Fearless of Facebook

So, I’ve restarted my blog. I guess I should reintroduce myself. I think I would classify myself as a technology junkie. I’m currently taking part three of what used to be called “Computers in The Classroom”, and unlike one of my fellow students, I have a scary, zero fear of the Internet and the question of privacy. I call it “scary” because I know that I sometimes should be more careful, or at least consider the ramifications. (I just had a thought…. I’m a Mac user, and I’ve NEVER, EVER purchased virus protection and I’ve NEVER, EVER had a virus infect any of my computers. I go surfing/searching without fear, downloading whatever, whenever. I wonder if this is where my “false” sense of security comes from?).

Anyway, I have a Facebook profile. I recently signed up for Twitter to see what it was all about. I ave a MySpace account which I haven’t looked at for a couple of years now. And speaking of that, I have a couple of Geocities web sites that I created about eight years ago, and tonight I read that the site is being deleted on Friday. Darn, my very first website will forever disappear…forever…forever. Seems funny, because I think we’re most often worried about things being available to everyone forever, but here’s an example of the end of things I’ve posted that I don’t have saved anywhere. I wish I could remember the URL for my two Geocities sites so I could make just one last visit.

As for Facebook, (and the rest) I don’t have a lot “friends”, 23 I think, which is miniscule in comparison to the 200 average. I’m mostly on to keep up. However, I enjoy checking out what everyone’s doing almost hour by hour….it has its addicting qualities to it.

One thing I’ve always thought we neglect as educators is teaching about the “etiquette” of social networking sites. By this, I mean respect and treating each other (as the old saying goes) as we’d like to be treated ourselves. We also neglect to teach about safety. While I’ve mentioned my lack of fear, I think some of this has to do with my common sense usage and by the people that I’m in contact with. Again, as mentioned, my cyber friends are few and I know everyone of them in the real world. I know that some students I teach probably have upwards of 500 or more “friends” a lot of whom they’ve never met. As I’m typing this, I’m watching “The Passionate Eye” on CBC. Tonight’s show is titled, “Wired For Sex”. It’s about young people (14-18) and their exposure to inappropriate things on the Internet. One thing I learned is that there’s an “anonymous box” where people can post things to your page without leaving their name. I guess most of the kids expected positive postings (which is why they have the box), but they are in reality getting a lot of intimidating, mean and sexually suggestive comments left….by their friends. Again the users have the choice of not having this box, but their inexperience and seeming need for positive commentary leaves them exposed for the cruelties that exist in their online life. I highly recommend its viewing. An eye opener for sure!

That’s all for now.