Social Networking

"Look at me, me! I want everyone to see, see!"
There has been much news lately about how some social networks like Facebook don't respect the privacy of their users. But what about the positive aspects of Facebook, Myspace, Ning, etc?

When I first signed up on Facebook about 3 years ago, I spent hours on it. I was very reluctant at first to sign up, but all my colleagues signed up and learned about what was happening in their old friends, new friends, and families' lives. I remember clearly that I was warned that the initial set up would take a few hours. In fact, it took a few days. There was so much detail you could put on there. What profile picture should I use? What status? What's my personal motto? Favourite movie? etc. I was so excited, and I felt that I should be as detailed as possible to inform those that I lost contact with make up for all that has been missed in the past few years.

I'll admit I was suckered into the idea of finding as many friends as possible. But only people I knew from school, work, etc - not random strangers. I would spend lots of time reading over my long lost friends' profiles and writing on their wall to see what they were up to now, etc. All I have to say is that I was glad to have signed up during my 1 week holiday, so, I had this much time available to indulge in this online experience. I also loved the movie trivia that came out, which kept track of your points and knowledge about movies. I was also addicted to the "Where I've been applications" or "Scrabulous", which are considered to be some of the most popular applictions on Facebook (Facebook Apps: Deeper Social Networking. By: Baumann, Michael. Information Today, May2008, Vol. 25 Issue 5). I really had no complaints, except for how many minutes or hours in some cases that disappeared when on Facebook.

I found this to be a great online tool to catch up with old friends and distant family members. However, I felt that this was just that... a social thing. So, I was a bit reluctant in see how social networking could be used educationally. Once I signed up for the Teacher Librarian Network on Ning, I realized how powerful social networking can be, if you sign up to the professionally oriented sites. So, many professionals with different ranges of experience all on one site. How quickly comments would be posed on the forums whenever you had a question. Cool ideas to help with reading that I have not heard of before like the Battle of the Books. Many teacher librarians contributing book lists of what they had used or modifications they have done with their schools. The butterflies in my stomache about being alone in the library this fall starting to fade a bit. I'm not actually alone because of social networks like the Teacher Librarian Network. So many professionals willing to share and help each other.

How does social networking shape us?
All of these social networks appeared so quickly in the last few years that there still isn't enough research about "how we use them, for what purposes, and in what settings, and investigate how they may be shaping the ways we think, work, and communicate" (Tapping the Wealth of Social Networks for Professional Development. By: Greenhow, Christine. Learning & Leading with Technology, v36 n8 p10-11 Jun-Jul 2009). I think this is very important to learn about because our students will be affected the most and that will predict how things may change in the future. For example, I think we need to becareful here because I have seen a lot of "Facebook stalking" in the positive light. When a user adds enough information about themselves, you can read about them through their wall discussions with others or even through the newsfeed, and the communication can become very single sided. I'm not sure about others, but I found myself using the internet as a preferred form of communication, whether it be chat, email, etc. because I am afraid to speak out in case I make a mistake. If I can see what I am typing well, I am able to edit until what I want communicated comes out in the best possible way. I found posting things online to be lower risk and I felt the freedom to express my opinions. However, what does this mean for those in the future who are just as shy as I am? What if online communication becomes the norm? What does this mean for those who are also introverted? What form of communication will they use then?

Benefits of social networks
in general...
There's no doubt that "such technologies [social networks] available over the Internet enable extensive forms of collaboration that may have transformative consequences for the economy and for society( Greenhow)." Yochai Benkler, a Harvard Law professor, "argues that through emerging forms of online participation, we can not only publicize our opinions, and so have a hand in shaping our democratic culture, but also become more critical, self-reflective, and collectively intelligent" (Greenhow).

in the school setting...
"Social networking tools, such as Facebook, Classroom 2.0, Ning, and Twitter, can be used to garner collective emotional support and recognition for one’s creative practices" as well as "function as social learning resources and spaces for new literacy practices" (Greenhow). Most importantly, "[m]any students felt ... peer validation and appreciation encouraged them to be
even more creative, clever, and articulate in their online self-presentation" when they received feedback in the form of comments, tags, inviting friends to view, etc (Greenhow). I can see the validity in this statement or else why would so many teens continue posting their work online?
In fact, the same article states how this works for teachers as well. "Broadcasting the anecdotal evidence you are gathering from classroom teaching to a private or semi-private
network can not only help teachers reflect on their practice to trouble shoot and improve it, but also can help teachers garner recognition for their good work. And, of course, with recognition may come more opportunities for professional development." Many great teachers go on unnoticed and this is a great forum to encourage each other and help our profession to stay healthy and stay current.

In "Facebook Training Wheels" by Jennifer Demski (T H E Journal, Apr2009, Vol. 36 Issue 4, p24-28), she suggests that we need to start educating our students about online etiquettes starting as young as grade 3 - perhaps start by educating them how important passwords words are to protect your privacy. The reason is to prepare them for what is to come when they enter highschool and about how they can preserve their online reputations. She makes a really good point that if college students and professions are having a hard time with the boundaries of their public and personla lives on the internet how is a middle school student going to grasp this idea and make good judgements about their online presence? Demski also states how many students learn by the example of peers and so, when they watch other peers produce something and posts, they are more likely in return to try the same thing.

Implictions of social networks for my classroom
As I have mentioned before, I personally found Facebook easy to use. I think social networks would be very power form of literacy for my EFL students. It's a great way to get them chatting with past graduates who are now studying abroad. Graduates of mine can share their past and current experiences with my new students. The goal of almost every student of mine is to study abroad. And to get a taste of what it is actually like from someone who has a similar background as you, well, those conversations can be invaluable. Or for students to make friends with native English speaking peers would be beneficial to their literacy development and it would be more enjoyable than writing on a predetermined journal topic or 2-3 sentences of a daily reading log. The hope is of course, the students will want to log onto their English social network and chat, post, comment, etc. with their friends in English and perhaps spend hours like I did on there at their own will, while improving their English of course!