Quandries of social Networking

This post was originally published on March 8, 2009 on another blog of mine.


It is truly a remarkable time to be in the classroom. It seems that everyday, I learn more and more about cool, new uses of technology. The social networking phenomena is simply, unparalleled. According to a recent Mashable article from Stan Schroeder, Facebook has just reached 200 million users. Remarkably, 8 months ago, the number of users was a mere 100 million (Aug 08). With this kind of popularity, I find it interesting the resistance that many school districts still harbor towards social networks. As a student teacher, I had great success with Ning, a user friendly social network. It is an amazing tool to use, for example, we devoted our classroom’s social network to The Grapes of Wrath. The students found it easy to use quite simply because of their familiarity with Facebook. Many of the applications are similar. Really, anything that can make the Dustbowl more interesting for Tenth Graders should be held in high regard.

I understand some qualms adults have about social networking. Sexting and cyber bullying are two manifestations of the dark side of the web 2.0. I do think that many districts tend to have a knee jerk reaction to these negative aspects. Rather than treading lightly, they opt to sit out all together. As educators, as free thinkers, should we not explore the unfamiliar rather than hide from it. There are so many wonderful tools available to us, it seems a shame to let them go to waste just because people have demonized various aspects.

In truth, I think we are missing a grand opportunity to instill values in our students. By taking advantage of these wonderful technological tools, we can also teach our students the importance of being responsible on the internet; we can use this moment to model proper behavior. The world is moving so fast. With every new wonderful invention, there will always be negative attributes. However, to ignore such opportunities for education due to these few negative aspects gives them even more power. As educator’s, we should see the value in a lesson, even a cyber one.



Schroeder, Stan. “Facebook: From 100 to 200 Million Users in 8 Months.” Mashable: The Social Media Network. 8 Apr. 2009. 8 Apr. 2009 .