We all know that we belong to groups that are suggested to us by a friend. Some of them may be completely pointless. Some are made because someone’s phone broke and they lost all of their phone numbers and they need them again, others are made for incoming college kids who got accepted to a college. This is probably beneficial if you want to talk to possible perspective classmates. As far as groups go, what sort of planning do you think is required to start one versus starting a fan page? Do most groups have that careful thought or planning? I am in the group The College of Saint Rose: Class of 2013. This group I joined back in February of 2009 and people from the group added me sporadically throughout the course of the year. I talked to most of the people I added; we discussed majors, interests where we were from and such. I think this is a great way to meet new people. What group on your Facebook page do you think is the most helpful and why? What made you join this group?
Most of the groups that are organized on Facebook are probably not what the site had in mind when it created that feature. Many of them are silly things that people created, like the "You Might Be From Saugerties High School If..." that I showed in class, and many of the others we looked at. It is kind of the same with the fan pages. I'm a fan of some actual things, like "Krause's Chocolates". Then I have silly ones like "Being on a boat" and "Not getting enough sleep because you stay up late for no reason". I don't think its necessarily a bad thing that groups and fan pages have turned out this way. It's a fun and silly way to interact with people. You see a fan page or group that someone has joined in your feed and you laugh out loud to yourself because it may be something you've thought of before. I mean I thought it was kind of funny when I was sitting on Facebook in class today and a fan page for "If you remember "BOY MEETS WORLD" ; what the hell kind of name is "Topanga." popped up in my feed.
ReplyDeleteI think I agree with Cat that the most useful group I've ever been a part of was the St Rose Accepted Students groups for my class. I think I even had gotten an email back then telling me about the group and to join to interact with other future students. It was cool to talk to some people before we actually got here and ask each other questions and see what concerns others had. Some people even found roommates that way. It was a cool idea and I think that's the most useful/helpful group I've ever been a part of. The rest are mostly the silly/pointless kind of groups.
I think groups are more carefully planned than fan pages. Fan pages and groups can both be random but a fan page is more of just an announcement that you do or do not like something while a group actually tries to promote a specific thing. For example, I'm part of a fan page that says "I need a vacation." This is simply a page that is saying something about me, I need a vacation. Then, I am part of groups that promote different clubs and this gives me information of when parties are going on or different events/bands, etc. I do agree that a very helpful group was the Saint Rose Accepted Class of 2012. I met a lot of people and learned different things from them and became friends with some of the people and I felt safe becoming part of the group. I also do like the different groups that DJ's and promoters make on facebook because I feel as if I know what's going on with Albany nightlife and if I want to go out, which a lot of students do, then I know where to go.
ReplyDeleteI'm only a fan of 11 groups on Facebook, all of which connect to High School, College, Athletics, or In Loving Memory of. I usually don't join groups unlike my sister who joins and becomes a fan of every page ever found on Facebook. I find it pointless when groups are started like this one: If 1m people join, girlfriend will let me turn our house into a pirate ship. Can someone please explain the point of this group, it's ridiculous yet it still has 9,042 members, something is attracting people to it. The groups that I've joined have been ones that students have created for either my high school or college it allows students to communicate faster and the creator has the option of allowing the profile to go public or private in which case many hate groups could be created because it can be a secret group in which case those who create it can make it so the person who the group is about doesn't find out about the group.
ReplyDeleteI don't join many groups. The majority of the groups I am apart of are along the lines of "Cell phone MIA...need your numbers" and "Flushed my phone...numbers." I don't really join groups. The majority of the groups I am part of are groups that are active for a short period of time such as "DMB at SPAC June 4th and 5th" or "WGNA Countryfest 2009." Chances are after these events occur I won't check the group ever again. I don't really know what the difference between a group and a fan page is. I suppose a fan page states an idea or opinion that people agree with so those who agree with is become fans of it. I also feel that a group is the same basic idea. I am a part of the group "College of Saint Rose:Class of 2012." I found this group to be useful because I could meet and talk to other prospective St. Rose students.
ReplyDeleteI used to join facebook groups out of spite. My freshman roommate had very different religious and political views from me that she felt compelled to express to me constantly. One day she joined a facebook group that I found rather offensive (as well as her conversation about the group) so I joined ten groups that expressed the opposite opinion. I eventually left the groups when I was in a less passive aggressive mood.
ReplyDeleteNow, I am only a member of six groups, three of which are associated with the English department (Frequency North, Strose Poetry and Prose, and the English department). I like these groups because I am able to keep up to date with what the department is doing. And I was in a very nerdy mood when I joined them.
Facebook groups are kind of in the realm of pointless now. Every little thing is a group or fan page. I have to admit I am in 64 gorups most of them are pointless and it is just as easy to hit confirm as it is to hit ignore. I usually do not ignore a group invite unless its something I am totally against. I think some groups now have no thought or planning to them at all. Its a person who one day decides hey I am going to make a group on a stupid topic and see how many people join. There are some cases were a person may actually plan out a group and think about what they are putting on the internet but these topics that actually have a purpose are being hidden behind all of these pointless groups.
