Facebook sparks concerns over constitutional rights

By: Anthony Fusco

Posted: 9/13/06

It's no secret now: your voice has been heard. If you are quick to dismiss this claim, I would urge you to not be so hasty with that decision.

In case you live under a rock or simply haven't accessed the Internet in the last week, then you don't know about the current crisis that has gripped college campuses nationwide. This past week, college students have seen one of their best friends and procrastination ally turn into a tyrannical arch-enemy and then back again. Yes, unfortunately, I'm talking about Facebook.com and the recent changes to their site.

Before the changes were regulated late last week, it was easier than ever to know everything about everyone you know (or don't) just by checking out "The Feed" aspect of the Web site. While it contains miniscule information such as "Jason has added M.A.S.H. as one of his favorite shows," the majority of outcry by users stems from relationship info and wall postings becoming public record with a timestamp to confirm when it all went down.

So what happens when people become dissatisfied with a set of conditions that affect their daily lives? The answer is that they take action. In this case, hundreds of thousands students have taken matters into their own hands by taking a sudden interest in American government. Now you might be saying to yourself, "This kid couldn't be further from the truth." To you, I would reply that you are dead wrong. Whether done so consciously or inadvertently, those students who are dissatisfied with the changes to Facebook are following democratic protocol to the letter.

If you have joined a group that is against "The Feed" or signed a petition like I did last week, then you are evoking your First Amendment right to protest an apparent infringement of your 14th Amendment right to privacy. At this point in the article, you need to stop reading and pat yourself on the back, because you have taken a bigger step than you realize, and Thomas Jefferson himself couldn't be happier.

Although it might have taken something so trivial and stupid as Facebook to showcase this reaction, it couldn't have captivated the audience any other way.

As college students, we are essentially being bred by experts in our respective fields to become the future of America. As such, we all need to take time out to smell the proverbial roses of democracy that we take for granted everyday, and Facebook has given us a great learning opportunity to do just that. It is your duty as an educated adult and our responsibility as a generation to take a bigger interest in government and the policy that shapes not only our lives, but that of our children's children after us.Yes, you joined a group to let Facebook know that you feel your privacy is being trampled, and that is great. However, when was the last time you filled out a petition to allocate more money to schools in your community or voted for someone running for office that you thought would bring about positive change?

This is my exact thesis: Don't stop here. It doesn't matter if you are far right, far left, moderate, or you don't even know what any of those terms mean. All that does matter is that you keep your ear to the ground and exercise your rights in the political spectrum in anyway you see fit.

This doesn't mean you have to start attending City Council meetings or watch CNN for four hours a day (although it helps); it's simply is a call to action. All of us who have voiced our dissatisfaction with the Facebook privacy issue have learned a valuable skill out of the social turbulence caused by our favorite past-time; right behind Baggo and beer, of course.

The brutal reality is that Facebook will not matter to any of us five years after graduation, but government and its policies will. You owe it to yourself, your ancestors who fought for these same rights and to the founders of our nation to keep your eye on the big prize: freedom. In the words of Professor Phyllis Rippey, "the price of democracy is eternal vigilance."

In other words, to cite the motion picture "40-Year-Old Virgin," if you don't use it, you lose it. Don't let that happen, because you truly won't know what you have 'till it's gone.