What if anything you posted or tweeted could be perused by a site administrator and then posted onto the front page of a heavily-frequented website for anyone to see? What if all you had to do was add a casual “#FU” to one of your tweets, and BAM! the pictures from that party in North Village last weekend could be on the front page of the Furman website? For anyone with slightly-lowered (default) privacy settings, this isn’t too far from the truth. This is because the new Furman website makes use of the social feed service “Storify,” which pulls Furman-related social media content from public sources on sites like Twitter or Instagram, and then posts the content to the social tab of the Furman website. It is perhaps the most striking of recent signs indicating that Furman has fully embraced online social networking.
Not that long ago, if a group of students at Furman were to plan a surprise birthday party for a friend, they would likely communicate via some texts and phone calls, maybe via email. Today, that same group would likely do all of that, but then create a secret group and event on Facebook through which anyone might be added and details might be broadcast to collaborators’ mobile devices instantly. Organization has become virtual and immediate. Whether it be something so small and specific as a birthday party, or an official academic department, virtual shadows of everything occurring at Furman, as it occurs, can be found on a number of social networking sites, including Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, Tumblr, Pinterest, and even Reddit. These social pages most often fall into one of a few main categories: official pages representing Furman academic departments, centers, or the university itself; group and event pages for student-run clubs at Furman; individuals’ profiles; and novelty pages, such as “Furman Compliments,” a Facebook page where students can anonymously compliment one another.
So, it’s all on the internet, but what does it mean? One of the major benefits of everyone and everything leaving an online footprint is that if you can see it, you can participate in it. In recent online social activity such as the use of the hashtags #givebackthepden (and the subsequent change in PalaDen hours) and #thepaladinrises, or Facebook groups like “Groups at Furman University,” students and staff have been able to organize and communicate much more effectively. If you are interested in a group you need only join the gathering on Facebook; if the group you’re interested in doesn’t exist, you can create it. For example, one anonymous student created a Tumblr blog displaying random pictures of people sleeping at Furman (Google: “peoplesleepingatfurman”), and interested people continue to submit photos to the blog.
Unfortunately, there is another side to the Furman social network trend: if you can see it, you can screen capture it. Furman students are communicating more than they ever have, which means that they are more exposed than they ever have been. The moment that party in North Village from last weekend goes on your news feed is the moment the entire Furman community, or maybe even your future employer, sees it.