In Everyone's Face (Thing 20)

Social networking is the tool of the Internet that everyone loves and loves to fear. There are lots of reasons to caution users of these tools and remind them of the reality that the Internet is a public place. Sharing your thoughts, pictures, experiences, etc. on these social networks is like sharing yourself with the world.

I've been a MySpace user, keeping off the radar to most of the MySpace social network. It has been a nice way to keep updated on the lives of some of my family members who I don't see all that often, or who have moved across the country. I especially love logging in to see the picture updates of their young children as they grow so quickly between visits. Having a MySpace account has been very useful as a teacher as well. I have been able to become familiar with some of the features of this tool, have conversations with staff, students, and parents about how to adjust settings and monitor their children.

I decided to create a Facebook account for this challenge and explore some of the differences between these two social networks.

At first I was a bit annoyed with the difficulties that I faced in finding friends on the Facebook network...then I thought about how this might actually be nice for me as I still want to reside under the radar. I liked that I could join in some professional organizations and become a fan to the Hennepin County Library. I also became a member of a Maximum Ride fan group, and one of my favorite young adult book series.

I was able to add a search box for the Hennepin County Library Catalog. This quickly turns my own facebook page into a tool that aids in productivity while also connecting me to people and communities.

I don't know that one can argue the numbers if facebook is growing more rapidly in membershipo than other social networking tools on the Internet. However, I did not feel any great "aHah!" moment with facebook that makes me feel that this is going to change my life. There are so many other Internet tools out there to facilitate community, so I don't see this becoming a significant part of my Web 2.0 repertoire. I will keep my eye on my organizations and memberships with Facebook - and maybe something will change........