Editor,
Isn't it interesting that the Daily Lobo had to do a cover story on Facebook.com being blocked through UNM connections? The fact that people are seriously complaining about this site being down is, frankly, a little scary.
I suppose we will all need to revert to the old ways of communicating with fellow students in class by - oh, my - actually talking with them, getting their numbers, and, God forbid, getting their online messenger screen name. I mean, people somehow survived and managed to maintain contact before Facebook became popular.
What frightens me is that people seem to overlook that Facebook is not safe. You can post anything you want - where you live, your phone number, your screen name, what classes you are taking and what brand of pasta sauce you like. Does this not frighten anyone? I suppose it won't scare you until that creepy guy who stares at you in class suddenly starts conveniently being in the same parts of campus as you.
A student makes the claim that the Internet is about free speech. It is, and it should be. However, we forget that companies and organizations are the ones running and maintaining these networks on the Internet. Guess what? Your online liberties will be stilted if any given administrator feels that something on the network is not right.
This should not be a big deal - not big enough that the Daily Lobo should make it front-page news. For the time being, we have all been left to primitive means of communication. We will survive and get past this, and I am sure that sooner or later, the Facebook will lose its flavor and people will move on.
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In the meantime, don't forget to join my Facebook group, Surviving UNM without the Facebook - if you can get to it.
Emmanuel Flores
UNM student
