On average, the 7.5 million users of online social networking Web site Facebook spend 20 minutes a day posting pictures, reading comments and messaging friends.

In one year, that’s about 120 hours NIU students spend on Facebook, according to Internet research Web site comScore Media Metrix. This number doesn’t even include the amount of time students spend on other leading online social networking Web sites such as MySpace or recently Ruckus, an NIU-sponsored music downloading Web site with social networking features.

The seventh-most-trafficked site in the United States, Facebook supports over 2,200 colleges and 22,000 high schools according to Facebook.com.

A cultural revolution?

The Internet has created a great shift in the way people communicate with each other, but this is hardly a recent trend, said NIU associate professor Michael Day, who was recently awarded the Charles Moran Award by international journal “Computers and Composition” for his work in the fields of writing and computers.

“Social networking sites such as Facebook are merely a continuation of other forms of online community that have been around for decades, such as USENET groups and listserv discussion groups,” Day said.

What has changed is that Web sites such as Facebook are now reaching more people than ever and social networking sites have become widely accepted by college students.

“I’ve heard many a college student claim that they had to be on Facebook to be normal, to exist in a college setting,” Day said.

Improving the way we communicate

Critics of online social networking Web sites claim these Web sites take away from the time people spend interacting with each other in person.

But supporters of online social networking consider interaction on Web sites such as Facebook in the same esteem as face-to-face interaction, and sometimes, these interactions can enhance real life conversations.

Applying this concept, a student could read up on someone they have a crush on before actually talking to them, increasing the chances of the student finding common ground with that person.

Some students prefer making new friends the more traditional way, such as senior technology major Chris Tanzillo, who says he prefers to meet new people in person rather than through a computer.

“On sites such as Facebook and even more so on Web sites such as MySpace, it’s hard to tell whether or not a person is really themselves,” he said.

Actual social interaction still important

Facebook users need to remember to get together with actual people every once in a while, Day said.

“A danger [of online social networking] is that people will gravitate only toward others with similar interests,” he said.

It’s also important for students using Facebook to not spend too much time worrying about the number of online friends they have or what people say about them online, he said.

Knowing that social interaction is important, NIU Housing and Dining tries to host numerous social events throughout the year to facilitate face to face interaction, said Cindy Phillips, director of IT customer support services.

Tanzillo warns about too much online social networking use.

“If a person is obsessed with Facebook and it’s the only way they make new friends, they’ll be in for a great shock when they get out into the real world after college and have to actually talk to people.”