Facebook: Its Impact on Us and on Society

Technology & You Discussion Series
May 19, 2009

Facebook recently celebrated the registration of its 200 millionth user. The statistics are staggering:

• Over 100 million users access the site each day

• More than 3.5 billion minutes are spent on Facebook daily

• 1 billion pieces of content are shared weekly

As Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has pointed out, if Facebook "were a country, it would be the sixth most populated country in the world." Facebook has become a part of the lives of all around you...and now your parents and professors are joining!

The Institute for Security, Technology, and Society (ISTS) and the Dartmouth Digital Interest Group (DDIG) are kicking off their "Technology and You" discussion series with a panel and audience discussion on Facebook. Five panelists will describe how they interact with Facebook and how it affects their lives. Then we open it up for audience discussion and participation: What does Facebook mean to you?

Panelists:

Rembert Browne ‘09
How use of Facebook changes over the course of an undergraduate career at Dartmouth.

Lauren Farleigh ‘09
Facebook and friendship-what does it all mean?

Andrew Samwick, Professor of Economics, Director of the Rockefeller Center
A professor using Facebook? What for?

Meg Houston Maker ‘87 MALS09, Director of External Information Services, Development, Dartmouth
Connecting and Reconnecting: Facebook pluses and minuses.

Sara "Scout" Sinclair, PhD student, Computer Science
Who are your Facebook friends really? Privacy concerns on Facebook.

About the Technology & You Discussion Series

Join the Dartmouth community for discussions about new technologies in society-what do digital technologies do for us? To us? What do new technologies mean for us as individuals, as a community, as a society? What are the personal and social benefits as well as the potential costs of using new technologies? The Technology & You discussion series invites Dartmouth students, faculty, and staff to share thoughts and experiences about digital technologies and their impact on us and on society.

Brought to you by the Institute for Security, Technology, and Society (ISTS) and the Dartmouth Digital Interest Group (DDIG)