Culver is on Facebook/ Facebook is Getting Lame

In the “pointing out Culver Stuff on the internet” department those of you on Facebook.com should check out the new Culver Summer Camp group started by Go Culver member p_de_laborde a few days ago. It’s already ammased 131 alumni/camper members and could always use a few more. Some moderate trash talking taking place in the wall posts already….nice.

So what does everyone on here think of all the changes coming to thefacebook? The miniFeed? Opening it up to anyone and everyone? Have you set your privacy settings the way you want them, you know, so your parents don’t see all the pictures from last weekend’s party?

In case you hadn’t heard about the whole “opening up” thing, here’s the latest piece of opining from facebook founder/corporate mascot Mark Zuckerberg:

“I want to clear up some rumors and ask for your feedback.

Right now a lot of people want their friends to use Facebook, but they can’t get on. Soon, we’re planning on letting these people register for regional networks.

I know a lot of you are worried about this and how it changes the site. Honestly, it shouldn’t change much for you. College networks will remain exclusive to people from those colleges. High school and work networks will remain exclusive as well. Only your friends and other people in your networks can see your profile. This is what makes Facebook different, and we’re not changing it.

From reading a lot of your messages, it seems like some of you want more separation. Do you want to be completely invisible to people who aren’t in a college or high school? Do you want to make sure they can’t message or poke you? We like hearing from you. Please send us your thoughts on how we can make this work for you.

And just to clear some other things up: we’re not putting up more banner ads, we’re not charging anyone, we’re not letting people put random HTML in their profiles, and we’re not selling your information. Facebook is about increasing information flow and connecting people, not these things.

Please send us your thoughts here.”

You heard the guy, if you’re not happy with widespread access to facebook.com, send him a note to let him know.

Personally I would rather facebook stick to just those with .edu e-mail addresses simply because it gives an actual sense of identity to the site, separating it from myspace and the rest of its ilk (which serve their purposes, just different purposes). I have no doubt that there is immense pressure being brought to bear upon the facebook viziers by their financiers, people who gave them a great deal of money and expect a return on their investment. Do you think widening access to the site will bring in more visitors? Will it affect the frequency with which current members check out the site?

If facebook opens up to the public, will you visit it any less? If it’s no longer an exclusive site, will you still hang out there?

Respond in the Go Culver forums

theFacebook.com - link

New York Times Articles on Facebook