People can learn a lot about you from your Facebook profile. By considering your favorite movies, pictures, quotes and the things other people write on your wall, it is quite easy to get a good idea of who you are as a person. And knowing that, many of us are extremely careful about what we throw on there.

And I’m not talking about taking down all those drunk pictures from the Jell-O wrestling tournament so you can get that job with the government you’ve been coveting. I’m talking about leaving those up to show anyone and everyone who is looking that you are one cool girl who happens to enjoy wrestling in gelatin.

Your Facebook picture is especially important. It’s the first thing people see when they look you up, not to mention the fact that it comes up next to every wall post, Facebook message, chat, update, etc., that you do on that damn website. Naturally, you are going to put a lot of thought into your photo of choice. It needs to be a good representation of who you are, be it an artist, a class clown, or any other type of person.

I spend a lot of time on Facebook (is there a 12-step program out there?!) and I’ve noticed that of the 500 million people using the site worldwide, there only 6 basic types of photos that people post on their profile:

[Click on any image to see the gallery!]

[This story was originally posted by Lauren - University of Michigan]

Likey? Don’t worry, there are plenty more faves where this came from.

While tirelessly working on a PowerPoint presentation for my Foreign Policy class this past Friday, I was forwarded another slew of slides chock-full of facts, images, and evaluations. However, these were far from academic.

As I clicked a link in the email, I was led to an article detailing one Duke University female’s fake senior thesis, titled “An education beyond the classroom: excelling in the realm of horizontal academics.” Highlighting her late-night (and decently drunken) romps with several Duke athletes, the writer created slides with Facebook pictures of the men, followed by detailed (and rather defamatory) evaluations of their performances.

The fact that this girl slept with a few lacrosse and baseball players isn’t really an issue. I mean, it’s college even the dweeb who has the roley backpack gets lucky during his four years on campus. What’s wrong here is that this woman’s PowerPoint presentation was forwarded to a few friends, who forwarded it to a few other friends, and the thing went viral.

Welcome to the new generation of Kissing-and-Telling.

As the “Subjects” were leaving Shooters or booty-texting Duke’s very own sexperimenter, I doubt they anticipated their experiences being relayed all over the Internet. However, nowadays it seems you never know what to expect after 4am sexcapades. Beyond waiting for that flirtatious banter-sparking text, you have to worry about what is being said to his friends or what pictures could surface of you two going at it in the corner of the bar on FB.

The amount of information that people share about their personal lives via the Internet is insane. And the effects can be tragic. It’s one thing to vaguely or generically share some weekend anecdote, but going into stark detail with names and pictures is becoming more and more common.

Bitter exes, scorned hookups, and bruised egos swamp blog sites with their woes and share embarrassingly intimate secrets while name-dropping their partner. In a state of rage or rejection, people often turn to their computers for a therapy session. And once it’s in print, it’s tough to truly squash its existence after the moment of passion has passed.

It’s one thing to bash your hookup to a few girlfriends over pancakes the next morning. But, it’s a complete other to do it on some public forum. Remember, your (printed/published) words do have repercussions. Not only can you face legal action for defamation of character but you can also genuinely hurt the people involved.

The Duke University student that created the above mentioned PowerPoint embarrassed the people in the document, herself, and her university. Sure, she never knew it would become an Internet sensation. But, in the age of  Gmail, Facebook and Smartphones, something minor can become HUGE in a matter of seconds.

So, before you take to your blog, Twitter, or a blank Microsoft PowerPoint document, stop and think about what you’re doing. If you feel like venting, go to a friends and talk about it, cry about it, laugh about it. But, in the heat of the moment, do NOT blog about it in vivid detail.

Locker room talk happens. Morning brunch gossip happens. People talk, it’s normal. But normal people don’t make 40+ slides. Sure, the PowerPoint presentation was an interesting look into the life of a jersey chaser. But, how would she have felt if the boys had teamed up and responded with a slideshow sharing their own personal evaluations of her performance with each of them. Mortified? Shamed? Embarrassed beyond words?

What do you think? When is too much info just too much?

[Everyone’s got a vice, a bad habit, something they know they need to change. Unfortunately, everyone also has a million excuses why they just can’t do it. Not anymore. Every month

So I have now gone four mostly Facebook-free weeks. Which is saying something considering my little incident last weekend. I swear the universe was playing games with me for my final week of this challenge.

