly.

So, why is Facebook better?

Less creepy people and kids
From stalkers to strippers and salesmen, there are some weird people on MySpace. Whether they are promoting themselves, trying to hook up with you or selling you something, you have to watch your back on MySpace. On Facebook, you don’t really have to worry about talking to a 14-year-old wannabe pron star, getting asked out by a stranger or buying junk. People on Facebook usually belong to a school or geographic network and use their real (full) name. And if someone is promoting them self, it is because they are in a band. While Facebook recently allowed anyone to join, it's members are still mainly college students and high school kids. The Facebook creep factor is definitely less than MySpace.

Better photo albums
Unlike MySpace where you can just write captions, Facebook photo albums let you actually tag your friends in the photos you upload. That way any photo of you shows up on your profile and vise versa with your friends. You can also upload a bunch of photos at one time and have as many photos and photo albums as your heart desires. Plus, it is all really user-friendly and the uploading is pretty fast.

Fun applications
Facebook recently released Facebook Platform, a new program which allows developers to create fun new applications to add to your profile. From the “Where I’ve Been Map” to daily horoscopes and my personal fav, the new Graffiti drawing application, there are more than 1,000 applications for you to choose from. You can even add Dane Cook and Grey’s Anatomy quotes to your profile. But the best (and Facebook's "most used") applications are Top friends (much like MySpace), Free Gifts, and Moods (which you can update all day long).

Easier to find friends
Because everyone on the site belongs to a network – either your school or geographic region – it is much easier to find people. You can search by name, e-mail, school or city. It’s a great way to keep in touch with your high school buddies and make new friends with the people you have class with. Facebook is also a great place to promote an event or a party with a virtual invitation. Another easy way to meet people is through Facebook groups. There are tons of groups open for you to join or you can just create a new one. Whether they are just for the FAU network (there’s currently 180 FAU groups), like "Rock the Owl 2007," or global groups (any network can join), like "Channel 4 News W/ Ron Burgundy," there is something for everyone.


The University Press has a MySpace page and a Facebook group. (You have to have a Facebook account to see in). Check ‘em out and add us as a friend.