BlogHer - College.com - Comments

Huzzah!

starsword — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 14:16:25 -0500

I miss the old-school Facebook. If I needed to get in touch with, say, the guy I sat in front of in chemistry to review for an exam, I could run a search on Facebook narrowed down by his dorm and first name. Useful, amusing (for all those times you should really be studying, but just can't), and immensely practical. It was safe and clean, and like you said--you knew the people were who they said they were.

That was, until I logged in after being away for a while and realized they'd turned into that despised domain of creepy old guys and grammatically-challenged pre-teens that is MySpace. Can't say I like the page that tracks all your friends' recent changes, either. Not only do I have no desire to know every time some unknown person pokes a mutual friend, but I also don't want every random idiot who tries to add me to their list seeing my every edit or addition. Creepy much? Call me paranoid, but I don't like it.

College.com, here I come.

Sound and Fury Signifying Nothing

alyssaroyse — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 00:51:39 -0500

College.com

KnightNewsChallenge — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 19:43:53 -0500

Does anyone remember what Facebook used to be like? I do. There weren't a bazillion add-ons that required your social security number, address, and blood type in order to use them. There also weren't pages sponsored by Apple, the CW (formerly the WB), the NBA, and Hillary Clinton.

Most importantly, no one but COLLEGE STUDENTS was allowed to use it. It was so cool. We were all in a special little group.

"Hey, are you on Facebook?"
"Why, yes, I am."
This was followed by a knowing smile that, unlike on MySpace, I could find that person on Facebook by typing in their actual name and get to their page without being accosted by an ad for Match.com. I could also know that the profile of the cute girl in my English class was not actually being run by a 43-year-old bald skeezer.

No longer. Facebook is the wild West, and while it looks clean, it's full of profiles like NFL Boyyy and Deadman Alive. If these are the real names of these people, I'd like to meet their mothers. Facebook looks safe, like a Mustang in the showroom, but let a 16-year-old behind the wheel and you're in for a world of hurt.

But then along came college.com. A savior? I signed up today. I really haven't gotten into it yet, but at least I know there are only college students on it. You have to use your student email to sign up. For lack of a better descriptor, it's like Facebook Classic. Descriptor. That's an SAT word. Sorry, got off on a tangent there. ADD. Or do they call it ADHD now?

Anyway, I'll give it a try. Heck, maybe they'll turn out to be really good. So good, in fact, that they'll apply for a News Challenge grant.

Which is what you should do. Right now. http://www.newschallenge.org

Anthony