Facebook.com has become an accepted part of life for the typical college student over the past few years, with pokes and friend requests joining parties as essential elements of social life. This month, though, users may have been delighted or annoyed to discover an additional innovation to the expanding amount of 'services' offered by the site.
On Feb. 8, Facebook launched its 'gift initiative' for the month in conjunction with Valentine's Day. Users can post tiny icons called "gifts" on their friends' profiles. Each icon appears both in a special gift box above the friend's wall and on the wall itself.
The gifts, 21 in all, consist of various bubbly icons in a rainbow of colors, ranging from a green-haired troll to a pink thong to a box of chocolates. They cost $1 each, and the net profits from each purchase go to raise money for the breast cancer research charity Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
How did Tufts students react to this playful yet benevolent addition to the Facebook world? Opinions varied widely.
According to senior Margaret Fitzgerald, the gift initiative was one of the most prolific 'extras' Facebook has come up with. "I think that it's a positive and innovative way to not only brighten a friend's day, but also give back to a very good cause," she said.
Freshman Claire Oppenheim had similar sentiments.
"Some people may think it's 'stupid,' but it's not a bad thing at all," she said. "Even if you choose not to participate, it's not harming you, but people who do choose to participate [and buy a gift] are helping others by giving money to charity."
Others were ambivalent. Senior Nate Paykel hadn't even realized Facebook had launched a gift venture, but agreed it "seemed like a good idea."
Michael Brunnquell, a junior, thought it was "pretty stupid at first." However, he still participated in the initiative.
"I did use my first free gift and gave it to a friend who is abroad," he said. "It was the puppy."
One senior, Erica Brody, eventually succumbed to the mentality of the gift craze, but not because it benefited breast cancer research.
"When I logged in to Facebook and saw that I could send one free gift and then fork up a dollar to send more gifts, I thought to myself, 'What a crock' ... But later, when no one had sent me a Facebook gift, it was terribly debilitating for my self-esteem. Was I not good enough for a gift? Needless to say, I'm going to hoard my free gift until someone sends me one."
Some students, like sophomore Andy Henke, didn't think Facebook and the support of breast cancer research needed to be connected.
"I would never buy something to send someone on Facebook," he said. "But of course, just like everyone else, I used the free one. However, if I were to give money to breast cancer research, which is something I believe in because I had an aunt die of breast cancer, I would do it in another way - not through Facebook."
"You never know how reliable some of those online things are," he added.
Some students were opposed to the gift initiative as a whole. Junior Andy Fraser said he's "a little offended and a bit angry."
"I didn't even use the free gift," he said. "I'm getting sick of Facebook - it's too involved. I don't care about when people take stuff off their profile or join a group, or especially gives someone a fake gift. How old are we anyway?"
