Week 7: You Will Be Assimilated Social Networks

Trek 1: Watch this short video about social networking:

Among the various social networking sites available, by far the two most popular are MySpace and Facebook. Although both of these sites promote online communities that let you "meet your friends' friends," there are some differences. Depending on your layout preferences, you may find MySpace too ugly with flashy colors, or you may feel it is more customizable. Some view Facebook's design as either too boring or having a neat organized appearance.

In addition, more high school students use MySpace whereas more college students use Facebook. Approximately 80-90 percent of U.S. college students have Facebook profiles (7 Things You Should Know About Facebook II, 2007). Originally Facebook was only open to college and university students; now it is available to anyone. (For more differences, read these two different opinions about the MySpace vs. Facebook debate.)

Do these sites have a legitimate place in higher education? According to the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI), they definitely do. Their article "7 Things You Should Know About Facebook" explains why Facebook is significant:

"Creating or refining one’s self-identity and values is an important part of college. College students are encouraged to discover who they are and how they relate to others. For many, Facebook has become a tool in that development, allowing them to define a profile, find others with similar interests, and then reassess how well they fit... Using Facebook, students can build the kinds of connections—with students and in some cases with faculty—that make them feel like they belong and are accepted. Connections with others are an important factor in student retention."

Trek 2: Educational Implications

Information literacy-- the ability to locate, access, and use information effectively in today’s society--is an increasingly important subject in higher education. At its most basic, Facebook can offer the opportunity to teach students about appropriate behavior in the online world. In addition, like many Web 2.0 technologies, Facebook encourages the creation of content rather just its consumption.

Obviously, Facebook has captivated the attention of millions of college students-- they spend hours a day on the site. This technology provides us with an opportunity to understand which social networking elements students find so addictive and how we can include these components into our jobs in higher education. For example, alumni organizations have used social networking sites as tools for sharing pictures of babies, weddings, and professional developments, for finding old friends, and for posting reunion information. In addition, these sites allow for networking and professional development opportunities among professional colleagues. A university admissions departments study conducted by the Center for Marketing Research at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth found that 33 percent blogged for recruitment purposes and 29 percent had a Facebook or MySpace presence (Liccardello, A., and Rentmeester, R. (2008).

Read some of the following articles about social networking and its use in higher education:

• Chronicle of Higher Education's Facebook Page
• Facebook, Meet Blackboard
• How to Use Facebook to Market in Higher Education
• List of Institutions That Have Facebook and Other Social Networking Profiles
• Using MySpace to Market in Higher Education
• Will Colleges Friend Facebook?

Trek 3: Give it a Try and Sign Up!

• Go to http://www.facebook.com/ and fill out the boxes
  (If you want to use an alias you can, but your email must be real!)
• Enter your username and password in that Word doc. table so you don't forget them later!
• Go to the email address you entered and click on the confirmation link to complete the sign-up process
• Follow the Steps (you can click Skip this Step for all of these if you wish)
  1. Confirm Friends
  2. Find Friends Already on Facebook
  (go ahead and Find me, Lilia Murray, and request to be my friend... you can always 'defriend' me later if you want! )
  3. Fill Out Your Profile Info
  4. Select People You May Know
  5. Join a Network
  

Trek 4: Personalize Your Facebook Page

• Next, click the Help link found towards the lower right-hand corner
• Click the Getting Started Guide
• Now click the Set Up a Profile link, found towards the left-hand side bar
• Finally, click the Explore Facebook link, also found towards the left-hand side bar
  
• Hit the Settings tab found towards the top right-hand corner, and select either the Account, Privacy, or Application Settings. Set them to your specifications. The Privacy one is obviously very important since it controls who can see your profile and related information.
  
• Hit the Profile link towards the upper left-hand corner and write on your Wall.
• Click on my link in your Friends section, (found towards the left-hand side), and write on my Wall
  

Trek 5: Write a Comment about this week's post. How would you use Facebook (or another social networking site)? Are you a bit apprehensive about it? If so, why?

"Half of the students in an EDUCAUSE survey used their preferred social networking site for communicating about course-related activities. Higher education needs to find ways to leverage learning within the boundaries of students’ engagement with social networking. Students are willing to use course management systems to keep up on grades and assignments, but they do their collaborative learning on Facebook" (Reynard, 2008)

Works Cited:

Educause Learning Initiative. (2006, September). 7 things you should know about Facebook. Retrieved January 14, 2009 from http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7017.pdf

Educause Learning Initiative. (2007, May). 7 things you should know about Facebook II. Retrieved January 14, 2009 from http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7025.pdf

Guess, A. (2008, May 14). Facebook, meet Blackboard. Retrieved February 6, 2009 from http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/05/14/sync

Guess, A. (2008, August 18). Will colleges friend Facebook? Retrieved January 13, 2009 from
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/08/19/facebook

James, K. (2008, January 28). How to use Facebook to market in higher education. Retrieved January 13, 2009 from http://doteduguru.com/id35-social-survey-facebook.html

James, K. (2008, February 4). Using MySpace to market in higher education. Retrieved January 13, 2009 from http://doteduguru.com/id52-social-survey-week-2-myspace.html

Liccardello, A., and Rentmeester, R. (2008, May 13). The MySpace vs. Facebook debate. Retrieved January 14, 2009 from http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2008/05/13/the_myspace_vs_facebook_debate

Reynard, R. (2008, May 28). Social Networking: Theory in Action. Retrieved February 20, 2009 from http://campustechnology.com/articles/2008/05/social-networking-learning-theory-in-action.aspx