Contributed photo Kat DeLuna is excited to perform — give her the introduction she deserves.
Editor’s Note: The author of this column was unaware that the announcement was also made on the FUSA Facebook page. We apologize for the error, but the author maintains her main point that using Facebook was not the proper medium to make the announcement.
The third concert act was announced over break.
Oh, you didn’t hear? That’s because it was announced on Facebook.
Upon our return, students discussed what they had heard about the third performer because of what they had read on different FUSA member’s Facebook pages. There were no e-mails and there were no letters. There was no formal announcement other than a Facebook status, allowing the identity of the performer to merely leak out. Additionally, how much credibility is there in a Facebook status?
I commend FUSA for picking another performer for what should be a great concert. I have no complaints about Kat DeLuna, and I think ‘Whine Up’ is a great song. I’m pretty excited about the concert.
I do believe that their execution of the news was entirely in poor taste.
On Saturday evening between 7 and 8 p.m., Spencer Thibodeau ’10, made two status updates. One read, “Spencer Thibodeau is with out further hesitation FUSA Concerts is proud to announce that for the first time in memorable history a female vocalist will be performing….the third act is…………………………..KAT DELUNA……………………………………………..!!!!!!!!!!” The other read, “Spencer Thibodeau joining both Sean Kingston and Eve 6 FUSA Concerts is proud to announce that……………KAT DELUNA will be performing as the third act!!!!!!” The two updates collectively received three ‘likes’ and two comments.
This does not seem like an announcement to me at all. The lack of grammar and proper spelling actually makes it seem more like a joke than something of serious importance. After this “announcement” via Facebook, some students didn’t hear about the news until three days later. Other students probably had no clue until they picked up The Mirror and read the news in this very issue. The students who did hear heard because they were following their NewsFeed and happened to be Facebook friends with someone who posted it.
Granted, Thibodeau is friends with 1,339 people on Facebook, and the number of Fairfield students within that is difficult to determine. The means that as Facebook friends, 1,000 students could have potentially heard the news through his Facebook. Maybe I’m in the minority, but I didn’t really read the NewsFeed over break. I read the first three updates on the page once a week. I came back and was told the news casually by someone who admitted to have spent a lot of time on Facebook over the break.
Last I checked, there are over 3,000 undergraduates at Fairfield and FUSA is supposed to represent all of them. So making an “announcement” on one person’s Facebook and expecting the word to spread is not a proper representation of the leadership and professionalism of the position at hand.
FUSA should be proud to announce the third performer to the entire student body. Not announcing it is a cowardly move, especially after Sean Kingston and Eve 6 were given a formal announcement. It almost seems as if they don’t want people to know who completes the performance we’re expecting less than a month from today.
I regret that FUSA receives so much gripe for their annual concert selection. I have no doubt of the work, thought, and consideration FUSA puts into selecting the concert. However, I would just hope that the same consideration is put into making a proud announcement to all students through an official method of communication, as opposed to letting it leak out via a social networking website.
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