Sure, it's great to hear about the potential impact of new technology, but how are Hamilton students incorporating Web 2.0 into their lives?
Well, here's one way. After weeks or months of snow and bitter treks up the Hill, by late winter many students have little inclination to take frivolous trips outdoors. But that doesn't keep them from bringing the frivolity inside. One day in February last semester, students in Bundy Residence Hall came together for the medievally inspired and hotly contested sport sweeping campuses across the nation – rolley-chair jousting. These modern knights of Camelot bravely mounted their steeds, rolled down the hallway and confronted their fearsome opponents with amazing courage. In the end, only one jouster remained mounted, earning bragging rights as the victor.
But see for yourself. It's on YouTube. From indie concerts and intramural sports to performances in Wellin Hall and student-run film festivals, Hamilton students are posting snippets of their lives on YouTube for friends, family and the world to see.
Or if you prefer the evidence of hard numbers, consider Facebook, the social networking Web site that mixes the good (virtually every college student on the planet can hop on and commune), the bad (privacy fears, destroyed reputations) and the ugly (think camera-phone self-portraits). On Aug. 22, the day after New Student Orientation began for the 471 members of the incoming Class of 2011, 383 of those first-year students — 81 percent — already had accounts with Facebook's Hamilton College Class of 2011 group. And that made up just 10 percent of the 3,884 Hamiltonians present and past with a Facebook presence.
"The new technologies have certainly created a new and different culture, as well as creating a rift between generations," says Nick Stagliano '11. "It's rare to see a 40-year-old text messaging, just as it's quite rare to see an 18-year-old writing a letter to a friend. Instead, the younger generations tend to stick with text messaging, Facebooking and e-mailing, while, certainly with exceptions, the older generations hold fast to telephone calls and handwritten correspondence."
