Bournemouth Wire

By Mary-Ann Russon

THE Student Union has raised the issue of banning Facebook on campus at a recent General Meeting.

The issue was placed on the Student Union’s agenda after they received a series of complaints from students saying that they are not able to use the university’s computer facilities when they need to.

Adelaide Allen, Vice President of Communications at the Student Union (SU), said: “It's not a motion to ban it, but more of a discussion point. We have had students say to us that it is annoying when all the computers are taken up by students with Facebook on in the library.

“So what we're doing is bringing it to the UGM as a discussion point to see what the majority of the student body believe before we speak to the university, as we know many students use it.”

Students were invited to come to the General Meeting, held on Feb 12, and let the SU know their point of view.

Miguel Dias, a final year undergraduate student in Field Archaeology said: “I come into university at 9am in the morning to work on my dissertation, thinking that I’ve finally beaten the crowd to the computers, and I still can’t get to them because people are on Facebook!”

Suzi Woodgate, a second year undergraduate student in Television, argued that Facebook is used by many students as part of their education.

“We put our TV project groups on Facebook to do our work and brainstorm for ideas – it’s not used for socialising, so this needs to be taken into consideration,” she said. “It’s much simpler to use than Outlook or email lists as it’s a conversation everyone can look at and review.”

Peer-Assisted Learning (PAL) leaders also commented that they needed to use Facebook to contact their student groups as most students do not check their university emails.

Sam Williams, a final year Business Information Systems Management student, said: “How do you govern when students are wasting time on Facebook, or when it’s being used for education?

“It would be better not to block it completely, but to discuss blocking it in the library, or at certain times of the day, instead of a blanket ban.”

Brian Astin, Bournemouth University’s Dean of Education said: “It’s up to the students – we’re not going to insist that Facebook be banned or not.

“But perhaps we should consider the effect Facebook has on university education and its uses. If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em!”

Since there were less than 100 students at the General Meeting, the motion to ban Facebook on campus could not be taken, but the SU has decided to put up signs around computers in the Open Access Centre (OAC) and the library.

Adelaide Allen said: “The OAC is a social space and people have the right to use Facebook if they haven’t got a computer at home, but we can put up signs saying, ‘Do you really need to be on Facebook?’ , which might make students feel better about kicking people off computers if they are really not doing any work.”

What do you think of the issue? The decision to ban Facebook at certain times of the day is still pending until the next General Meeting, so if you have an opinion on it, we want to hear what you think.

What do you think about Facebook-ing it on campus? Does it distract you? Have you been prevented from getting on a pc because of others using Facebook? Do you care? Let us know your thoughts...