Is Facebook becoming the New Yearbook?

Looking through old yearbooks is one of my personal pastime favorites of growing up. It was always fun to sit with my mom and dad and let them show me pictures of what they looked like when they were kids, and all the different activities their schools had. My mother's yearbook was my favorite to look through. She was fortunate to have it because her school had taken a break from printing yearbooks due to low funds. She was her school's homecoming queen, and I always cherished the memories we shared as she would tell me about all of her high school experiences. I always enjoyed looking at her pictures and dreaming about how high school would be when I would be there.

There are many different changes that are taking place in how people will remember each other. There are even changes in how high schools and universities will be remembering old classmates. Facebook is being used as a substitute yearbook for some high schools as well as universities. Many people believe that using Facebook as a new method of keeping of with people can be both beneficial and negative.

The most recent college to realize that they do not need the traditional yearbook is the University of Virginia. This university was founded by Thomas Jefferson himself, and the university has always had a yearbook, except for the year 1887. The student publishers of “Corks and Curls” decided not to continue with the traditional yearbook book because they did not have the funds. Instead, they will be using “facebook” to create this yearbook (In Facebook Age, 1). They will be saving nearly 100,000 dollars and spending none because “facebook” is free to use.

Many other schools and universities have joined the band wagon of “facebook” and stopped using the traditional yearbooks as a method of remembering their schoolmates. After all, “facebook” was designed by a Harvard college student to serve as a yearbook for his classmates. “Facebook” is changing how our schools will be remembered.

The switch from the traditional yearbook to the new and innovative “facebook” plays a distinct role in education. Due to more and more people disconnecting from the old traditions of year-booking and embracing online ‘face-booking’, some people would argue that it is related to the lack of needing or wanting permanent documentation. The funds that once paid for yearbooks will go to another area in the universities. The students are given the control to decide whether or not they wish to continue with yearbooks. Obviously, the students wish to switch to “facebook” for various reasons whether it be to save money, save trees, or because “facebook” is easy to navigate and use.

Most high schools will more than likely continue to use traditional yearbooks like they have used in the past. However, low funding may cause many schools to be faced with the inevitable decision to either stop making yearbooks, or switch to using facebook. Facebook is free for anyone to use, so it would definitely be cheaper to utilize. However, looking at pictures of old school days through facebook may not be as enjoyable or memorable if it were done through traditional yearbooks.

“In Facebook Age, Fewer Colleges Printing Yearbooks.” Dailyjournalonline. 19 Feb. 2010 http://www.dailyjournalonline.com/articles/2010/02/25/news/doc4b805d0d01ade313782124.txt.