social+networking

Social Networking (jennifer) (Justin)

__**What is it (Definition)?**__

 * Any website designed to allow users to publish their own content they want to share with friends, family, co-workers, etc. including: text, images, video and other media. Typically users create profiles to share information about themselves and to exchange messages with people publicly or privately.

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 * Boyd and Ellison define social networking as “web-based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system” (Boyd & Ellison, 2008, p. 211).

__**Attributes/Features**__

 * Ability to allow whom you choose into your social network. Privacy Settings help maintain who can see your social network.
 * [|Facebook & Skype News] Click on this link to see an exciting new feature for Facebook. Facebook is going to add Skype features to it's social networking. With this addition you will be able to conduct live video chats with friends on Facebook.


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__**Advantages**__

 * Easy way to communicate with friends, family, students, co-workers.
 * Can share all types of media and ideas without special software
 * Usage rate among students “The 2007 Pew Internet and American Life study found that “48% of teens visit social networking websites daily or more often; 26% visit once a day, [and] 22% visit several times a day” (Munoz &Towner, p.4)
 * It provides users with a personal space on the internet to express themselves, leading to more autonomy and pride in the product.
 * It allows for students to communicate with experts or other students.
 * Learners can use online tools, such as hashtags, to search for posts related to a similar tag as their subject.
 * Groups can be made for networking in a smaller forum than the entire site. As users "Like" or "Follow", they can communicate with other followers of a group or organization.
 * Privacy issues are constantly being updated so that social networking sites can be used in public/private education safely
 * Students are familiar and interested with the concepts of social networking.

__**Disadvantages**__

 * Potential to see inappropriate posts or images
 * Privacy issues
 * Parental disapproval
 * Potential for bullying
 * Technical requirements both at home and school
 * Inappropriate use of the networking sites, for personal use and not for educational purposes when instruction is happening
 * Saftey concerns especially for younger students

__**Applications to the Classroom**__

 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Social Networks could be used as an online group collaboration tool in the classroom where discussions can take place live.

> // "Researchers found that very few students in the study were actually aware of the academic and professional networking opportunities that the [social networking] Web sites provide. Making this opportunity more known to students, Greenhow said, is just one way that educators can work with students and their experiences on social networking sites." ([|link] to review; [|link] to journal article) //
 * Click on this article: [|Opening Facebook: How to Use Facebook in the College Classroom] (I found this article as a good resource for Applying Facebook to the Classroom).
 * <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 14px;">A class could be networked together, providing a line of communication for things like homework help, clarification on questions, or extra problems.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 14px;">If the use of particular social networks, such as Facebook, etc., is not possible within the classroom, I suggest that the "conversation" about their use should not cease. The goal of such conversations is to link experiences using "school social media" with authentic world experience of using social media. Science Daily's review of qualitative research conducted with middle school youth at UM noted the following:

<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 28px;">__**Individual Knowledge**__
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 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Students are able to demonstrate their knowledge about a topic by making posts.
 * Students must support their arguments (possibly with hyperlinks, quotes, research, etc.) when discussing points via commenting. This support refines their thinking.

<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 28px;">__**Group Knowledge**__

 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Students are able to share their ideas, media, etc with each other anywhere, anytime through posts. Once posted, other students can reply with comments, suggestions, or opposing ideas either publicly as a comment or through a private message.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 14px;">Students could use their spaces as means of communication through working on a group project (which is sometimes difficult to do via telephone or text due to need of visual representations).

<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 28px;">__**Links to Example**__ -
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 * ====**[|Facebook]**====
 * ====**Linkedin**====
 * ====**[|Edmodo]**====
 * ====**StumbleUpon**====
 * ====**Tumblr**====
 * ====**Flickr**====
 * ====**myYearbook**====
 * ====**Twitter**====
 * ====**Classmates**====
 * ====**foursquare**====
 * ====**Ning**====
 * [|Twiducate]
 * []

<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 28px;">__References__

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 * ====**Wikipedia: List of social networking websites**====
 * ====**Social Network Definition**====
 * Boyd, D.M. & Ellison, N.B. (2008). Social Network Sites: Definition, History and Scholarship. //Journal of Computer Mediated// Communication, 13(1), 210-230.
 * http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/2008/01/it-is-about-educational-networking-not.html
 * <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 14px;">Munoz, C.L. & Towner, T.L. (2009). Opening Facebook: How to Use Facebook in the College Classroom. //<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 15px;">This paper was prepared for presentation at the 2009 Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education conference in Charleston, South Carolina. 1-13. [|http://www46.homepage.villanova.edu/john.immerwahr/TP101/Facebook.pdf] //