Social Networks
November 14, 2007 by scottshephard
I am in my early 50s and when I say “facebook” to most people my age I get a limited set of responses. One response is the blank look. The look says, “What’s that?” A more common response is the frown and then: “Facebook is bad,” “internet predators,” or “waste of time and frivolous.”
Because I am convinced that older adult approbation won’t make facebook, MySpace and other internet-based social networks go away, and because I am convinced that most people of all ages are inclined to criticize and fear things they don’t understand, I have been spending time learning about the new social networks young people inhabit. I have also joined facebook. And it’s been an interesting experience.
After 48 hours of membership I now have 30 friends! For someone who is inherently shy and somewhat reclusive, that’s pretty good, though that number pales compared to the 100s of friends some people have. Also, in the last two days I have “talked” to former students whom I haven’t “talked” to since the day they left my class. I have also “talked” to someone I’ve never met but who is an occasional contributor to the Fodors European Travel Forum I check up on every day.
Most importantly, in the last two days I have gained valuable insight into the world our students and former students inhabit. As an educator, I think we gain by learning as much as we can about the learner. I also think that savvy teachers can use a young person’s inclination to network through internet-based tools to their advantage.
Incidentally, for a simple explanation of web-based social networks, check this out:
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Shephard I think it’s great that you have a facebook account! I do agree when you say that - I also think that savvy teachers can use a young person’s inclination to network through internet-based tools to their advantage.- When in Rome..right?
I am glad for you Mr. Shephard! I think Facebook is great way to build conections and to keep in contact with others that you normally wouldn’t see very often. Im not one for callinn someone up on the phone and talkin so I kinda like the leave me a message and i will reply when i feel like it thing. I also think its kinda cool cuz now I keep in contact with my cousins from different states and we can all get the lowdown on Family happenings and such! I think its great!
Mr. Shepard! I had no idea you are now the laptops in the classroom guru! I hear lots about Watertown taking the lead as I travel around South Dakota for work.
As someone whose parents chose to put a computer in our home before a remote-controlled television or a VCR (do people still know what this gadget is?), I learned many, many valuable lessons on our 1985 Tandy computer. I’m certain the laptop road is riddled with technological bumps, but can’t those moments too, be learning tools? Whether its patience in an otherwise “instant response” world, or its the finer points of how something like WebCT operates, aren’t students better off having those experiences than not having the opportunity to be exposed to them at all?
As for social networking, one of the tv news stations in Rapid City this week is covering many aspects of the internet, including social networking. For me personally, its fun to see and hear what old friends are doing, but I’m not as in to it as others are. Seems like I do enough work on a computer during the day that I don’t have much enthusiasm to spend every evening– Yet something pulled me to checking your facebook page, and subsequent link to your blog!
In any case, I hope all is well, and I also hope folks appreciate how lucky they are to be exposed to the laptops and all of the experiences that go with it. I know plenty of kids in South Dakota who don’t have the same opportunities!
I hate telephones. When the phone rings at my house, I do not answer it unless I’m the only one at home (it’s never for me anyway). I do not like to talk on the phone. I have people that call me because they love to use the phone – they have the newest, fanciest cell phones with all kinds of features, but seem to have nothing to say when they do get me. I hate phones because they let that happen.
I like writing. Although I do not put pen to paper as I used to, I regret not writing the pages to friends that I one wrote and received back. There was content in those pages, meaningful, magnificient content.
When I look at MySpace/FaceBook or any other TwoWordInToOne social network site, I cringe. It’s not that people can communicate that creates that reaction, but the communication that is created and fostered. E-mail suffers the same way. Networking has become the substitute for communicating. Touching base, creating connections, making “friends” is all so superficial. Those technologies require no thought or investment of self to create connections – just the click of a “request friend” button and the accompanying “accept friend” button. Two people click buttons and are friends; people click buttons and they are keeping all 23,475 of their friends up do date, minute-by-minute of their excitement level in Advanced Algebra (over half their communication is about “education” after all).
I have a MySpace page. My friends are Bob Mould, Ani Difranco, Jason Narducy, and Scott Walker (yes, that Scott Walker) along with dozens of others I have not met or talked to - even electronically. To be fair, I have once talked to Bob Mould.
The technology has not made making friends or relationships easier; it has instead devalued those terms through them being used more commonly. Doesn’t shaking hands and looking someone in the eye mean more than clicking a button? Shouldn’t it? (Didn’t we learn anything from Marty?)
The ability to broadcast every thought for all to hear has lead people to believe they ought to broadcast every thought for all to hear. The internet as the repository of all human knowledge has made me see that although there are certainly some highpoints, the repository of all human knowledge is not that impressive (at least based on what I observe my students reading in my class). Ok, that one was hyperbole for effect.