SOCIAL NETWORKING
A social network service builds online communities of people who share interests and activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others. Most social network services are web-based and provide a variety of ways for users to interact, such as e-mail and instant messaging services.
Social networking has created powerful new ways to communicate and share information. Social networking websites are being used regularly by millions of people, and it now seems that social networking will be an enduring part of everyday life. The main types of social networking services are those which contain directories of some categories [such as former classmates], means to connect with friends [usually with self-description pages] and recommended systems linked to trust. Popular methods now combine many of these, with MySpace and Facebook being the most widely used. Many of our students will already be using these sites on a regular basis.
In general, social networking services can be broken down into two broad categories:
- internal social networking [ISN] - in schools, this would be a virtual learning environment typically, such as Moodle.
- external social networking sites [ESN], such as MySpace, Facebook and Bebo.
Both types can increase the feeling of community among people. An ISN is a closed/private community that consists of a group of people within a company, association, society, education provider and organization or even an 'invite only' group created by a user in an ESN. An ESN is open/public and available to all web users to communicate and are often designed to attract advertisers.
There is commonality across the general approach of social networking sites. Users can upload a pictures of themselves, create their 'profile' and can often be 'friends' with other users. In most social networking services, both users must confirm that they are friends before they are linked. Social networks usually have privacy controls that allows the user to choose who can view their profile or contact them, etc.
Some social networks have additional features, such as the ability to create groups that share common interests or affiliations, upload videos, and hold discussions in forums; and some have made special provision for impaired users.
Activity: Try researching social networking sites used by your students - for example, MySpace, Bebo and Facebook [word of advice – it is probably best not to get involved in using these sites as a means of communicating with your students!] NUMU is the recommended website for student-teacher and student-student interaction - see Case Study I [Word format].
Then look at some sites used by fellow teachers. For example TES Staffroom, ABRSM Forum and Edublogs. We will be using Teaching Music for teacher-teacher interaction in a later section - see Case Study II [Word Format]. |
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