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| 2/26/2009 1:45:00 PM | Email this article • Print this article |
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| Computer programmer David Peterson admits he’s a Facebook fanatic. |
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| Karmen Cook |
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Facebook: Not just for college kids anymore
Part II: Facebook's growing generation
Stephanie Ludwig
Reporter
David Peterson got it to catch up with his fraternity buddies.
Karmen Cook wanted it to keep in touch with friends she met on a Guatemalan mission trip.
Daniel Sauer uses it in his ministry.
And Pat Hunsche uses it to find out how family is doing in Arizona and Florida.
All four are decades apart in age but all can call themselves Facebookers, users of the Internet social networking site Facebook. The site, which was originally only for college students, has opened up so that anyone in the world can join.
And they do.
In Washington County, people of all ages and walks of life have logged onto the Facebook phenomenon, each with his or her own reason for joining. Some want to keep in touch with old friends, while others just want to keep an eye on what their children are doing online. Some are addicted to social networking and "blogging," things that Facebook offers.
Whatever the reason, Facebook is not just for college students anymore.
The computer junkie
As a computer programmer, 46-year-old David Peterson is online a lot. Combine that with his outgoing, enthusiastic demeanor, and it's no wonder he loves Facebook.
"It's a natural extension of how programmers communicate," explains Peterson.
He says there are several reasons he is on Facebook: first, he's comfortable with the technology and he's on a computer all day for his job; second, he enjoys blogging on it; and third, Peterson just loves keeping in touch with people on it.
"It's important to me to maintain relationships," he said. "Something in my makeup likes to maintain them. Facebook enables me to maintain those relationships."
Peterson initially joined Facebook to keep in touch with his old fraternity buddies. But shortly after he joined, Peterson found many more friends on the site than just college chums. Old co-workers led to high school classmates, and soon Peterson found himself getting onto the Web site everyday.
He recently found his best friend from high school, whom he lost track of many years ago.
"Through Facebook, I caught back up with him again. I hadn't seen him in 27 and a half years," Peterson said.
Today, Peterson said he updates his Facebook status (a one-sentence statement informing other users what you are doing, feeling, thinking, etc.) at least once a day.
Recently, he even used Facebook to help find a job. Plugging into a Facebook network of computer programmers allowed him to get his name out there and look for opportunities.
"I wrote a post looking for work, and someone messaged me and I got a new job. It works," Peterson said. "Professionally, it's handy."
Not everyone agrees with Peterson's Facebook enthusiasm. He set up an account for his wife, but she hardly touches it.
"She doesn't like it because she's a private person," he said. "She doesn't like that everyone can read what someone writes on her Wall."
For Peterson, privacy is not an issue. He figures he won't put anything on the Web site that he doesn't mind others reading or seeing. He likens Facebook to an annual Christmas letter that many families include in their Christmas cards.
"Facebook tells others what I'm doing, what I'm thinking. It's kind of like an ongoing Christmas letter."
Average adult Facebooker
Karmen Cook likes the idea of keeping in touch with friends in faraway places. After all, she joined Facebook just to keep in touch with friends she met on a mission trip in Guatemala.
"I heard that some of my Guatemalan friends were on there but I wasn't sure if I should do it," she said.
Cook, a 34-year-old stay-at-home mom, had tried another social networking site, MySpace, but thought it was too geared toward teenagers and too complicated. With Facebook, she found the site required minimal effort to set up and its clean, organized look was appealing.
"I liked that it was torn down to the basics, because I just want it for keeping up with friends," Cook said. "It's just simple and easy. No muss, no fuss."
Since joining two years ago, Cook's friend list, the list of those she allows to see her Facebook page, has expanded to more than 170 people, ranging from her friends in Guatemala to people she went to primary school with. The list isn't limited to those who live far away: her husband, mother-in-law and best friend are all in contact on Facebook, too.
Cook said she usually logs on to Facebook early in the day to check her friends' statuses, then checks back throughout the day as she has time. She enjoys looking at photos her friends upload and finding out what's going on in their daily lives.
The privacy issue doesn't worry Cook, either.
"I realize you have complete control over your privacy settings," she said, adding that users shouldn't be careless, though. "Don't write anything on there you don't want your mom to read."
The senior citizen
Pat Hunsche has a Facebook page, but she's not quite sure what to do with it.
"I haven't done much with it. I've filled in a few lines but it's not big on my priority list," the 75-year-old said.
Hunsche joined Facebook at the urging of cousins in Arizona, Florida and Kansas City, who wanted to keep in touch with her. While she is somewhat technology proficient, doing family genealogical work on her computer, Hunsche said she doesn't understand the ins and outs of Facebook because no one has really explained it to her.
She checks her page every once in a while, but doesn't see its appeal. She prefers e-mails or letters to online social networking.
"I probably won't go very far with it," Hunsche said. "I'm mostly just not interested."
The pastor
For some, Facebook is just a way to keep in touch. For Rev. Daniel Sauer, pastor of First Christian Church of Blair, it's part of his ministry.
"There was one day here recently that I polled the congregation on a Sunday to see who had Facebook," said Sauer, 27. "I was really surprised to see the diversity of people who had Facebook. It really spoke to me on the spot."
Sauer said after the experience he added as many people from his church as he could find. Since then, he's watched church members write encouragement on each others' "Walls," an informal message system on Facebook. Sometimes it's just a quick hello, other times it's a prayer for that person.
"It really adds a neat aspect to the relationships in the life of a church," Sauer said.
Sauer also uses Facebook to keep up on many of his personal relationships. By looking at a page of Facebook "statuses," he is automatically aware of what is going on with a multitude of people he might not have the time to contact personally.
"It really allows me to be connected with people I don't necessarily have the time to talk to," he said. "If I called all the people on that list it would take me hours."
Sauer is not sure if he's going to be keeping his Facebook page, despite all the good things he enjoys about it. The company recently made a change in its terms of use, essentially stating that anything its users post on their pages is property of the company, even if the user leaves Facebook.
For many, that means Facebook could use their personal photos for advertising, or even sell them to someone else, along with any information they may have posted on their page.
That's a big concern for Sauer, who said he has pictures of his family and posts of his thoughts on there. He's considered limiting what he posts, or ending his Facebook relationship entirely, in the name of protecting his privacy and property.
"I don't know if I want that exposure and I didn't give permission to them to do what they like with those things."
Tuesday: Facebook Part III, Facebook's critics and the dangers of online social networking.
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