I’m officially back on campus, which makes living without Facebook damn near impossible. How am I supposed to figure out my plans for the night without FB lining up my social calendar in a neat column organized by RSVPs of definitely yes, maybe (if nothing else is going on) and no you will not catch me there if suddenly you were the only house throwing down in Frat Land?

And if that’s not bad enough, during some Thirsty Thursday festivities, my Crackberry (and myself) experienced a little blackout. Yeah, my only connection to the world was gone. Without Facebook or a cell phone, there would be nearly no way to communicate with anyone. I took a moment to cry/freak out. How would I contact my friends to let them know I was going to be late for our Friday night pre-game?

It was almost scary how disconnected I felt.

Finally, thinking outside the box a bit, I logged onto Gchat, email and Twitter, using every last mode of communication I could think of to get in touch. I breathed a sigh of relief.

But then I realized another major issue: my Blackberry phone book was gone. No numbers. No BBM pins. And no way to tell everyone I know to “Give me your numbers, please, I’ll love you forever” without the help of a trusty Facebook group. It was at that moment, as I held my dead Blackberry in my hand, that I realized how central Facebook has become to my life. Thank god for Will, the  lovely man from the North Atherton Verizon store. He somehow managed to recover my numbers and totally saved my social life.

It was a trying and emotional week, but I made it work. I survived the busiest week of August so far and the three weeks before it. All without Facebook.

So what can I say about this challenge? Well, I’ve learned to live life without my Newsfeed. I’ve learned that someone texting you with a party invite is so much better than a mass Facebook event. (Really… when was the last time you called someone INDIVIDUALLY to invite them to be your partner for Fifth and a Friend?) I learned the difference between the people who genuinely want to talk to me (and are willing to pick up the phone to do so) and the people who only talk to me because they are bored or procrastinating.

I’ve learned that there are so many other great things to fill my time with than sitting in front of a computer and stalking some random girl’s photos (full of people I don’t know).

In the end, I’m proud of myself for taking on this challenge and serving a giant, steaming bowl of  “I told you so” to everyone who said I wouldn’t be able to do it. I did. So there.

And I can’t wait to brag all about my success in multiple status updates come Wednesday morning.

Facebook can turn even the most confident girl into a crazy stalker. Whether it’s clicking rapidly through photo albums and tagged pictures or checking out every. single. girl. who posts on your random hook-up’s wall, we’ve all been there. And that’s OK. It’s not like we’re sitting in a windowless van outside someone’s house for hours, watching their every move. No, we’re just reading what they wanted us to read. No privacy settings, no problem!

But while creepin’ on The Book is totes acceptable, there are some things that just aren’t. So if you’re so-bored-you-want-to-die at your summer job, or even if you’re just obsessed with finding out which of your long lost high school peers has gotten knocked up – if you want to keep your creeping under wraps, remember these few things when you go on a stalking expedition.

Do learn to close all of your tabs when you leave your laptop (or worse, the computer lab)! Actually… stick to Facebook stalking in private. If the evidence isn’t there, it never happened, right?

Do not creep from your cell phone! It’s much easier to accidentally click on something you didn’t mean to (i.e. “liking” your ex-boyfriend’s picture of him and his new lady friend) when using a touch screen. Trust me.

Do realize you need to draw the line somewhere. Checking to see that your ex downgraded with his new girl? Fine. But her friends, her ex-boyfriends, and her sorority sisters? Definitely a don’t.

Stick to sober stalking. Don’t log in after a few Vlad cocktails or when you return home from happy hour. Embarrassing spelling and grammar mistakes aside, no good comments could possibly happen after 2 AM.

Knowing that someone was a busboy for three years… Don’t go around mentioning that – or anything that can only be gleaned from a late night stalk sesh – in casual conversation. Holy awkward, Batman. Accidentally slip? DENY. DENY. DENY. And when all else fails, just blame it on your Newsfeed. That “creepfeed” shows everything these days.

Never, ever, EVER post comments and “like” a post of a person you’re stalking. Especially if that was a status update from 2007. I know what you’re thinking: “Who does that?!” But people do…and it’s creepy. The key here is to continue creeping without being noticed. Get it?

And if you notice that you got a little too carried away, DO step back from your Macbook and take a few deep breaths. Or start growing some sh*t on Farmville. Wait, on second thought, that is a definite don’t.

