TECHNOBABBLE
FACEBOOK HELPS INDIVIDUALS CONNECT AND SHARE WITH THE PEOPLE IN THEIR LIVES. • More than 175 million active users • More than half of Facebook users are outside of college. • The fastest growing demographic is those 30 years old and older. USER ENGAGEMENT • Average user has 120 friends on the site. • More than 18 million users update their statuses at least once each day. • More than 4 million users become fans of pages each day. APPLICATIONS • More than 850 million photos are uploaded to the site each month. • More than 7 million videos are uploaded each month. • More than 28 million pieces of content (Web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photos, etc.) are shared each month. • More than 2 million events are created each month. • More than 25 million active user groups exist on the site.
• MySpace was launched in August 2003 as “a place for friends.” • Its headquarters are in Beverly Hills, Calif., where it shares an office building with its immediate owner, Fox Interactive Media; which is owned by News Corporation (owners of Dow Jones and Company) and the New York Post. • MySpace operates solely on revenues generated by advertising as its user model possesses no paid-for features for the end user. OTHER SOCIAL NETWORKS There are dozens of other social networks for various niche markets, including the following. • Ning — Launched in 2005, it is an online platform for people to create their own social networks. • LinkedIn — More than 35 million professionals use LinkedIn “to exchange information, ideas and opportunities.” • Plaxo — Created in 2005 to help people “stay in touch with people you care about.”
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CHAT
Social networking sites confront advisers The debate: Should students and teachers be ‘friends’ on Facebook or MySpace?
T
BY BRADLEY WILSON
he debate: Should students and teachers be “friends” on Facebook or MySpace? An online teacher’s blog posed the question: Should teachers “friend” students on Facebook? Of 208 respondents, 92 percent said no. JEA members, who agreed, although by a narrower margin, acknowledged that times are changing and that social networks are a common method of communication. Given the proliferation of social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace, some districts suggest that teachers not “friend” students but are OK with students “friending” teachers. Others prohibit it entirely. To modern students, though, the resistance toward the social networking sites is puzzling. In another online forum discussing whether teachers and students can be online “friends,” one comment voted as the “best answer” said, “It’s not ‘risky’ if you’re not stupid. Just assume that whatever you post on Facebook is visible to anyone — students, parents, administrators, etc. Though Facebook gives the option to make profiles public or private, users should not assume that maintaining a private profile guarantees that it will not fall into the wrong hands. “I am a high-school teacher and have a Facebook page. The kids see it and try to add me, but I politely deny their requests. Many teachers at my school have pages too. The administrators have advised us to remember that everything is public and that the Internet is forever.” Facebook reports that it has more than 175
32 • COMMUNICATION: JOURNALISM EDUCATION TODAY
million active users and more than half of them are out of college. The fastest growing demographic is those 30 years old and older Clearly Facebook is not only for teenagers. And it is not simply for idle gossip either. • Students use it to correspond with one another about schoolwork. • Groups use Facebook to schedule events. • Yearbook staffs promote sales. • Newspaper staffs use MySpace to post links to stories for readers who might ordinarily visit the site. • Photographers use the sites for critiques. Facebook and MySpace are methods of communication. When used properly, they are like e-mail so they can be both effective and practical for teachers and for students. While the academic community, particularly administrators, often get hung up in the Facebook terminology of “friend,” students see the networks more as a method of communication — almost like a cross between e-mail and Twitter. Based on the amount of media coverage of social networking, a great many people are infatuated with the social-networking sites. Recent stories on the print wire services, local newspapers and National Public Radio ranged from how two state attorneys general found registered sex offenders on MySpace to how relatives were benefiting from their online social network connections to how people were using such resources to find or to create jobs. Clearly social networking now involves more than simply being social. n SUMMER 2009