Facing up to Facebook

The hostility level in my composition class was running pretty high and for a while I couldn't quite figure out why. It's true that my students have a paper due Thursday and a final exam next week, but the anger seemed to be simmering at an unprecedented level. Finally, toward the end of class, a student burst out, "It's not fair!"

"What's not fair?" I asked.

"Trying to get rid of Facebook!"

"Who's trying to get rid of Facebook?"

"You are!"

This was news to me. I have never been involved in any attempt to limit students' access to Facebook; further, the college administration has no such plans in the works either. I told the student this, but then he changed his angle of attack: "Have you ever looked at students' profiles on Facebook?"

"Yes."

"That's not fair!"

And so it went, on and on, some expressing their outrage that professors would dare trespass on what students see as their private domain. Somewhere along the way I admitted that I have a blog. "You have a blog?" asked the irate student. "Why would you want a blog?"

Clearly, the conversation was getting nowhere, so we moved on. All day I've been trying to comprehend the intensity of the anger my students expressed. Do they want to erect electronic walls around their little piece of the blogosphere and kick everyone who's not just like them out of the playroom? Do they really think that what they post on Facebook will never come back to haunt them? I hope they don't intend to run for public office.

I understand that Facebook and other such sites are intended to help students make connections, but today it was clear that what my students want most is simply to be left alone--and after a class like today's, I am happy to accomodate them.