Snooze-fest.

Do you remember the good ol’ days freshman year? Sitting nervously in front of your laptop on a Sunday morning, awaiting the moment your friends would post the infamous pictures from the weekend? Then, it happens. At around noon, after a long breakfast spent reminiscing in the cafeteria Facebook explodes with album after album of weekend adventures. You spend hours laughing at your screen with your roommates: Who is that rando taking shots with us? You did a keg stand this weekend? Oh, so that’s where we got the blow-up doll!

Back in the day, Sunday mornings (or the entire day…) were dedicated to reflecting on the moments captured from the night before via Facebook. I know I used to love those days, when you found out you weren’t the only one running around campus having a good time….er….looking like a hot mess.

But fast forward three years when everyone and their your mother is watching what you decide to post on Facebook. You can’t just post everything you want anymore with reckless abandon; you’ve got your future to think about, and the judgment of your entire extended family (who are all now your FB friends), and the fact that Facebook is changing their privacy settings so often, you have no idea who can see your latest drunken exploits. So you start thinking before you post, de-tagging unflattering (from a professional perspective) photos, and deleting anything remotely inappropriate (“Let’s get crunk tonight!”)  from your Wall.

And everyone else is doing the same. A recent study at the University of California Berkeley found that young adults are becoming way more private than they were five years ago. A once tell-all generation is becoming more and more weary about what they’re posting, unsure of how publishing their personal lives in a public space will affect them and their futures. Which explains all of those recently hidden tagged pictures, absent funny drunken wall-posts, and lack o’ profile pictures of dudes wearing mesh green thongs…

Basically, all the good stuff. The reason I have a Facebook profile in the first place.
The stuff that I look forward to when I turn on my computer every Sunday morning.

While I understand it is way smarter to be a little hush-hush about your extracurricular drinking activities in public to land that perfect job and protect yourself from severe embarrassment, I’m a little disappointed.  Everyone’s new-found (super incognito) Facebook life is just not so great for the rest of us, bored in class with nothing to preoccupy us! I want the entertainment value! I want looking at new photo albums to be fun again! I want to point and laugh and snort!

Yes, we’re all going to grow up someday, but tell me – can’t grown ups still go to theme parties and post pictures for everyone to enjoy?

As a generation of Facebookers, Twitterers, bloggers, BBMers, iPhone-ers, GPS users, and so on and so on, we are often viewed by the older I-went-to-the-library-to-do-research generation as lazy and dependent.  We have the world at our fingertips and we don’t have to use our brains for virtually anything, or so they claim.

Yes, we can access Google at any moment, and no we do not need White Out to correct our papers, but to the contrary, it is our 24/7 connection that makes us anything but lazy when it comes to fighting for what we believe in.

Take for example, the heated debate of gay marriage.  While an older generation calls the shots in Congress, in most states, it is still illegal.  According to a study by the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA, 65 percent of college freshman surveyed were in favor of gay marriage.  The findings revealed that even a large majority of students classified as far-right were also supporters.

With such a large percentage of college students in favor of gay marriage, there is an obvious disconnect between this generation and the older generation who make decisions on our country’s behalf.  Many influential people of the older generation are still taking action to deter gay rights.  Even some school system officials can be categorized this way.  Just last week, a lesbian high school senior was denied permission to bring her girlfriend to her prom.  Because of our networking capabilities, through Facebook, YouTube, blogs (including this one) etc, the news spread like wildfire.  The incident stirred uproar amongst our generation and discussion of outrage was consumed through every outlet.  Although an unfortunate event, perhaps it is appalling decisions like these that motivate our generation to stay open-minded and fight to make a change.  If it weren’t for our Internet dependency that may classify us as “lazy,” we would also be blind to incidents such as this one and consequently just as closed minded as those who dictate the fate of our country today.

It is refreshing to observe the findings of this study and to know that change is on its way.  With so much hate still circulating in the World, news like this gives us hope that our generation has potential to make massive strides towards the good of mankind.  Researchers found the results so highly in favor of gay marriage, they deemed the future legality of it practically inevitable.  Yes, we have officially re-written the question from “if” to “when.”

So what do you think? Is gay marriage inevitable?

