Thing 18-- Social Networking

I have been on Myspace for several years. My page is here. Add me, and we will be Myspace friends :-). I have been on Facebook for about a year. I don't use it as much as Myspace.

When I was first encouraged to join Myspace by several friends, I really did not think I would ever create a profile. I felt it was for kids, and it seemed very random and without any purpose. Then I discovered that you can find people by name: classmates, old friends...FOR FREE! And I was sold.

I use Myspace to keep in touch with people that I would probably not ever have the opportunity to communicate with otherwise. It's even helped me find cousins. I don't really share very much on my page, but I keep it private for my own peace of mind anyway.

I am very cautious about what is on the web about me. I lead a VERY G-rated life, but still, I am hyper-aware of what is out there. I recently deleted a video my cousin sent me on Facebook. Her husband was in a series of commercials (he is an aspiring actor) that might have bordered on bad taste. It made me sad to delete it because she was just very proud of her husband...but I always ask myself, "what would a future employer or a parent think about this?"

I do not know if I would use either of these networking sites to communicate with colleagues or parents. If I was going into secondary education, I don't think I would add my students. It just seems a little informal and could get all weird, especially if I was made aware of questionable behavior on their part and would then feel conflicted about what to do about that knowledge. I am going into elementary education, though, and I doubt many, if any, of my students will have profiles on these sites. I don't think my own children are ever going to be allowed to make profiles! We'll take that as it comes, I guess. There are a lot of crazy things on these networking sites, but they are tools that can really be helpful and meaningful. I have had professors suggest that we delete these profiles altogether, which I just don't want to do.