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BG Falcon Media

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BG Falcon Media

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April 18, 2024

  • My Favorite Book – Freshwater
    If there’s one book that I believe everyone should read once in their life, it’s my favorite book – Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi. From my course, Queer Literature under Dr. Bill Albertini, I discovered Emezi’s Freshwater (2018). Once more, my course, Creative Writing Thesis Workshop under Professor Amorak Huey, was instructed to present our favorite […]
  • Jeanette Winterson for “gAyPRIL”
    “gAyPRIL” (Gay-April) continues on Falcon Radio, sharing a playlist curated by the Queer Trans Student Union, sharing songs celebrating the LGBTQ+ experience. In similar vein, you will enjoy Jeanette Winterson’s books if you find yourself interested in LGBTQ+ voices and nonlinear narratives. As “dead week” is upon us, students, we can utilize resources such as Falcon […]
Spring Housing Guide

Facebook has become a stalker’s playground

I realize that The Facebook, in its omniscience, may not necessarily be a new trend these days, but I feel compelled to divulge some new information to the public. I think that the coming information of which I will give is getting totally creepy now. Why, you ask? I would be delighted to tell you. They now offer an option to people who find it physically demanding to remove their cellular phones from their hands. You can now search for people on The Facebook using your cell phone. According to the website, you can access peoples’ profiles, add people as a friend, “poke” people, send them a message, get their cell phone number and post a message on their “wall.” The parts that freak me out the most are the message sending: the “poking” and the “wall” posting. When The Facebook was first introduced, I knew a lot of people who were stalked and pestered by complete strangers who kept sending them messages and “poking” them, and so on. For example, my girlfriend kept getting messages from some jerk out in Kentucky. The guy kept trying to add her as a friend and kept sending her messages. And how could I intervene? The schmuck lived in Kentucky. Throwing the cell phone feature into the mix is not a positive step. It only makes it more convenient for people like Mr. Kentucky to stalk people they think are hot based solely on a single photograph. Ladies, imagine getting a text message, or even worse, a series of text messages, from someone whom you have never met but that is convinced you have met and would like to meet again. Men, imagine the same scenario. I feel dirty thinking about it. Not only can strangers send you a message through the phone, but they can also access your entire profile in their cell phones, including, but not limited to, your interests, favorite movies, books, tv shows, date of birth, sexual orientation, quotes, etc. I feel The Facebook, unknown to the common user, is becoming a stalker’s paradise. People who do not find this creepy just do not understand the level of access a random person could have into the blogger’s life. What would they be able to access next? Your blood type? What you are thinking at this exact moment? This is getting to be a little ridiculous. In its heyday, The Facebook was a fun little distraction from everyday college life where we could send each other little messages and join groups such as “Zombies” and “The Group for People Who Aren’t In Any Groups.” Admittedly, I created both of these groups, but I digress. It seems that now it is becoming too much of a risk to be even registered on The Facebook. Taking into consideration that can strangers access whatever information or pictures you choose to post, employers are using this website and others such as Myspace to make decisions that will affect your career. Another feature that I have a problem with is the feature where you can specify your relationship with each individual friend that you have. For instance, you can say “Susan is your friend. You were also her schoolmate. You dated in high school. It was complicated” (actual example). Someone can then access your “timeline” and trace your relationships with every one of your friends throughout your personal history. The final new feature that would fit right into Orwell’s 1984 is one where you can specify where you are located this very moment. You can choose home, away, at class or a custom place of your choosing. How long will it be before The Facebook will be able to do all of this automatically, without any human input? However, there is a solution. For most of these features, one can choose not to use them. One can choose not to specify a relationship with a friend or a current location. Finally, to take this idea to its logical conclusion, isn’t it a better choice not to specifically use The Facebook at all? There’s an obvious answer, if you ask me.

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