The College Yearbook Decline

The College Yearbook Decline
By Abby Grantham

A collegiate tradition seems to be coming to a tragic end. This affects the University and its students, directors of the publications and the publishing companies that produce the dying books. Unfortunately, because of the lack of interest and funds many universities have had to shut down their yearbook publications and productions. Increased printing costs have also contributed to the yearbooks termination.

Yearbook directors and publishing companies across the country have noticed the strong decline for several years and believe that students are just not really interested in yearbooks due to the digital age. The digital age is constantly in motion and changing monthly. It is difficult to keep up. Digital cameras allow one keep all their photos on their computers so they can share them with friends and family. Students are keeping track of their own history and memories.

However, students need to keep in mind that constant changes in technology and trends, one could lose all their history and memories due to different software and obsolete appliances.

The most popular theory as to why such a precious piece of history is soon to be extinct is Facebook and MySpace. Account holders create and update their personal profiles so friends and family can keep in contact with everyone. Along with the personal profiles, accountholders upload and add their photos to their pages on the web. To students, easy access is a major priority. When everything is online and at their fingertips, students don’t have the desire to purchase a yearbook.

Not every student has lost interest in the everlasting publications. These dedicated students view the book as a record of their life-changing experiences. For those who do not purchase a yearbook while in college, they are luck because most universities archive the past yearbooks so they can be sold later to those who might change their minds.