Facebook, Myspace divide along Social Lines
This isn’t the first article I have read about the fight between Myspace and Facebook, while I have to admit that I don’t have a MySpace, I used to. I thought it was realy cool when I first started it, but then as I got older and my friends were talking about Facebook I was a convert and quickly realized that Facebook was the place to be. I closed down my MySpace and welcomed the more mature audience and the way I could connect with family and friends in a way I just didn’t get from MySpace.
I thought the trends and statistics about Facebook versus MySpace were interesting as well. It’s weird that even the technology we choose to use can define and stereotype us.
Zen and the art of Twitter
I liked that the article was informal, but at first wan’t sure if it was a joke or not. As this just a Google article meant to entertain? I think it is important to “explore living wisely in our modern age” but Twitter wasn’t the first thing that came to my mind.
I think his point that social networking can become overwhelming is important. To a lot of us, it’s just good fun and a way to procrastinate and chat informally with friends, but to many, it just adds up to work. I like his point to try and learn something new. I tell my students, even if you think you know it all, there’s still something you can learn if you’re open to the possibilities, and it’s true for every facet of life, even Twitter I guess J
I also like the “post not to fill empty space, but to add value” as well. It reminded me of the readings about chat rooms and YouTube from last week where people think that because their posts are anonymous they can say whatever they want. People should respond to add value and not insult.
Defining Creepy Treehouse
The definitions are wide and actually really funny, lol. I think I really did laugh out loud when reading some of them J
One thing that stood out to me was when he said, “they may repulse some users who see them as infringement on the sanctity of their peer groups, or as having the potential for institutional violations of their privacy, liberty, ownership, or creativity.” I have seen this a lot in technology classes where some people refuse to put up pictures because they think someone will steal their identity or just don’t want to participate in something like Face Book because they’re terrified of the possible ramifications. I guess because I like face book I never really understood this, but maybe because I’m more of a “native” to it.
I also thought the idea that using tools that mimic the tools students enjoy using on their own time is a part of the creepy treehouse effect. We talked about this in the summer class and how using Twitter or FaceBook pages as a way to make learning cool or fun can actually have a negative effect. Students don’t want teachers invading all aspects of their lives, they want facebook for themselves and not have to be forced to check the classroom facebook page, then it’s just a creepy treehouse and no learning takes place.
How Twitter Will Change the Way we Live
Interesting and funny all at once! Who knew hearing about my friends’ breakfast cereal choice could change my life! The idea of ambient awareness was pretty interesting and how seeing into their lives can be deeply satisfying. I think more than anything it would make me laugh, which either way, is still good for one’s health J
“In short, the most fascinating thing about Twitter is not what it’s doing to us. It’s what we’re doing to it.” The use of Twitter in the classroom as a way to open up dialogue on a subject is fascinating. We watched that one video from TC about the woman who uses it in Texas and I think it could be a really cool way to get kids who wouldn’t normally talk in a classroom discussion to openly participate on screen. We tried it in the TC class and here as well, and I think it could be a fabulous tool.
ParadoxandPromise:MySpace,Facebook,andtheSociopoliticsof
SocialNetworkingintheWritingClassroom
Maranto and Barton
I think this article was really interesting, especially the way it talks about how these SN tools have both potential and potential problems. I know from experience that they are highly abused by teachers and don’t mind that they are blocked on school campuses. One of my exboyfriend’s best friends is a teacher and all he does all day long is get on facebook and/or email back and forth with his buddies. To me, this is an abuse of the system and should be policed by the schools. I’m not all crazy about not having email and technology on capuses, but I do think that teachers and students who are using them incorrectly should have repurcussion. This same teacher also has his students on his Facebook page where he talks about drinking and partying and also allows students of his to come over and let his dogs out when he is not home… female students too. Granted he’s a mess, but I would venture to say if this guy is doing it, so are a lot of others. I know some more too.
As a high school teacher who was single, I NEVER allowed students on my facebook or myspace pages, I made my profile impossible to find. One boy searched for three years but found nothing.I believe he even paid money to try and find me… He found my old address in Texas, he found my parent’s address back in Michigan, but he did not find my social networking profiles. I was not about to risk my job and my credibility just to look cool to my students. I have some friends who are established in their schools, married, have families of their own and accept their students on their facebooks but these to me seem like “safe” people. If that makes sense. They’re the ones who don’t drink, don’t “party” and don’t put pictures up of them doing anything “wrong”. It may seem hypocritical, but I think some people can get away with having students on their SN sites and some cannot. I didn’t accept any of my Vegas students on my facebook page until I moved out of the state. Even when they graduated I knew present students could possibly see my page and I wouldn’t allow it. It’s true, with SN these days one has to be careful about what they say and do. I agree that “electronic media and social networking is perilous terrain for educators” and “lends itself to the possible interpretation of an improper relationship” which is why I do not allow students on mine.
I do think it’s important htough that with all the change in literacy and the teaching with technology that “scholars in the computers and composition community are naturally curious about how these sites can be used to teach writing and authorship.” We need to keep finding ways to incorporate technology in the classroom if we are to make learning relevant to students’ lives.
