I admit it! I check my Facebook account as often (if not more often) than I check my e-mail account. I'm always anxious to see what my friends are up to today, or to see how someone's day is going or even to vent a little steam. Sometimes, if I have a bad day, it makes me feel better to update my status and hear my friend's encouraging remarks. And Facebook is the only way that I keep in touch with a lot of my friends from high school. But I don't think I'm addicted to it. I could live without facebook, and the other popular social networking sites. I know I use Wikipedia for everything, so I'll use it again for this post too. On Wikipedia I found a list of well over 100 social networking sites...I had no idea that many existed! Needless to say, I'm not familiar with most of these sites. I have a Facebook account and a Myspace account and I've heard of Twitter, but I haven't set up an account yet for that site, so by social networking standards, I guess I'm falling behind!I do think that social networking sites are a great way to keep in touch with friends and family that you don't get to see that often. I know it makes me feel good when a friend that I haven't seen in a while writes on my Facebook wall, just to let me know that they're thinking of me. And I like keeping up with what's going on in my friends' lives. Actually, Facebook is one of the only ways that I keep in touch with many of my high school friends who all scattered after graduation. But I also think that you have to be very careful about how you present yourself on a social networking site and what you allow others to see.
For example the other night, my car was towed from my apartment building because I had forgotten to put my hang tag back up after I had taken it down the night before. So, when I walked outside and realized what had happened, I was very upset, and I posted my feelings in my Facebook status. On the following Sunday, my grandmother asks me "What happened to your car last week?" First, I was upset that she had found out about it (because her and my grandfather have a tendency to worry about me, so I had taken care of the car problem and not told them anything about it). Second, I was stunned that she had found out (unlike some of my friends, my grandparents have not yet joined the social networking world). It turns out one of my friends of Facebook is a church friend of my grandmother, so at church, the lady had asked about my car. So really these social networking sites just work like one big gossip chain.
I guess my grandmother finding out about my car wasn't such a big deal, but what if it had been something more serious? What if a potential employer had seen my angry status about my car being towed and because of it, refused to offer me the job? I guess what I'm saying is that you never really know who is reading your Facebook posts or status updates, and therefore you have to be very cautious about what you write. Because even if someone isn't reading what you post on your social network site, they may have a friend, acquaintance or collegue who is.
I agree with your statement about not being addicted to Facebook. Although, I think when I first joined it (back when college students were the ONLY people on it) I was highly addicted. It is the only way I keep up with friends from high school, and I have found it to be a much easier way to communicate via messages than it is to e-mail them. I also share some of your worry, but my grandmother is ON Facebook, and apparently checks mine and my brother's status updates quite regularly. If she finds something questionable, she calls our house and asks my parents about them. Ridiculous, I know, but it happens. I think that given the profession we are going into, we have to be especially mindful, too. And not just before we get a job, but while we are employed, too. Like, I usually don't make copies of pictures for friends when I take them with my camera, I just tell them I will put them on Facebook and they can right-click and save them to their computer from there. This is a habit I will have to break sooner rather than later.
ReplyDeleteHey Ben!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment. I totally agree with you about being mindful about what we post. I think all people should do this, but especailly educators. We're not only setting an example for our students, but are also in a position to become role models for them, so we should pay special attention to everything we post about ourselves. Facebook is one of the only ways that I keep up with most of my friends from high school, so I agree with you about that too! Thanks for your thoughts!