Facebook. Where do I begin on this one? I think I may have to just do a pros/cons list, as my editorial may not fit the criteria necessary for an academic blog post.
Pros:
- Definitely deserves the "fastest growing social network" title
- Allows for connection and reconnection of ANYONE from your life
- Groups for any topic known to humans
- Connections to people worldwide
- Connections between cultures and languages
- Social and Political opportunities
- Allows connection and reconnection of ANYONE from your life
- There are pictures of me everywhere, none of which I took or posted
- If I wasn't friends with you in high school, why would I want to be Facebook friends with you now?
- Most of my Facebook friends are not my human interaction friends
- Why do I care if you are "tired after a long day at work". The "What Are You Doing Now?" feature is beyond my ability to understand.
Facebook is here, it is powerful, and it is like poking myself in the eye with a sharp object.
From an educational standpoint, I'm hoping to further develop my class .tv site to provide similar social networking features for my students, to help them learn how to safely navigate such a site as Facebook.
For me, I use Twitter for professional networking, and developing my "Personal Learning Network" and Facebook to connect with Family and Friends. You may want to give Twitter a try by following some of the people I suggested to Tracy. It has replaced my RSS feed to a large extent. The key is who you follow.
ReplyDeleteYour comments are fascinating, especially the reference to poking yourself in the eye with a sharp stick! Ow! I won't ever make you communicate with me on Facebook! (not that I could ever MAKE you do anything!) I feel pretty neutral about the whole thing and I'm thankful for my mostly non-addictive personality for keeping me from falling down the Facebook rabbit hole. I might have to give Twitter a try just to see...
ReplyDeleteHope your summer is going well!
Lisa