On the internet it is hard to keep secrets very long.  So when Butler University's admissions office Electronic Communications Coordinator and regular blogger, Brad Ward of SquaredPeg.com, broke the news that a handful of employees from a college guide publisher were setting up Facebook pages for the incoming classes of hundreds of colleges, word started spreading quickly.  So did the discussion around what this means and whether entering college students are being harmed. 

In case you haven't noticed, the internet is having a big effect on how new students go to college, and both colleges and private companies are looking for ways to take advantage of these changes.  Connecting with your fellow students before setting foot on campus is a great way to start off your college career successfully.  Facebook seems like an obvious platform for making such connections. In light of this new discovery that a company appears to be using college entering class Facebook sites to develop lists of prospects for future marketing efforts, it probably makes sense for colleges to create official sites and encourage admitted applicants or those who have accepted offers of admission to use these sites. 

I know MySpace and Facebook were suppose to be places where people could network without official oversite, and because of this expectation many colleges have avoided sponsoring such sites. Unfortunately that strategy seems to have created an opening for exploitation.  So unless you want to share personal information with a company which would engage in this type of misleading conduct, ask the college where you plan to attend if they have set up any official site where you can connect with others in your entering class.  And be a little suspicious of the unofficial sites.