CHAPTER 9:  SOCIAL NETWORKS:  Facebook, Ning, Connections, and Communities

     This chapter discussed the two types/purposes of social networking.  The first type of social networking is friendship based.  Facebook provides a nice platform for this type of networking.  I myself enjoy Facebook.  It has enabled me to re-establish old connections from my high school and college days in addition to starting and maintaining new connections (ie, people met at conferences, social events, the workplace, etc.).  I also find it a good way to stay in touch with family members and close friends by sharing pictures, making status updates, and posting important news articles for all to read and make comments on, thus divulging each person's unique point of view or stance on the topic. This in and of itself is a very powerful learning tool.  However, at this point I am not too sure how I would convey to my students the importance of the acceptable use of Facebook.  It is somewhere I do not want to go right now.  Perhaps I will someday be able to wrap by head around the idea.  As for now, my school is like the many other schools that block Facebook from their servers.
     The other type of social networking is interest based.  Richardson discussed how ning.com is a powerful tool for this sort of networking.  However, he did warn that there are some down sides to Ning (such as not being able to share individual blog posts or other artifacts publicly and the site you create is either all private or all public).  I particulary liked the example of how a Career Exploration Coordinator used Ning to have students share and reflect on their internship experiences.  I was the School to Career Coordinator at my school a couple of years ago and wish that I new about this powerful social networking tool.  This tool is a great way to prepare students for the literacy demands of the twenty-first century for sure!