Social Networking Creates BETTER Behavior?

Do we really need to even consider social networking sites in our classrooms and media centers when the majority of these popular sites are blocked or filtered in our schools? Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and YouTube are all blocked from the computers at my school. However, we do have access to TeacherTube and class wikis. When approved and sanctioned by the teachers and administrators wikis can be unblocked to facilitate their use in the classroom and media center, but initially wiki sites are blocked.

Social networking is more than just Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter; it is any technology that allows for readers to comment or contribute. Think of Amazon.com. This commercial site sells and promotes a variety of books, electronics, music, movies, and more, and as part of its marketing plan, the site allows customers to write reviews and rank products. This would be considered a social networking site because it allows readers to contribute to the the web content. In our media centers, many of the cataloging programs offer students and teachers the opportunity to rank books and write reviews as well.

According to Edutopia's article "How To Use Social Networking Technology," Fran Smith explains that social networking is an avenue to teach our students how to present themselves to the world,

The idea that we are the stories we tell has never been more important. Schools have always taught kids how to present themselves -- that's why we did oral presentations in the classroom. Now we need to teach them to present themselves electronically. That's why it's so scary to lock these technologies out.

This makes sense to me. Social networking is not going away, so we can help students realize that they are always on stage, especially when they are posting on websites. We should teach students that social networking is a powerful medium for learning and sharing information, and it is quite rewarding as well.

I learned quite a bit from BJ Fogg, a professor at Stanford University, who teaches a graduate seminar on Persuasive Technology in the Learning, Design, and Technology Program. He refers to social networks as persuasive technologies. I had not really considered them persuasive in the past. I suppose that I only considered advertising media as persuasive technology, until now.

The most salient point that Dr. Fogg makes is that social networking creates better behavior in people because social networks create persistent identities that never go away and can never really be erased or deleted. In doing so, the person has a reputation to protect, so the person is more careful with his or her posts. See his "Open Office Hours" video; this link to Stanford University's Facebook page is the third in a series. The video is almost 5 minutes long, but I feel that this is a valuable and persuasive resource for all of us who worry about social networking issues in our classrooms.

From Dr. Fogg, I learned that the major impetus for teaching students how to use social networking sites is that their identities are the same as their reputations. I can almost agree with Dr. Fogg, but so many of our students are children. Although, I do see the benefit of teaching adolescents about reputations and persistent identities. Since adolescents are at a critical period in their social and emotional development, it seems that middle school and high school aged students do need specific and direct instruction about using social networking web sites in a mature manner.

Many of our most creative students are going to gravitate toward social networking sites in their personal lives because these sites are intrinsically rewarding to teens. Think of the power of using these sites in our classrooms to tap into some of that creative energy! If only I could get my students to throw themselves into their study of literature, writing, and grammar with the same fervor that they use when they post on Facebook and MySpace...Ah, yes, but I am dreaming, again.