The New Facebook and That Lame Election

By Najib Aminy

In what many strategists and political scientists deem as an election that the youth may control, change has been at the forefront, from campaign speeches, to empty political promises, to Facebook. Yes, even Facebook, the popular social networking site among many of America’s finest collegiate intellects.

Created originally as thefacebook.com in early February of 2004 by sophomore Mark Zuckerberg, the Harvard University networking site opened to 800 college universities and eventually the rest of the world. In just three years, Facebook has connected nearly 50 million people together in the art of staring at pictures, indirectly stalking fellow peers, and rotting away thousands of moments of time.

Facebook gained headlines when it recently “revamped” its web site. Announced in early May, Facebook has finally completed their new style in which many users are baffled by its complexity, disorganization, and contrast from the user friendly old Facebook. Hundreds of groups have formed to petition the “New Facebook.” Though it may seem wise to collectively join one group, these various groups range from hundreds to one group that boasts 1,751,804 members. Despite these large numbers, these petitions have seemed to accomplish very little as the option to “return to the Old Facebook,” has been removed from Facebook, leaving many wondering if the change was really worth it.

Granted, the old Facebook did have its problems. For example, when it came to the Victor Heusen matrices, there are only so many times that one can tolerate waiting milliseconds rather then nanoseconds to view photo albums. More notably, Facebook’s futile attempt to run the latest Diginet CPU Intel Premium Resnet service provider hindered bumper stickers in being successfully sent. It was only a matter of time before change would occur to revamp and improve Facebook.

In response to the changes, Zuckerberg has said, “we’ve made the changes rolling out today in order to highlight the most recent and relevant information that users value, give users even more control and ownership over their profiles and simplify the user experience. Facebook’s new design makes it a lot easier for users to share information, and we encourage them to check it out.” Despite Zuckerberg’s claimed “simplified experience,” Facebook has undoubtedly become a maze where finding the information of the favorite band of some girl in your Physics class has turned into a cybernetic excursion. (By the way, it was Nickelback.)

In the wake of Facebook’s revamped design, one must look to the upcoming November elections in which the two major candidates are focusing their campaign on the promise of change. With the alterations made in Facebook, a simple tool used by a vast number of the American youth, will the elections spur the same kind of feedback?

In shifting gears to the current Presidential election, change seems to be what everyone wants, due in part to status of American life. One could argue that it has gotten so bad that it is difficult to determine which issue is the most troubling. According to a CNN poll conducted from August 29 to August 31, 64% of people polled were against the Iraq war. In a poll conducted by the American Research Group in August of 2008, 60% of Americans see the economy getting worse while the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported an increase in the unemployment rate from 5.7% to 6.1%. With an approval rating that went as low as 19% in February 2008, the lowest for any president thus far, President Bush may look forward to the last months of his presidency in that he’ll be taking a burden off his shoulders and handing it to the winner of the November elections.

Before leaving, President Bush will hand a $482 billion deficit to the next president. What change can be done with $482 billion dollars of deficit, a war in Iraq, a strengthening resistance in Afghanistan, and a troubling economy? Whether one perceives Premiership Bush as one of America’s greatest presidents or the worst, the next president, who undoubtedly is campaigning for change, is up to the task of delivering their promise with a full plate of issues at hand.

Is there really any “change we can believe in,” that the Obama campaign has keeps referring or is there really any “straight talk” that can express the ideas that would best suit Americans, as the McCain campaign claims there is. Though change seems to be the antidote to America’s internal and foreign turmoil, there is no certainty as to how successfully it will be delivered.

With the wide spread in criticism of something as menial as Facebook, one has to wonder what response the Presidential elections will warrant. Will hundreds upon hundreds of groups, outside of Facebook, be created, petitioning against America’s corrupt policies or will such topics be deemed solely for lectures and classroom tests.

Change will inevitably happen, but the question lies in how that change will be accepted and, more importantly how the youth will respond.