University Wire
11-12-2007
(The Heights) (U-WIRE) CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. -- Your class ended early, and you arrive back to your room sooner than expected. You see your roommate sitting at his computer, but when he sees you, he quickly closes his screen with a guilty expression on his face. You can't help but wonder what he had been doing, but you may not need to worry. It's likely that he just didn't want you to see that he was on Facebook.com, checking out the profile of one of the girls he had met at a party the night before.
According to a recent article in the New York Times, Facebook is now more popular than pornographic websites among college students. Social networks rank first among websites visited by users ages 18-25, notably Facebook, which has a corner on the market, with 85 percent of students at four-year colleges as members. Search engines came in second, followed by Web-based e-mail. Pornographic websites finished in fourth place, recently declining in the past two years. In October 2005, porn sites accounted for 16.9 percent of all site visits in the United States, but now account for only 11.9 percent, a 33 percent decline.
What could account for this shift? Donnah Canavan, associate professor in the psychology department at Boston College, believed that, when given the opportunity, people prefer to connect with someone over something that interests them rather than doing other activities alone, such as pornography. The rise of social networking websites like Facebook allow people to create or maintain connections which may have been more difficult for them to do previously.
"In a funny kind of way, they are saying that somebody who would sit down and view pornography might actually prefer to go to a Schwarzenegger movie with someone next door. The difference is that you can always go to the store and buy beer, or [look on] the Internet and find porn, but it's harder to find ways to connect with other people," Canavan said. "Maybe at the heart of this, people still want to connect to other people but they just don't know how to."
This, however, doesn't fully explain why pornographic websites are still highly ranked among users over the age of 25, second only to search engines. One possible explanation is that older generations are simply taking longer to adjust to the new resources available on the Internet and are just starting to catch on now. According to Facebook.com, the fastest growing demographic of users is over the age of 25.
While students may have been using Facebook for years, professors are also starting to participate in this phenomenon. Canavan said that she actually has a Facebook page for her dog, which a group of former students put together. Her dog, named Gabby, has 25 Facebook friends from BC and has recently been receiving friend requests from dogs all around the world.
"One of the dogs actually says he is in a relationship with another dog," Canavan said. "I don't really know what that means. While I'm not on Facebook, my dog is."
Marina McCoy, assistant professor in the philosophy department, also has a Facebook account. She said she uses the site both to stay in touch with her friends from college and her younger family members and also as a means to interact with her students.
"I use Facebook as a chance to post photos of my children or to cheer on the Eagles, since students often like to see a different side of their professors," McCoy said in an e-mail. "Facebook is relatively new for me, and I am still learning the ropes."
Students use Facebook to post photos, keep in touch with friends from home, find and contact new acquaintances, and as a general way of sharing information with friends. Social networking websites, like Facebook, are also continuously adding new features to attract and entertain its users. Facebook allows users to access interactive applications created by outside parties, allowing users to send their friends a virtual alcoholic beverage, draw pictures on their "graffiti wall," and post videos of themselves.
All of its many features make Facebook not only a viable means of keeping in touch with friends but also a form of entertainment.
"I go on Facebook every day," said Brett Erhardt, A&S '09. "Facebook has become like a compulsion; you have to check it."
Many students said they would agree with that fact that Facebook has become more popular than pornographic websites, but they also see the two types of sites as independent from each other, with the popularity of Facebook based upon social networking.
"Facebook is getting old, but porn never gets old. It's always a good time," said one sophomore who preferred to remain unnamed.
Although Canavan said that people may visit porn sites less often because they would prefer to have a social connection with someone who shared their interests, some students said that there are other factors that impact their usage of pornographic Web sites.
"You can check Facebook in a regular atmosphere," said Doug Ruth, A&S '09. "Porn needs to be checked privately, in your room alone."
"If I was in a single, I definitely would look at porn a lot more," said one student. "I don't really now because I have two roommates."
Despite circumstances that may impact their online habits, most agreed that they would use Facebook more than pornographic Web sites regardless of the circumstances.
"Porn is like a hobby," said James Blake, CSOM '10. "But Facebook is like a religion."
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