2008 Woodie Awards
Student faces off with Facebook
Tangelia Cannon
Issue date: 10/8/08 Section: Features
Growing up in the computer age, it's not uncommon to spend hours on the computer. Now with social networks such as Facebook, it is almost impossible not to be consumed by the computer.
According to Scott Sanders, a sophomore marketing major, "Facebook is the best way to keep in touch with people without using a phone all of the time, plus it offers a lot of features that sites like MySpace do not."
However, with the recent debut of Facebook's new layout, petitions have been passed around like wild fire. Out of all of them, though, one has actually grabbed the attention of people all over the world, and it was started by a student at APSU.
Like many other people who spend hours on Facebook, Sanders was not completely taken with the new facebook layout.
"A week after they started showing previews of the new Facebook, I started messing around with [it]. At first it was very confusing, but even after I figured it out, it was still really cluttered. It [also] got rid of a lot of features that I really liked," said Sanders.
"Other features I didn't like was the fact that it was off-centered. I also didn't like all of the empty space on the sides, which I knew was clearly meant for advertising, even though Facebook denied it," said Sanders. "I also hated what they did to the wall. They completely butchered it. Now it is not just a wall, it's a news feed and a wall, which makes it look cluttered."
In retaliation, Sanders created a petition and passed it on to his friends. At first his petition had only 350 signers, but now it has more than 1.6 million. Sanders said he never thought it would grab the attention and media profile that it did.
"A student in New York who writes for 'iReport' on CNN found the petition and wrote an article [about it]. Shortly after that, CNN did their own piece on their technology page," said Sanders.
"I have never done anything that has made this type of impact on society," said Sanders.
According to Scott Sanders, a sophomore marketing major, "Facebook is the best way to keep in touch with people without using a phone all of the time, plus it offers a lot of features that sites like MySpace do not."
However, with the recent debut of Facebook's new layout, petitions have been passed around like wild fire. Out of all of them, though, one has actually grabbed the attention of people all over the world, and it was started by a student at APSU.
Like many other people who spend hours on Facebook, Sanders was not completely taken with the new facebook layout.
"A week after they started showing previews of the new Facebook, I started messing around with [it]. At first it was very confusing, but even after I figured it out, it was still really cluttered. It [also] got rid of a lot of features that I really liked," said Sanders.
"Other features I didn't like was the fact that it was off-centered. I also didn't like all of the empty space on the sides, which I knew was clearly meant for advertising, even though Facebook denied it," said Sanders. "I also hated what they did to the wall. They completely butchered it. Now it is not just a wall, it's a news feed and a wall, which makes it look cluttered."
In retaliation, Sanders created a petition and passed it on to his friends. At first his petition had only 350 signers, but now it has more than 1.6 million. Sanders said he never thought it would grab the attention and media profile that it did.
"A student in New York who writes for 'iReport' on CNN found the petition and wrote an article [about it]. Shortly after that, CNN did their own piece on their technology page," said Sanders.
"I have never done anything that has made this type of impact on society," said Sanders.
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