Down with Facebook! | The Weekly Standard Okay, this deserved its own thread. Matt Labash said everything I wanted to say on this subject but couldn't find the words....
If someone doesn't like it, they don't have to use it. I personally think it's great. I use it as a communication too, similar to email (gosh, remember that!?). I communicate with students, create groups for classes, and even post assignments and such. When we were planning our 10 year reunion, Facebook helped quite a bit. And most important of all, everyone can be jealous of me because I have such beautiful children whose pictures are plastered on my Facebook. Facebook is a tool. If you know how to use it, it can be really helpful. Think back to the Stone Age. Once humans figured out they could pick up a stick and do stuff with it, it changed society. Facebook is doing the same thing. -Matt
Luckily, Facebook has Limited Profile you use in conjunction with custom editing which allows you to place certain people in a group with very limited access to your pictures and wall posts. The friends are not aware they are in the limited profile category but only see the pictures and posts you want to share with "everybody." I learned about this from a link about using Facebook for business. I certainly do not want to share pictures of my kids with business people nor are they probably interested in my knitted pictures It's pretty easy to update but it took me awhile to figure out how to do this initially.
I believe FB is using Groups now - but I've noticed they post when you update the group: "CRS0410 just added 10 friends to People I Like at Work group" lol - ooooooops - yah, luckily it was just a Family group I was creating.
Facebook isn't doing anything much more original than MySpace, so I think it could be hardly compared to the first use of tools by early hominids. Facebook is a social trend and can be analyzed as such by both those who choose to use it and those who don't. By the way, did you read the whole article or just comment offhand?
While not open to the public Juuuuuuuuuuuuuuuust yet, it is something to keep your eye on: https://joindiaspora.com/ I am surprised that no other real contender has come out with a FB clone that does satisfy my privacy desires.
I read the whole thing, though rather quickly. I guess my beef with the issue comes from some of my ignorant colleagues. As educators, we are supposed to find ways to inspire students, and using tools like Facebook is a great way to do that. Unfortunately, I work with a bunch of nay-sayers. Whereas other schools are using Facebook, Laptops, iPads, Podcasts, Digital Storytelling, etc., using technology like that in my school is forbidden by policy. It's ridiculous because they fail to see the potential. Check out this video: YouTube - A Vision of K-12 Students Today That's the type of stuff we should be doing, but I'm not really allowed to. -Matt
I don't use Facebook very often but I still have an account and enjoy checking out my friends profiles and everything. It truly is the new means of communication, I remember e-mail but Facebook has encompassed that and everything else. It is a wonderful tool.