There are some who say that Facebook is a student dating site that got lucky, others who say it is creepy and others who condemn its lack of privacy and downright theft of content and pictures posted on the site.
All three are correct and I’d like to add to that nascent list that its interface is a complete counter-intuitive nightmare, my ‘friends’ peaked around two years ago and I am increasingly afflicted by spam and gratuitous invitations.
So when I was invited to be part of a two-team debating team at the University College of London proposing Facebook suicide, I accepted immediately. Fortunately I was partnered with a Doctor (PhD only) and this Monday we took the stage to bring our mo-fo opponents down.
I am crap at debating, at school I was more interested in football than joining the debating society and I wasn’t the most eloquent or mature kid (who knew?!). Hence this event was an opportunity to slay a few demons and undergo a new experience.
How mature these kids are. All very Parliamentarian and proper, but I did experience what it was like to be a lecturer… all these girls just stare lovingly at you. Anyway I did my seven minutes, then opponents, then Doctor, then opponents, then three X three-minute speeches from the audience either for, against or abstention.
We then signed off with our closing arguments and the vote was cast by an audience all of whom were on Facebook. Surprisingly we won by four votes and I was a winner in an academic setting, something I thought I would never say.
In the debate itself and baring in mind my previous statement Facebook is a student dating network that got lucky, it was a little depressing to see how embedded it was in students’ lives and how dispassionately they felt about it… for them it was as normal as getting drunk in the student bar.
But the last word goes to the young man who warned about the dangers of stalking on Facebook and then used himself as an example of that danger.
“Believe me girls; if you’re a Six (out of Ten) then I’ve checked you out already so you’ve got to be careful about what you put up there”.
He’ll go far that one…
Monty Munford has more than 15 years' experience in mobile, digital media, web and journalism. He is the founder of Mob76, a company that helps tech companies raise money and exit. He speaks regularly at global media events with a focus on Africa, writes a weekly column for The Telegraph, is a regular contributor to The Economist, Wired, Mashable and speaks regularly on the BBC World Service.
