Facebook a way of life for graduates

Stephen Tabaquin checks in with his friends at Berkeley, CSU Long Beach, Cal Poly Pomona and UC Irvine daily without racking up any mileage. Bradley Ostrander knows everyone’s birthday without ever having to ask, while Naveed Mahboobian can drop his friends a line without ever licking a stamp.

Welcome to Facebook, where a student’s friends, classes, interests and summer plans are all within a few clicks.

But will graduating students, who have gone through their college years addicted to Facebook, give up all this convenience upon graduation? Is it Facebook rehab time or will students continue to partake in the addictive obsession after embarking from UCLA?

“It’s easier to see (your friends) on Facebook,” said Mahboobian, a graduating English student. “I don’t think it would be possible to call up everybody I know and hang out with all of those people and find out where they are, what school they went to, what they’re doing with their lives and everything.”

With friendships conveniently a URL away, it’s little wonder that Facebook’s popularity exploded with its inception in 2004.

“With Facebook, everything’s put out there for you. It’s very streamlined,” said Tabaquin, a graduating neuroscience and mathematics student.

For graduating students especially, Facebook has become a primary way of maintaining old friendships and developing new connections.

“Coming in, I had a Friendster (account). … Eventually, halfway through the school year, I joined MySpace, but shortly thereafter, I joined Facebook,” said graduating applied mathematics student Ostrander. “I remember at that time, there were probably less than twenty schools in the country (on Facebook).”

Facebook’s initial exclusivity as a site for college students only was a large part of its appeal over other social networking systems like Friendster and MySpace.

“When Facebook came about … it was much more of a smaller community and more trustworthy, and it was just people from school and not just random strangers,” Ostrander said.

Mahboobian agrees that the originally closed nature of Facebook lended to its initial appeal.

“I think the exclusivity of it gave it an edge or a hipness to it maybe that MySpace didn’t have,” he said.

But the question still remains as to how long the Facebook frenzy will last after students graduate and move on to careers and families.

“I don’t see any age where we’d have to get rid of it because, since we were there from the beginning, it’s less awkward or weird if we maintain it and use it to stay in contact with people until we get older,” Ostrander said.

With students checking their accounts as often as their e-mails, Facebook also has proven a secure way of potentially remaining in touch after graduation. Kimberly Stino, UCLA alumna of 2006 and former history student, still keeps her account running for its convenience.

“I had a fairly good number of people on there who I don’t get to see very often because they’re going to other schools,” Stino said. “So instead of racking up my phone bill, it’s nice just to leave them messages through (Facebook).”

Although Stino is only a year out of UCLA, she still feels that Facebook is a service that will extend past her recent graduation.

“I don’t think it’s crazy to keep it up a few years after you graduate,” she said. “I don’t think it really matters.”

Tabaquin predicts that his use will depend upon the preferences of his acquaintances.

“I think if (my peers) still keep contacting me, I’ll still keep that avenue open because if they like using that form of communication, why not?” he said.

Facebook’s lasting value may be up for prediction, but for now, current college students see no foreseeable reason to quit Facebook any time soon.

“I think now I’ll be using it, and I’ll probably be using it for the next couple of years for sure,” Ostrander said. “If I grow out of it, I will, but who knows if that will happen?”

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