Justin Harnett

Why regulate Facebook? (Case Study Analysis)

“Retarded, stupid, and gay.” When I look over my Facebook page feeds I encounter these hurtful words. Many of today’s youth are unaware that using these words belittles countless people. This personally resonates with me as my cousin is mentally handicapped and my niece is homosexual. As Director of Orientation at Berklewood College, I also know first-hand that these words offend many incoming students at Berklewood, who have family and friends who feel downgraded by these inappropriate words. Sadly, the easiest way to use “retarded, stupid, or gay” has been by the click of a button on Facebook. The problem with this is the user does not take ownership of his/her words and is rarely confronted about it. Perhaps a past student of mine sums it up best:

http://www.happyplace.com/10790/facebook-status-updates-posted-at-wildly-inappropriate-moments

And now, I must confess that Berklewood school officials have approached me to institute a policy measure that regulates my own Orientation Leaders’ Facebook pages. This both excites me and saddens me. On the one hand, I love knowing that I will be able to minimize the amount of inappropriate content being displayed on the web. But on the other, my orientation leaders are mature and sympathetic so they rarely use hurtful words like “retarded, stupid, or gay.” Thus the extent of my influence is limited.

For the purpose of pleasing Berklewood officials and the Vice President for Student Affairs, I will go ahead and institute a policy that specifically regulates OL Facebook pages.

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As well versed student leaders of Berklewood, many of my orientation leaders have already approached me citing their concerns over such a policy. Many fear that I will restrict their freedom of speech on Facebook. After hearing this complaint, I called for an orientation team meeting in my office.

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First and foremost, I made it clear that they could continue to ‘friend request’ the students they orient. I stressed how important social media like Facebook is to their leadership. It provides my orientation leaders with a forum to voice their leadership views and personal opinions, as well as a site to field questions from their orientation students. By not restricting either of these areas, I stressed that they should have NO concern about me restricting their ‘freedom of speech,’

After I settled my Orientation Leaders down about this aspect, it was time to share the news about how my new policy would actually affect them. The policy I have put in place is based off the cliché, “Treat others as you want to be treated.” I have the good fortune of employing a compassionate group of students that care how they themselves are treated and how others are treated. By implementing this simple policy, I have created a system that requires that they do the following before they make a post on Facebook: Are the words in my post something that would make me feel justly treated and respected, and in no way condescending of any group of people I know. If so, the orientation leader may add the post. In this way, my policy is based on the simple expression: “Treat others as you want to be treated.” I have great fortune because I can rely on the maturity and judgment of my orientation leaders to make the right decisions.

If, however, I see a post that I consider hurtful and thus one that does not fall under the category of “Treat others as you want to be treated,” I will schedule a meeting with the student.

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In this meeting, I ask the student why someone might find their Facebook post hurtful, providing them with the reason if they still do not realize. Then, we sign a mutual contract that holds the orientation leader accountable if they make another Facebook post blunder. In this way, the meeting serves as a warning. If, however, I meet with the orientation leader about a second Facebook post infraction, they are banned from their Facebook account for one week. Any infraction after this is subject to a one month ban. Though this sounds harsh, my orientation leaders know the importance of leading by example and just how influential their posts can be on incoming students at Berklewood College.

Now that I have elaborated on my regulatory policy of orientation leader Facebook pages, I will now let Justin Harnett add his commentary on my policy:

I agree very much with what has been said. In only the third or fourth session of my own orientation leader class, Brian and Courtney brought up a similar issue about Facebook. They made it clear that we had to be very careful about what we posted on Facebook. This meant excluding words like “retarded, stupid, or gay” in any posts. Additionally, though not mentioned above, Brian and Courtney emphasized that we are a representation of Rutgers University. Therefore, it is unacceptable to make inappropriate comments about Rutgers like,’ Brower dining hall stinks’ or ‘I was blocked out of my class schedule which is yet another example of the RUSCREW.’

First and foremost, such comments are immature and as such conflict with our representation as ambassadors to Rutgers. Additionally, it emphasizes the overall goal of orientation programming which is to create a comfortable, open environment. This would be hindered by such Facebook posts. The final takeaway point about summer orientation is that having written this long blog post about social media, I will be very careful about how I use social media and can better inform my peers about doing the same! This simple understanding can go a long way in making summer orientation run smoothly and avoid unnecessary conflict.