If you’re anything like me, you’re a sucker for a name brand. Despite wanting to be above it, I die when I see the new Marc Jacobs handbags or Prada runway show at Fashion Week. Also, if you’re anything like me, your bag costs more than what’s in your bank account and realistically you shouldn’t be buying that Chanel watch that costs more than your rent.

And that’s where consignment shops come in. Once you get past the fact that you’re not going to have a Saks-esque experience, these stores are a goldmine of high-end fashion for a college budget. However, rooting through said stores can be a lot of work and not exactly the most pleasant experience. So you turn to Ebay; it’s great for designer labels, but you soon learn (often the hard way) that you never know what you’re exactly getting.

Enter, online consignment! The way of the shopping future is here, and it’s named WWW and wearing Gucci loafers.

Consignment is just like picking through a closet that isn’t yours. The closet of that girl on campus who always looks super pulled together and fabulous. The one you want to hate because she always looks so damn perfect, but you can’t hate because she’s just so darn nice. She’s got a smile that matches her flawless wardrobe and handbags, and you would just kill to raid her closet for just one night.

Well, now you can! Christabelle is that girl and she’s opened her closet to you! OK, so maybe she’s not actually letting you rifle through her personal closet, but Christabelle’s Closet, an online consignment shop, is every college girl’s dream. This online shop has new or nearly new designer clothes that would make any savvy college girl gasp. From Gucci Flats to Rebecca Minkoff bags, Christabelle’s got it all, including a fully stocked designer label $10 section chock full of Michael Star tees and Intermix dresses. Yeah, ten freaking dollars.

And Christabelle is as sweet as she is fashion savvy, offering a very haute deal for CollegeCandy readers:

She’s giving you (and me!) 15% OFF ANYTHING in her closet for the entire month of March just by entering the code COLLEGECANDY when you check out.

I know I’ll be using it when I finally snag those Dolce & Gabbana heels that I’ve had my eye on for-ev-er. And probably a few other gorgeous things she’s got hanging in that virtual closet of hers.

With a deal like this, soon you’ll be that girl on campus that everyone wants to hate because you’re always looking so good. And they’ll want to hate you even more when they know how little it cost you to do it.

I took it upon myself to recruit my noble roommates to find out. After we had a five minute primp session in front of the webcam, we decided it was time to take the plunge into the Chatroulette universe. There we were, tilting her heads back and forth in the webcam establishing our places on screen, and nervously debating pressing Play [trust me ladies, this phase was as melo-dramatic as it sounds].  It is quite nerve-racking to toy with the possibility of being face to face with a stranger. On the internet. In my bedroom. So, with our utmost courage-we pressed play.

Our First Encounter

While we were giggling like school girls, Chatroulette searched busily for our first stranger. Within seconds, a middle-aged gentlemen popped up on screen.  We squealed in unison, surprised by the unfamiliar (old) face gracing the screen.  Then, we peeked over the webcam to catch a better glimpse of the man who was clearly putting on a show for us. Wait…was he?  No, he couldn’t be. But yes, judging by his quick lower movements and short breaths, our first stranger was “shakin up the soda” (if you catch my drift).

This offended us so violently, no one could press ‘next’ fast enough. We fumbled, we almost fell off the bed, I wanted to take a shower.  It all happened so fast, when we finally got rid of his ‘O face’ we couldn’t stop staring at each other with saucer-eyes. I don’t think I have seen anybody please themselves on camera, and it’s safe to say I would never like to again. So after recovering from the burden of our first victim, we continued our journey.

Its raining men: The rest of our encounters

A trend set in as we embarked through the Chatroulette adventure. And the trend was: lots of men.  Every scene was the same: a man anywhere from 18-55, staring back at us blankly and blinking a few times. Some of the men were different – one young man had an Eric Clapton poster set up perfectly over his right shoulder. Another group of men staged a dance-off for us to witness in the comfort of our own home. We applauded their efforts, and moved on.

Getting creative

Some of the friends we met along the way had other ways to get us to resort to the next button with agile speed. Namely, pulling their pants down on screen.  I’m serious – I’ve never been force-fed so many visuals of peen in my entire life.  It was absolutely horrific.

Another gentlemen popped up on the opposing screen sporting a ‘Jason’ mask and rapped to Nelly’s “Country Grammar.” His efforts kept us from ‘nexting’ him longer than anticipated, as we couldn’t’ figure out if he was scaring us to death, or being seriously hilarious.  My personal favorite featured a hand extended to the camera from the side, holding a teddy bear.  The teddy bear did not move, and the arm remained completely still.  This of course, sent us into a fit of uncontrollable laughter.

