"Facebook in the Flesh"

Posted at 10:57 AM on September 19, 2007 by Larissa Anderson

Is it getting harder to have conversations with people – in person? Just ask the incoming freshmen at N.Y.U. who took a seminar to help them in this department. The New Yorker features an article about this seminar known at N.Y.U. as “Facebook in the Flesh.” Students at this “get-to-know-you 101” got a handout with some sample questions designed to help spark a little conversation .

“What drew you to N.Y.U.?”

“What do you think of this workshop so far?”

I imagine this room full of freshmen, who, I think, must surely be rolling their eyes. I mean, who needs a handout to help them think to ask somebody what classes they’ve signed up for this year or where they’re from or how awkward it is to try to have a conversation guided by scripted questions.

Then I read the part where students said that it was more difficult to meet people in person than on Facebook. One student was even bummed that in person, you can’t “poke people.”

Is online social networking getting in the way of real-life social networking?

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