Each morning around 9 a.m. Kyle Bredbenner’s ’09 cell phone begins buzzing. It sounds like a swarm of bees making an invasion but there is no need to panic. The sounds are just alerts to messages being sent to his cell phone, and it will happen more than 300 times during the day.

Gone are the days of the hand-written letter and picturesque postcard sent home via “snail-mail” to family and friends. Students no longer have a need to wait on line in the dorm to use the one and only pay phone in the hallway. In fact, they don’t even use the land lines in their rooms anymore.

Today, walking across campus one can hear students exclaiming“text me,” “friend me” or “Facebook me” as they pass. Those not familiar with the terminology could be slightly confused as to the use of these new quasi-verbs. While they have yet to make it into any dictionaries, they have made their way to every campus in the country.

Texting is the sending of short messages, 160 characters or less, via cell phones. Lila Mukhtarzada ’09 has to be quick to keep up with her phone. She sends and receives about 500 text messages each day. “It’s an easy way to communicate with the people I know,” says Mukhtarzada. “It’s pointless to call someone and just tell them to meet you somewhere. Texting is great for that.”

Jared Epler ’09 sends and receives around 200 text messages each day. His reasons are largely the same, but he adds, “It’s great for when you really can’t talk but you need to tell someone something or you want to send the same message to several different people.”

Texting isn’t just for students either. The College has implemented a new text messaging service to alert subscribers to an emergency on campus. Students, administrators, faculty and staff have all been given the opportunity to sign up for the free service. In the event of a crisis, a short message is sent to every subscriber’s cell phone within seconds.

When the phone is not buzzing, where else do students turn to communicate? Launched from a Harvard University dorm room in 2004, the social media web site Facebook has more than 69 million registered users and is the fifth most trafficked web site in the world. With 65 billion
page views per month, people spend an average of 25 minutes a day on the site.

On Facebook, members join networks like the “Albright College” network, create a profile page, upload photos and network with one another. Members identify each other as “friends” and then are able to view each others profiles. Included in the site is an e-mail feature that allows messages to be sent between members. There is also a “wall” on each member’s profile page where their “friends” can leave messages. But beware of what you say. All of a member’s “friends” can also read the message.

To say it is popular on Albright’s campus is an understatement. Epler puts his cell phone down several times a day to check his Facebook. “It’s just a cool way to stay in touch with friends, especially those you don’t talk to often. The picture feature is a big part of it too. You can see photos of friends at other schools.”

Mukhtarzada checks her Facebook multiple times a day. “I pretty much check it anytime I’m near a computer, maybe 10 or 12 times a day. It’s a great way to network with your peers and let them know what is going on. We can create events on the Albright network and invite members to come. It works well!”

Bredbenner recently announced he is running for Student Government Association president at Albright, and he did it on Facebook. “All of the students are members so it was a simple way to let everyone know what I was doing.” He created a group in the Albright network which supporters could join. Within an hour of being sent out, 137 students had joined his group voicing their support. “Facebook has been really beneficial in getting out the word on events and things of that nature,” he says.

Facebook has been beneficial to the College as well. Student Activities has created their own profile called Albright Students which helps to publicize student events on Facebook for free. The College Relations and Marketing Department is using Facebook as a way to post event photos and find students who are willing to be used in the College’s advertising. The group called “I Want to be an Albright Posterchild” has almost 100 members, all of whom love Albright and want the world to know it.

Keeping text messages to 160 characters can be difficult. Here are some of the most popular shortcuts students use:

Facebook Facts

69 Million Active Users
65 Billion Page Views Per Month
45% of Users Return Daily
14 Million Photos Uploaded Daily
55,000 Networks