Academic senate asks students to step away from social networking
Students are encouraged to spend less time using social networking sites this week in hopes of helping them realize how much time this activity takes from being productive in other ways.
“Unplugged” week was created by the ASUSU Academic Senate to do just this, and wants students to not only disconnect from social networking, but realize what other kinds of distractions are keeping them from their school work.
Tanner Wright, academic senate president, said the idea has been in the works for a few months, and all the academic senators are involved.
“We aren’t trying to put a negative light on Facebook, we just want students to acknowledge how much time they spend on it when they could be doing other things,” Wright said.
College of Natural Resources senator Jason Carlisle said when the idea was initially discussed they went into classrooms and talked to some students to see if they would be on board with the idea. He said people seemed to openly recognize that they had an “open dependence on these things and wanted to explore other options and see what kind of impacts the usage of these things have on them.”
The problem is in the computer labs, library and classrooms that allow laptops, Wright said, where students are more often than not on Facebook rather than studying or listening to their professors. He said social media has obviously revolutionized the way students interact with others and addiction to technology and social media is not healthy.
Jake Christofferson, an undeclared sophomore, said even though he gets on Facebook every day, he doesn’t get on it during class because it is too distracting, but he definitely gets on in the library when he should be doing homework. He said it depends on what kind of workload he has when it comes to the time he spends using Facebook.
“When I have a full schedule and I know I need to do well then I am focused and Facebook doesn’t get in the way, but when I am not very focused, yes, it does,” he said.
Carlisle said society today is “very dependant on social media and technology,” and the point of this week is to help students realize it’s not always just fun and games.
“I mean, there can be serious health, social and psychological issues at stake for people who become socially dependant, I am not an expert or anything but when you spend every waking minute on Facebook or playing video games it’s not healthy,” Carlisle said.
Christofferson said he thinks it’s a good idea and he is sure some students will try to go “unplugged” for the week but he isn’t sure how many people will last.
“I’ve had a couple friends get rid of Facebook so they can focus on school and then like two days later they’re back on. I am sure there will be people out to prove it’s possible though,” he said.
Carlisle said interacting face-to-face with people is just “undervalued so much these days.” He said there are so many other things people could be doing that doesn’t involve technology.
“Ah man, go outside,” he said. “I mean, interpersonal relationships with real people, not Facebook profiles and X-Box Live gaming companions. Words like Facebook and Google are in our everyday vocabulary these days, how weird is that?”
“Unplugged” week will start off Monday with a fair in the TSC International Lounge. Wright said there will be free pizza, and organizations like Student Services and Counseling and Psychological Services there, talking about social media and how students can become addicted to it.
Carlisle said hopefully students will attend the fair and the booths will “empower those students who are willing to seek out information.”
Tuesday night the band Katchafire will perform a free concert for students. It will be $5 for anyone who is not a USU student and all money will go toward a scholarship fund. Wednesday, there will be two showings of “The Social Network” with free popcorn in the TSC Auditorium, at 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.
Wright said the senate didn’t have a very large budget to work with so there won’t be many activities going on, but they want to focus on making students evaluate their productivity in relation to the amount they use Facebook and other social media sites.
– megan.b@aggiemail.usu.edu