What are websites like Facebook and Formspring doing to our society?

[Sarah Obrzut]

With the invention of Facebook people are now able to connect with family and old friends. Currently there are more than 500 million active users of this website. But recently the website has become a huge part of almost every teenager's life. Now we are able to see what everyone is doing today, tomorrow, or what they did over the weekend. This can be a good thing, but on the other hand once you are on Facebook you can't hide much from anybody. If something gets posted on Facebook be ready for everybody and all their friends and family to see it, because anything you post will show up in all your friends' newsfeeds. Because of this people will usually watch what they say about other people to avoid a "Facebook fight," but now there is a new website where all of that drama can be avoided...

Formspring. A website where you can anonymously ask questions and get answers from your friends without them knowing who asked the question. You would think getting asked questions would be no big deal, but people are taking this website to a whole new level. Since it is anonymous people are starting to ask really nasty questions or even harrass people just to see what kind of answer they will get. It started out as just an innocent website to find out more about your friends, but has turned into a place to ask all the hatemail you want without facing the consequences.

What ever happened to "If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all." Websites like these are giving everybody a free pass to be mean, nasty people, and is that what we really want our society to turn into? Are websites like facebook and formspring really a good idea?

[Lauren Cowick]

Facebook is an excellent idea, although form-spring is not. Facebook is a good idea because it's a way for everyone to stay in touch even if they are far away. You can see their pictures and keep up with the latest, but the only bad thing about Facebook is the privacy issue.  I feel like people are always watching you.  Even if you aren't friends with them, they go on their friends Facebook and still creep on you.  Form-spring is a bad idea because of the fact people are saying mean and hurtful things, and best of all these things are anonymous.  People don't have enough balls to say it to their face so they decide to go on form-spring. Form-spring should we deleted completely.

[Philip Thomas]

I think Facebook is a good idea.  In spite of the recent accusations towards the company about their problems with privacy, I still like it.  You can control what you want people to see on it, so it's really up to you to keep your information private.  It is being used exactly what it was intended for and I believe that's a good thing.  On the other hand, Formspring is definitely being abused.  Instead of finding out more about a person, people are bringing up private fights and embarrassing information on others pages.  It is sad to see this interesting idea turned upside down, but it cannot all be blamed on the askers.  The people with the profiles advertise their page and answer the questions that are nasty and rude.  Then they complain about it and continue to advertise.  If they would just delete the bad questions, then I feel as though it could be more of a success.

[Justin Park]

I like facebook and I use it a lot. I believe I am smart with it by not adding anyone I don't know and putting my page on privacy. However, I made a Formspring for fun. I have to say that was a pretty dumb idea for me. Even though I know its mainly my friends just screwing around many others it could be people that dont like them. Formspring is a direct way to Cyberbully and not get caught. I believe that formspring is not a good idea, but facebook has benefits that doesn't make it entirely bad.

[Kaity Drahos]

My name is Kaity, and I am a facebook addict. I know lots of people my age are right there with me. While I love facebook and am always on it, I like to think I use it safely. I don't swear on facebook, it can hurt more than help you. And I'm not like a massive cyber bully, that's just ridiculous. I use facebook to talk to my friends, considering most of them don't go to Fremd. On the other hand, I really hate formspring. It is used in a way that nothing should ever be used for. Suicides are happening because of it, and in my opinion, it is a source of lots more cyber bullying than facebook, considering it's anonymous. I think people need to remember to not say it online, if they wouldn't say it in person. Formspring is just another thing bullies use to protect themselves. I think life would be better without it.

[Meghan Byrne]

I, just like most other teenagers and some adults, have a facebook. I have a formspring too, but soon after making an account realized how stupid that site actually is. I see no purpose in that particular website because all it is is a place for you to basically cyber bully someone. Facebook on the other hand used to be my life. I used to get on everyday after school and update my status and comment on my friends status' and their pictures, etc. That is all old news to me now. I still go on, but not nearly as much.

[Grace Stapleton]

I'm one of the very few teenagers that currently don't have a facebook. I have noticed that it takes over a lot of people's lives. My friends will say, "oh I only go on it when I have nothing to do." But it seems like it's a lot more then that. I'm just afraid of when I actually get one that I will be that way too.

[Bianca Cerna]

I'm not very fond of either facebook of or formspring because of the fact that people go out of their way to check their account, because they just HAVE to. Facebook is like another myspace in my mind, just minus the layouts. Formspring was a horrible idea. I would just love getting asked rude questions. not.

[Katie Hughes]

I think facebook is great tool that people have become entirely too relient on, simply the thought of deleting your facebook account would make many kids shudder. But I have no excuses for formspring, it was a bad idea from the start. With all the issues going on in society right now about cyber bullying a website where you can post things anonymously is just a bad idea. But some of the blame needs to be put on the people who create their own account, I personally feel that they should know better.

[Deena Bishop]

I think both facebook and formspring are great websites IF you use them appropriately. If you're using either website to harass people or make fun of someone, then you shouldn't be allowed to use it. People who misuse these resources are ruinin it for those people who use it correctly.

[Morgan Delapa]

I think that Facebook is a good social network to connect with people and reconnect from old friends from high school or something. But, it does lack privacy a little. I still believe that is a safe way to talk to people and learn more about people. But when were on the computer and phone all the time you lose the social skills needed in real life. Also, it can cause problems if you cant understand someones tone and you take something the wrong way. Formspring is a place to answer questions about each other. It has almost no privacy and some comments can be vulgar. People do write mean and bad stuff and talk about other people on peoples formsprings.