ReplyDeleteA group I feel is important or that I feel strongly about is I'm a Product of Rensselaer High School. This group i visit every so often because it brings back good memories and also has helped me to connect with some of the older students I went to school with that I have not seen in awhile. People do not really talk to each other but they post little things that happened in RHS and stuff and I really like it.What made me join this group was that it was my high school. My school was very RAM pride based and everyone knew everyone. This site has a alot of memories to recall and look back on. Is it helpful? Well I would not necessarily call it helpful but I would say, it is better than most groups at least this one is not about some stupid topic like can this pickle get more people that the Jonas Brothers, Ive seen plenty of them going around lately.
I think for the most part, Facebook groups are pretty pointless. I get invited everyday to groups like "Friday is Drunk Day" and I don't care about your farm or zoo or whatever" these groups are invented by, in my opinion, people with too much time on their hands. I don't think Facebook originally intended such pointless ideas. This is not to say that Facebook groups are terrible or that all groups are unnecessary. The one group I joined that I actually care about is a group created to save the New York State Theater Institute. It was really informative and told members how to contact certain legislators, start a petition and communicate with other people who value this venue. Facebook groups can be helpful, they just often end up being unnecessary. I see so many Facebook groups that no one visits or blogs on, they exist just simply to exist.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a part of many Facebook groups. I'm a part of 11 groups but I hardly even check them. Like many others have said, they are pointless and silly. They don't really have any use behind them. I think it's just mainly something to do out of boredom. The last group I joined was called Overheard at Saint Rose which isn't really useful but it's funny to read some of the stories shared. Basically it's a group about people overhearing things when they are either in the dining hall or walking to class. People then can share the ridiculous stories that they've heard. There are a few rules to this, however. For example, no names can be mentioned. A person sharing a story would have to use "girl" or "girl2". It can't be a conversation, must be overheard. Also, it can be teacher and there is no gossip allowed in this group. This group currently has 450 members. It is the only group that I'm affiliated with on Facebook that I really ever check. This definitely is not a useful group but its the only one that I check. I think more planning goes into a fan page than a group.
ReplyDeleteA lot of facebook groups are pointless. I don't really use any that I continuously go to, though I am in so many of them. The amount of planning that goes into these groups definitely depends on what the group is. For most of the cases, I think that it isn't so much the planning, but the participation that makes that group successful. For example, the Class of 2013 group. It's not that the person who started it took a lot of time planning it, but that so many people were interested in joining, and actively writing on the wall, and participating. Finding something that people can agree on, and are interested in joining, is the probably the most difficult part.
ReplyDeleteAs for groups that I am part of, there aren't many that I actively participate in. I am in groups that are made for clubs around campus. Examples would be Environmental Club, Identity, and Student Association. Though I don't look at these everyday, I definitely do check every once in a while, if there is an update. I get a lot of messages from Spectrum's group, about new events and ideas that they are having. It's a great, and easy way for people to stay connected in a semi-casual way. This is important, because a lot of e-mails have a serious tone, and people can sometimes tend to skim through them without really getting the full content of them.
As for the difference between groups and fanpages, there isn't much. A lot of them have similar goals, and they just have some different features.
It seems like almost everyone agrees that many groups that are on facebook are somewhat pointless. Most of you do agree though that the accepted students to Saint Rose are fun and useful. We can find roommates this way, and make friends. College is about meeting a lot of new people and different views on life something many of us may not have seen in high school. Thanks for your posts! :)
ReplyDeleteTo add to the rest of the comments, I do believe that most Facebook groups are silly. Some are made to entertain. Others are made to inform or delegate multiple opinions. Some are just useful like the Saint Rose Class of 2013 Group I joined . I too met a lot of people by joining that group and I know of a few people who even met their roomates joining that group. So in that case, yes, Facebook groups are beneficial.Some people believe that FB groups are pointless.In defense of these " pointless" groups, in one way or another I believe they have served a point. Even if it was to make you chuckle for a minute or think about a certain topic, it had some point or relevancy in someones life. So if it seems pointless to you it probably wasn't so pointless to the person who made the group. Do I think that Facebook owner Mark Zuckerberg intended for FB groups to grow into its ab-normalcy and randomness that it has? No, but isn't that what Facebook is coming to anyways; an abnormal, random but fun networking web site? I for one think so.
ReplyDeleteI definitely having a group is good for meeting people. It shows that you share a common interest. I have never really added people when I would be looking on the group page. I feel as though groups are made to inform people about that specific topic. Most of the groups I am in, deal with school, or social things. I am in a group for the college of saint rose 2011, and I can relate to meeting people this way. Before I was in college, I would talk to different people and make friends. This is the purpose for facebook and social networking.
ReplyDeleteAlthough most Facebook groups are pointless, there are some that try to make a difference. The most helpful Facebook group I am a part of is probably "I bet we can find 1,000,000 people who support same sex marriage". This group promotes the idea of same sex marriage, in hopes that things may change. Same sex marriage is an important issue that I believe in and by belonging to this group I am trying to raise awareness of this issue. If enough people are aware and support same sex marriage then we can change our country's stand point. I joined this group in the hopes of making this happen.
ReplyDeleteI like groups more than I do fan pages. They seem to be taking up less space on my newsfeed rather than the insane amount of fan pages people are becoming fans of. I do think they help out a bit when someone has a problem, like losing a cell phone or hosting an event. Some of them are funny, and represent a movie or music group, but for the most part, the only ones I ever see anymore are ones like, "lost my phone... need contacts." I think groups have good intentions, just like fan pages do too.
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