Thing # 22 Social Networking

It was helpful to view the Melissa Shank videos about Facebook. Facebook's goal is "Helping you connect and share with the people you care about." I signed up for it using totally fabricated information on my profile. I watched the video of Mark Zuckerberg and learned much from him, with great respect for this young cyber-genius. I did not know Facebook was a collection of sites organized around various interests, topics, etc. I had the concept that it was a huge investment of of time I really don't feel like I have to spend chatting and gossiping, but, admittedly, it has been tempting to use it to reconnect with past and current friends.
The News Feed section shows how many friends are commenting on a certain piece of content, who posted the content, and what type of content it is. The Entertainment section could provide means of sharing opinions about movies, concerts, Dancing With the Stars results, etc. for leisure time. While I do agree with the question, If we don't model productive, responsible uses of social networking tools for our students, how will they learn to be productive, responsible users of these tools?" I still am resistant to get into the social networking arena, and I view all of the sections with the somewhat jaded opinion that there are better ways to spend my time. I am sure it is here to stay and huge numbers of people are enjoying social networking but I am too leary of having photos and information out there forever for techy people to misuse.
Even though I feel that I write more effectively than I speak, and thus can benefit from connecting socially through writing, I feel that face to face social interaction is far superior. Electronic communication is certainly the next best thing when physical or geographical limitations are present.
While I am glad to have a working knowledge of social networking, and see the attraction it has for our students, I also see how it can lead to people being more isolated from others physically with their computer or phone at hand, spending hours alone but not feeling they are alone. It seems oxymoronic. I am also glad our district prohibits having our students as our Facebook Friends, as I see huge potential for dangerous ground there.
Society in general seems so driven to "reach out and touch someone," as the old telephone commmercial goes, or be touched by someone. We are social beings and learning does take place by social interaction in social settings, so educators need to recognize and value that.
It's interesting that, having talked with high-schoolers, Facebook's founder, Zuckerberg, learned that young people, (in their ever present zest for instant gratification--my words, not his), felt that email was "too slow." Now he has introduced another social networking phenomena that some say threatens to make emailing in the usual sense obsolete. Ah, Web 2.0, will your wonders never cease?