Week 5

I am apart of the social networking generation. I am actually apart of the first group to use instant messaging. This was when AOL was the main connection program. In college it became a way to communicate to not only your college friends but to your home friends. I would put up away messages with silly quotes, ideas and feelings. I actually miss it in a sense.

Now there is Myspace and Facebook (twitter is different ...to me). Myspace was what a person signed up to if they were not connected to a college. I liked it because you could personalize your page and put a background, pictures and music. It kept me connected to many people. Then Facebook opened up their doors to anyone...and Myspace is a thing of the past. I have been able to connect with about 265 people I never tought I knew! Ha! Actually out of all of them I think I talk to like 20 (not including family and teachers). Speaking of.... my family has really enjoyed this new social communication. We have connected to many distant relatives and are having a huge family reunion in August. All of this started because of Facebook. All the teachers at my school began signing up and I then created a group for us to stay connected in private. I do have to say that I have worries about teachers being "friends" with parents and past students. I think that is wrong. I also do not like when some teachers post comments about how horrible their day was with the kids. Okay, I understand that there will be bad days, but there is no need to be that specific when posting about your mood. Just say "bad day"! Continuing with the subject of posts.... I have about three "friends" who write the most depressing comments ever! It is all about getting attention and I find that to be so irritating. (There's my rant)

As far as Facebook with younger students and this article, I do see my friends kids or camp staff talking about schoolwork. I think it's a good way to vent about a difficult assignment which may help students to get through it knowing others feel the same. I do not like the fact that it is a very easy way for students to be bullied and to have it spread through the whole school quickly. When I was in school, I was bullied but the only people that knew it were the ones there. Now, a kid can post a comment and everyone they are friends with will read it. I think parents need to make sure they know what is going on with their child's account. I know if there was Facebook when I was younger and I was being bullied, I wouldn't tell my parents and it would ruin me. As long as there is control from parents and the child understands the concepts of Facebook then I love the idea of being able to have this communication. Although I think that it should not take the place of the phone or face to face conversations.

Twitter is different for me.... I signed up for it but honestly the only people I actually know are about two. The rest are famous people who I stalk. That is basically what Twitter is..... you stalk famous people, get update about anything in pop culture/media, and you post what you are doing every minute of the day (if you want). I use it as a connection to actors, singers, tv shows, movies, and sports.


Sorry for the long rant but I have lots to say about these topics.