Social networks are becoming the norm among people. We use the lingo in everyday lift, such as "Facebook me" and "Tweet me." I didn't join Facebook until I was traveling in Australia for a summer holiday, and even then I was reluctant because I didn't see the draw of it. I quickly learned it was a good way to stay up to date on people's lives who I didn't see all the time. I was "friended" by many people in a short time, and unfortunately, to this day, I'm not an expert on Facebook. It's a good way to keep in touch with my international friends for free. Now, since I'm in Germany, it's a good way for me to keep up-to-date on the lives of my family at home. I log on every few days to read some updates, and that's about it.
I also never understood the draw of Twitter, either. However, this past summer, I just started a Twitter account, and I have become obsessed. As a teacher, I rarely have time to watch the news and learn what is happening in the world outside my school. Twitter has changed all that! My sister introduced me to the wonderful world of Twitter. I follow so many different topics that keep me in the loop about many different things. I now understand how it works, which is the whole reason why I never did it before. It's brilliant. I follow feeds from CNN, BBC, ESPN, the White House, and NPR, which all keep me updated on news around the planet. It's embarrassing to say, but I had no idea that a volcano had erupted in Iceland until about 3 days later! I'm a workaholic, and I was always focused on the lives of my students. With Twitter, I can get my news in 140 characters or less! Like I said, brilliant!
I also follow tons of education feeds. I follow PBS, TeachGov, NSF, TeachHub, and Science Friday, just to name a few. I learn about projects that need funding through DonorsChoose. I learn what's happening at the Museum of Science and Industry by following MSIChicago. It's a great way to get short bits of information at a time, and let's face it, as teachers, sometimes we only have a short bit of time to do anything.
My students, on the other hand, use social networks to take the place of actual oral communication or face to face communication. I witness it with some of my former students. They "tweet" to one another and have a full conversation in a span of a few minutes. The same thing happens on Facebook when they "comment" on statuses. One of my former students follows me on Twitter. I, in turn, followed her. After two days, I had to "unfollow" her because her "tweets" were coming every five minutes! I didn't care that she was sitting in church. Then that she was listening to some guy preach about Jesus. Then that she was leaving church. Then that she was getting in her car to go home. Get the idea? My students have lost some of the ability to communicate with one another in a face to face environment because they are so used to "tweeting" or "facebooking". In their lives, a lot of students leave school and are immediately on these networks and are using them to communicate with a lot of people at once. I think it gives them validation because they post something and many others can reply and make them feel good or bad about themselves, but they are getting attention, and most of the time, that is all teenagers want.
I'm writing this as a high school teacher. I'm sure that elementary school teachers may feel differently than I do because their students may not have been exposed to the world of social networks...yet!
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