1.What is the appeal for the young and old alike to network
in online places like the ones you examined this week?
There are different appeals for each age group BUT the
underlying reason that the young and old alike network online is to keep in
touch with others in one-way-shape-or-form.
Some are geared more for older – Facebook (or so my kids get me),
LinkedIn is geared for professionals, any social media that allows people to
meet other people to date or old high school classmates, and most individuals
use Instagram and google. These websites
keep individuals together for various reasons but the key point to remember is
that social media allows individuals who may or may not be in the area of the
user, allow the user to connect with other individuals.
2.If used in a classroom, how might networking websites
positively and negatively affect teaching and learning?
Closed networking websites such as Edmodo, TodaysMeet, Kidblogs, or Edublogs are
an asset to the classroom, while social media sites such as SnapChat (my
teenage children’s favorite social media site) can be a distraction in the
classroom.
3.In what kind of site might you tend to spend most of your
time networking online and for what purpose?
Before I got my current job, I used LinkedIn quite a bit to
connect with others that may have opportunities for me. I’ve been on Facebook for several years. I prefer Facebook to stay in touch with long
distance friends and family but have found recently that it can be a gossip
social media tool, which drives me to stay away. I use Pinterest for recipes mostly, although
there are other items like to pin other things like place I’d like to go, which
is nice because I get to see pictures of area I would not know about otherwise
because I don’t know they exist!
4.In what ways will this benefit you and what do you think
might be the drawbacks?
LinkedIn gave me some leads to jobs before I found my current
employment. I like Facebook to keep in
touch with friends and family but don’t like some other posts that my friends
post because, honestly, I think people tend to post too many personal things
about themselves or vent too many opinions.
Pinterest tends to feel pretty innocuous to me compared to Facebook and
much more enjoyable because I get to choose the content rather than content
given to me by my “friends.” I guess
other drawbacks that I have noticed is that people are “addicted” to social
media and/or children not having the ability to speak to other individuals
because their sole communication is through social media.
It is very interesting to see Social Media evolving first hand. I think it is funny how the younger generation almost looks at Facebook as Social Media for older people. My 12 year old son has a FB account but rarely uses it. Instead he uses KIK and Instagram. We have a rule in our house. We allow him to use Social Media as long as it is used responsibly. I monitor all of his activity closely. I also have the right to confiscate his phone at any moment and check it for all content. Not only can I check it but I can also respond to any of his friends as if I was him at any time I want. This last part of the rule is the most intimidatin for him because I tell him that as long as e is using Social Media responsibly, then I will not port anything on his behalf. But if I catch him sending anything out that is inappropriate I will embarrass him big time in front of all his friends. That fear of being embarrassed in front of his friends seems to work better than grounding him. :)
ReplyDeleteOn a separate note, I love LinkedIn. I have LinkedIn to thank for my current job. I was able to land a career working in Ed. Tech from a post and networking on LinkedIn.
Social Media is extremely powerful for all ages. During forums are geared towards different audiences but are still very effective and useful. You make some great points in your post. Thank you for sharing!