Question of the Week
Are You Suffering From Facebook Fatigue?
Posted Apr 17, 2008 9:20 AM CST
By Molly McDonough
Facebook. MySpace. LinkedIn. Twitter. AVVO. It seems as if a new social networking site or pseudo professional networking site launches daily.
So much energy is needed to maintain these personal pages and an online presence that it has Time magazine opining about "Facebook fatigue."
E-information overload and its twin problem, attention diversion, have long been problems, causing law schools to restrict Internet use in classrooms, and at one law firm, the banning of BlackBerrys at major meetings.
This made us wonder...
Are you suffering from Facebook fatigue, or do you find social networking sites to be helpful in your professional life?
Answer in the comments below.
If social networking sites haven’t worn you out, you can now follow ABA Journal on Twitter. All our headlines, updated continuously every business day, are a part of our Twitter stream.
Read last week's question and answers about law school traditions.
Our absolute favorite from last week:
Posted by "J": "At Syracuse University College of Law, every year when a certain contracts professor discusses the 'Chicken Case' (Frigaliment Importing Co., Ltd. v. BNS International Sales Corp., 190 F. Supp. 116 (S.D.N.Y. 1960) he dresses up in a big bird costume. It has become a well-established yearly tradition at SUCOL and I must say it is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever seen. He wears the costume throughout the day and wonders the hallways. It is hilarious."
We agree with "J" about the hilarity of this annual tradition. Check out the video on YouTube.
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Comments
Steve Perkins
Apr 18, 2008 7:24 AM CST
Yes, definately. Granted, I’m in my early-30’s, so I’m probably too much of an ancient graybeard to truly “get it” with Facebook’s main demographic. I use Facebook so that former classmates and colleagues can track me down (that’s always cool), and so I can hear about big changes in my friends’ lives (kids, job switch, etc). For that sort of thing, Facebook is great.
However, I have a few “friends” that get carried away and childish about it. I’ll get constant email notifications about the crap they post on my Wall. I’ll get notifications that so-and-so “Sent you a virtual shot of whiskey!”, or “Challenged you to an 80’s movie trivia showdown!”, etc. Come on, you’ve GOT to be kidding me people… how old are you?
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J. Stephens
Apr 18, 2008 7:35 AM CST
David Epstein has done the chicken costume at Georgetown as well. Not sure which came first; the chicken or the egghead? Prof. Epstein teaches at SMU, was Dean at Arkansas, visited at Georgetown a few times, does the contracts lectures for Barbri, and is a personal friend of Kinky Friedman (former gubernatorial candidate in Texas).
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William A. Wheatley
Apr 18, 2008 7:37 AM CST
Do I suffer from Facebook fatigue? No. I don’t do Facebook.
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A. Menendez
Apr 18, 2008 8:00 AM CST
Whoa! Look out everybody! Will Dub’s too cool for school! Zing, Will! You got ‘em!
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J Claridge
Apr 18, 2008 8:07 AM CST
That is one sick chicken.
Facebook, blogs, and even sites like this where you can add your two cents worth is no substitution for personal interaction with others. Do you want to network? Go meet the other party in person or call them on the phone.
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Shannon S
Apr 18, 2008 8:21 AM CST
I have only been a facebook member for less than a month and it was exhausting just building my profile and finding all my friends. Now that we are all connected, I am constantly monitoring my page so no potentially harmful material or comments are posted involving me because I don’t want to be discredited for a potential job upon graduation just because of some comment or gift a friend sends me. If I didn’t have so many friends spread across the world and e-mail wasn’t also so time consuming, I never would have gotten a facebook account.
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the holy ghost
Apr 18, 2008 9:49 AM CST
i wish i could post a virtual ZING! to will dub! oooooh BURN!
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eagerfirstyear
Apr 18, 2008 10:39 AM CST
To Shannon S,
You can set your Facebook site to “private” so that only you and your friends can view it, thus it is safe from the prying eyes of prospective employers.
Facebook is just like any other tool, you can use it or you can let it use you. I like Facebook because it lets me connect to groups with similar interests all over the world. However, I inactivated during my Bar study period ( I passed the CA Bar!) and have also made it inactive for shorter periods of time when I just didn’t want to be bothered.
It never fails to astound me how people in America can get easily flustered and claim to be “controlled” by their mechanical tools. Here is a thought: you are the cognitive being, turn the “thing” off and on at your will.
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Josh M
Apr 18, 2008 1:17 PM CST
fatigue from facebook, myspace, friendster….. yes, very fatigued.
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MLB
Apr 18, 2008 1:42 PM CST
I feel inadequate. My buddies have dozens of contacts, I have five. I received an invitation today from someone I don’t know, and don’t know how to respond..
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Bored
Apr 19, 2008 2:29 PM CST
I opened a Facebook account b/c of a client. I don’t have many contacts, but oddly, they’re all clients who have asked to be added as a friend. it’s actually come in handy. One fairly young client asked to be my “friend” and when I did and saw his Facebook page, I immediately called him and advised him to take down the picture of him and his frat brothers chugging beer around a keg at a party. He’s now an associate a a venture capital firm - probably not the right image. I probably wouldn’t have opened the account without the client request and now it’s a useful tool.
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ccbl
Apr 21, 2008 7:43 AM CST
I’ve actually used both Facebook and Linkedin for their intended purposes: introducing friends from different parts of the globe for common projects, not necessarily law-related. It’s been a resource reconnecting with old classmates and is an easy means to post pictures for extended family. That said, I have numerous friends and family members who have no interest in Facebook due to privacy concerns.
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Bob in Juno
Apr 21, 2008 10:50 AM CST
no, but my 15 y.o. daughter seems to be at times. As a 50 y.o. with little use for these sites (my work, social and familial circles are well-formed and good for me), I have always viewed these sites as being about selfishness and egotism, justified by a veneer of “networking” or other socially virtuous synonyms. The comments help me view them a bit less dimly, I liked most the comment of “Bored” that such tools can be turned on . . . and off . . . at will. Good! On a sunny day, sitting at a computer to review facebook contacts would be the last thing I’d want to be doing…..
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MV Esq.
Apr 25, 2008 6:49 AM CST
It’s helpful to use when appointed on GAL cases. You definitely find out more information about the parents than a homestudy can provide.
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