Thing Thirteen

Of the applications I encountered in Thing Thirteen, Facebook is probably the one that interests me the most. My family, here and away, uses it as a tool, and this makes it a tool that would help me stay connected with them a little more or a little differently.

I believe I mentioned in an earlier post or a response to someone else’s that I had a Facebook page set up at one other time, but I couldn’t remember the password, or I thought I knew it – and still think I did  :-)  - and they locked me out of the system. I had tried all of the routes they suggested, and none worked to retrieve information. The frustrating thing to me there was that there was no “customer service” to speak of to straighten it all out; you were just stuck.  Setting up this new page makes for a new opportunity to contact others across the miles since so many I know are distances away.

I think that social networking sites are so popular with the kids for a lot of reasons. When they are younger, they cannot drive. This allows them the opportunity to connect with their friends in a way that doesn’t require a car or a driver’s license. As they get older, it does the same, but it can expand those connections.

Students must always be aware of predators out there as they are taking on this technological world. They cannot assume they can put out all sorts of personal information and it won’t ever be seen by anyone but the one person to whom it is specifically being sent. The “networking” part of social networking doesn’t work that way. They must protect themselves and be careful about what they put out there for others to see.

They also need to be careful of the kinds of things they say to others or about others in networking. Things can easily get out of hand and even lead to violence because of one flip comment. Good friends can be lost forever because of one silly posting. Charges of cyber bullying may be filed because of words tossed about unthinkingly.

Social networking is a tool. It could be useful; it could be a valuable tool. It could be fun. It could be all of these, if it is used wisely.