Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Thing # 18 Social Networking

41.6% if the U.S. population has a Facebook account.  Talk about getting connected.  You can find just about anybody on Facebook, from grade school friends, extended family, to your college professors.  Check mine out.  If you don't happen to already be my "friend" you actually won't be able to learn very much about me (you'll see a photo of me, a brief lists of my interests, and my list of friends).  That is because I have chosen to keep my page private.  One of the great aspects of social networking sites like Facebook is your ability to modify privacy settings.  My site can only be accessed by people who I have manually added to my friends list.  This way I know exactly who is able to view my content and activit.  
As a future teacher, I feel that social networking sites like Facebook should be kept separate from my professional life.  I do no see a particularly pertinent use for them in the classroom.  I think these sites should be reserved for personal social use.  This is where privacy controls come into play.  It is a good idea for teachers to make their pages private so that students (and even colleagues) are not keeping tags on their social activity via the web.  Countless testimony tells how this can lead to entanglements in the workplace.  Teachers are professionals, and this entails maintaining a professional demeanor on the web.  The rule of thumb is if you don't want something posted on a billboard around town, don't post it to your Facebook.  Maintaining a private page automatically ensures this rule of thumb, making Facebook a fun and safe way for people (even teachers) to stay socially connected.    

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