Marlies: The social media are certainly very important to students. But how does that come about? The reason social media are becoming so prominent these days is that we all jump on the bandwagon. You don’t have to if you don’t want to, but then you do take the risk of not hearing about things. That’s the way it goes if you go against something that the vast majority joins in. You can grumble about it, but if you ask me it is handier just to make use of them. Personally, I don’t see anything wrong with using Facebook to promote parties and other activities or to stay in touch with family and friends you don’t talk to that often, or with using LinkedIn to increase your chances of finding a job. Jillis responds: I use LinkedIn myself because I see it as useful. But I do think you have to stay critical and use your head. Just because everyone is doing something, that doesn’t make it a good idea to do it too. At least you should think about the privacy implications of information about yourself, and certainly of information about others. Jillis: Invitations to parties, feeble gossip and stupid games have been going around on Facebook for a while already. Then people who think themselves mighty interesting started spouting nonsense on Twitter. And recently it has become more and more common to have to identify yourself on websites with a Facebook account. Where does all this craziness come from? Don’t people realize it’s all a hype, and a way of getting you to freely donate all your private details to Facebook so that they can sell them? Hyves is already dying out, Facebook is in decline and its stock market status is the latest bubble. And another thing: I have no idea why so many people feel the urge to share all sorts of useless, but sometimes also confidential, information with the whole world. Instead of thinking about what they dump on the internet, these ‘sheeple’ just run straight into the arms of any slick internet entrepreneur. We have always managed fine without these social networks. Do we really need them as much as we think we do? Marlies responds: I agree that people post a lot of nonsense and a lot of confidential information. But that is their own responsibility, although it would be a good idea for them to give it a bit more thought. However, this doesn’t detract from the fact that the social media can be useful.
No student can manage without the social media anymore?
Marlies Bos (the left-wing fluffy type) and Jillis Herweijer (the right-wing Hooray Henry type) rarely see eye to eye on matters of politics, the environment or student life.
