Facebook: a majority of people like this
Quaker Campus
Issue date: 1/21/10 Section: Campus Life
Social networks such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter have increased in popularity during the last decade. Facebook has over 350 million active users compared to MySpace's estimated 125 million and the 26 million projected for Twitter in 2010.
Whittier College students exemplify this trend and express a preference for Facebook over MySpace and Twitter. "I prefer Facebook because it has a little more privacy defaults than MySpace and I think Facebook is easier to navigate around," sophomore Carlyn Werderman said.
MySpace, the first of the three social networking sites established, was launched in Jan. 2004, quickly reaching millions of users. Facebook was launched in Feb. 2004 and surpassed MySpace in website views and traffic worldwide in Dec. 2008. Twitter appeared later in July. 2006 and has yet to reach the size of Facebook and MySpace.
Although MySpace was created first, Facebook is known among students to be the more original and less cluttered website. Facebook was originally meant for college students and was later opened to anyone with an email address in Sept. 2006, but the website's format remained private and condensed. "MySpace started copying everything Facebook already had and it just made the site run slower," first-year Amanda Alvarez said.
Due to its neat and professional features, Facebook has been useful for networking through work and school groups. However, some students use Facebook as a practical measure of communication. "I like it for staying in touch with people I don't see a lot," sophomore Christopher Maloney said.
Since Twitter allows students to post their statuses, the same way Facebook and MySpace do, it is not perceived as useful. "Twitter is pointless," said Alvarez. Maloney also commented, "I do not think people need to post their every movement or action online for everyone to see."
Whittier College students exemplify this trend and express a preference for Facebook over MySpace and Twitter. "I prefer Facebook because it has a little more privacy defaults than MySpace and I think Facebook is easier to navigate around," sophomore Carlyn Werderman said.
MySpace, the first of the three social networking sites established, was launched in Jan. 2004, quickly reaching millions of users. Facebook was launched in Feb. 2004 and surpassed MySpace in website views and traffic worldwide in Dec. 2008. Twitter appeared later in July. 2006 and has yet to reach the size of Facebook and MySpace.
Although MySpace was created first, Facebook is known among students to be the more original and less cluttered website. Facebook was originally meant for college students and was later opened to anyone with an email address in Sept. 2006, but the website's format remained private and condensed. "MySpace started copying everything Facebook already had and it just made the site run slower," first-year Amanda Alvarez said.
Due to its neat and professional features, Facebook has been useful for networking through work and school groups. However, some students use Facebook as a practical measure of communication. "I like it for staying in touch with people I don't see a lot," sophomore Christopher Maloney said.
Since Twitter allows students to post their statuses, the same way Facebook and MySpace do, it is not perceived as useful. "Twitter is pointless," said Alvarez. Maloney also commented, "I do not think people need to post their every movement or action online for everyone to see."
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