The entire (slightly disturbing) experience was a little scary, but none-less a fabulous way to waste an hour of our Saturday afternoon.  Besides being exposed to numerous body parts and people wearing masks, Chatroulette’s existence has good intentions: to bring Internet-obsessed people together. Although the Chatroulette experience was slightly awkward and absolutely nuts (no pun intended) I would encourage taking the plunge.  After all, who knows who will you meet (Ashton Kutcher has been seen on Chatroulette), and I have not heard of a better way to climb out of the realms of your comfort zone… and see just what sort of crazies the Internet universe has to offer.

It was just another daily Facebook-check when a message from Mark Zuckerberg appeared on the top of my newsfeed. Blah, blah, blah. Shut up, shut up, shut up. We know there are millions of users on Facebook – my mother is on it for God’s sake – no need to write us a message about it, Mark! (Yeah, we’re on first name basis.)

Bored, I closed the letter and contined on to my daily Facebook routine (you know you have one, too):
Check notifications
Check boyfriend’s page
Check cute guy in class’s page
Check for new photo albums of friends…

And then I typed in my ex-boyfriend’s name. We’re not friends on Facebook anymore (so dramatic), but I just have to check if he’s changed his picture!  Don’t judge – you know you do it.

And that’s when I saw it. All of it. I had access to his whole entire Facebook page! And when I clicked his new girlfriend’s name – just to see if her Facebook picture had changed or to see if we had any more friends in common than we had the day before – I had complete access to her profile, too! I was able to learn all about her, see all 111 of her photo albums (Note: I’ve limited myself to only view the ones since their relationship started. No need to see her receiving her high school diploma…) and glean the fact that she is a fan of Chelsea Handler. (Ugh. Why does this girl have to be cool?)

It was like I died and went to Facebook heaven. I just wanted to reach into my computer and lay a big, wet one on Mark Zuckerberg’s face.

How did this suddenly happen? And isn’t this the exact opposite of what “Privacy Settings” are supposed to do?

Well, it turns out Mark’s letter was explaining some changes, which most users don’t know about. Namely, that they actually need to do something to maintain the privacy settings they originally set up. And since they aren’t making those changes, I (and others like me who could basically graduate with a BA in Face-stalking) are now able to access all the juicy profiles we were once locked out of.

But don’t get so excited just yet. While this is great for hunting down that skank who stole your man, it also means that your profile is open for the perusing. Even more, these new changes now share your status updates and links with everyone on the Web. And your information is also being shared with other sites, such as DIGG.

That means that you gotta hop on over to FB right now and change those privacy settings. And while you’re at it, you should probably be a little more aware of what you say on the ol’ FB because you never know who’s reading it now. An emotional quote about your latest break up may make you feel better, but it’s going to annoy your friends not going to impress your future boss.

You may like these new settings (I know I do…). You may hate them. Regardless how you feel, Mark did try and warn us. Too bad most of us weren’t willing to give up valuable stalking time to hear him out.

I can only imagine what the rest of their life together will be like. Everyone following the couple on Twitter will be alerted to when they have officially consummated the relationship. Probably something along the lines of “I think we just successfully created our first offspring!” In fact, she will probably follow in the footsteps of the woman who tweeted while giving birth. I guess it might take her mind of the labor pains? But chances are nobody wants to know that you can see the head popping out of your womanly parts. I can’t imagine that getting very many “likes” on Facebook.

Since when has social networking taken such precedence in our daily lives? Take for example, the couple that gets engaged and then changes their relationship status that very same night. I can think of a couple other things you could be doing that definitely do not involve a computer.

I understand that this particular couple was trying to be funny; a new spin on the wedding entrance dance that became a viral hit overnight. But this just made me want to smack the iPhone out of the groom’s hands. Maybe…. MAYBE… if that was Mark Zuckerberg himself getting married… maybe then I could appreciate the humor in this. Otherwise, please refrain from Facebooking during your sacred union. Trust me, the world will keep spinning.

This is one of the times in life when I wish Facebook had a “dislike” option. People should be enjoying living their lives, not sitting in front of a computer or smart phone, documenting it.