As I’ve already mentioned in a previous post the most popular social networking sites are:
Now it’s time to delve a little deeper and see just what each has to offer.
My Space
I have never been a fan of My Space and I still maintain that conviction. However for the sake of this assignment I will try to be as objective as possible. I even took time to upload a current picture of myself to my My Space Account. Click the image to go to my page.
The one problem that I notice right away is the advertisements. Now you can see on my image above that the ad on my page has to do with female underwear. From an education perspective, this makes using this site in the classroom inappropriate.
Let’s take a look at the toolbar at the top of the page to see what functions My Space offers it’s users.
The Home tab will take you to your homepage. The Mail tab allows you to send email through MySpace to other friends and contacts through their server. They monitor messages and delete those that appear to be spam. If you receive mail from another user you will be notified when you login. The Profile tab allows you to edit and make changes to your Profile, Comments, Photos, Videos, Blogs, Favorites, and Apps. The Music and MySpace TV tabs allow you to browse through music artists and television shows you may want to view and add to your profile. The More tab does what it says, it gives you more options for browsing in MySpace. MySpace manages groups, forums, chat rooms, and classified ads to view and comment on.
In the MySpace terms of agreement it states very clearly that you must be at least 14 years of age to set up an account but more and more children under 14 are setting up accounts. Check out MySpace: Your Kids’ in Danger? or Why Parents Must Mind MySpace which provide more information to help keep children safe while using MySpace. To read more about benefits of MySpace check out MySpace Benefits. While more and more users are added to MySpace daily and many people use it to network and communicate with friends, I don’t feel that it is the most appropriate social networking site to use with students at any age in schools.
Facebook is another social networking site that allows users to network based on high school, college and employment history. I really enjoyed making my Facebook Account and inviting some friends. I found the site much more user friendly than MySpace. Take a look at my Facebook Page below.
When you login you immediately see your friends and the Mini-Feed which gives you updates about what your friends. The toolbar at the top allow you to make changes to your Profile, Search and Add Friends, and read your Facebook Email. The toolbar on the left links to your applications. The most popular Applications are the photos and video album features. You can also add other applications to your toolbar. The wall is another cool feature that allows users to leaves posts for each other. Keep in mind if you post on someone’s wall anyone who is there friend can view it!
Facebook allows you to keep connected with friends that you may otherwise not have kept in contact with. I like the fact that their search features make it harder for you to connect with users who are outside of your common groups and schools.
In general Facebook is another Social Networking tool that does not have too much application in the classroom. Check out the following reviews about using Facebook.
- Social Networking: Are Facebook and MySpace a Positive Influence?
- The Positive Facebook Effects
- Tech Address
43 Things
43 Things is a remarkable site that I was intrigued with immediately! Just what is 43 things? Well, it’s a place you can list, write, and cheer on friends with similar goals and ideas. In today’s world, it is important that our young people have goals and aspirations beyond just going through 12 years of public school until they graduation. Click here to take their online tour.
I went ahead and entered a few goals of my own and 43 Things put it in list form for me. It even told me how many others had the same goal. Take a look at my list below.
Then as I was investigating further I clicked on each goal. It took me to a list of other users who had that same goal. The first goal on my list I clicked on was losing weight. I could read others comments, almost like a blog about their struggles with losing weight as well as their triumphs. It was inspiring! 43 Things allows you to select when you have done something or if you are giving up. So for my goal of teaching, I went ahead and selected that I had done this. 
It then gave me a box below asking me for more information and allowed me a chance to write about it.
Make sure you check out ‘43 Things’ the World’s To-Do List or Sociable “robots” believe in 43 Things articles for more information. I find this site would be very influential for users who are in their teens to early adulthood. It provides a place to list your goals as well as get support and encouragement to accomplish those goals. This tool would be so valuable to our youth who have lofty goals but lack the means or support in their homes to encourage them to strive for their goals. By in large I was impressed with what this site had to offer in terms of social networking. In fact, I think I would recommend it to users before I would recommend sites such as My Space and Facebook.
43 Things is a great site but keep in mind that comments and entries made by users are not moderated for appropriateness so it is possible to come across inappropriate content.
Social Networking for Kids
Learn more about Imbee a Social Networking site for kids and teachers, visit Jenn’s Blog.
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