Facebook – Friend or Foe?

Have you been caught up in the social networking boom? It seems like everyone is; from my favorite chocolate company (Hershey!) to your school and mine – USF. Each has a Facebook account. This venue gives you the freedom to use it as you wish. Many consider social networking to be a great way to keep in touch with friends and relatives, both near and far. Should you decide to participate in an ongoing conversation with people that you have friended, that’s fine. If you don’t want to share what’s going on in your life– no problem. You can just be a voyeur and read what everyone else is posting about theirs. Maybe you’re there to view the pictures people post of their comings and goings. Some even join for the coupons that many companies make available to only their Facebook “friends”.

Whatever the reason, Facebook has over 500 MILLION users worldwide with 206.2 million in the U.S. alone. That equates to 71% of America’s internet users having a Facebook account. And you thought Facebook was only for teens….

Facebook, however, may not only be a positive way to keep in touch, but, more and more, is seen as a possible negative, depending upon how it’s used. For example, many potential employers look at a Facebook account prior to hiring or interviewing – so watching what one posts is a truly prudent idea. What is perceived in a picture as a good time to you might have a negative connotation to others looking at it out of context.

An educator at a high school was recently fired for sounding off about her students on her Facebook account. She didn’t realize that her privacy settings were off and the world – or more specifically the parents of the children she was bashing – could read every word. And so did the superintendant of schools. Who does she blame for being out of a job? Why, Facebook, of course. We must remember that only we are responsible for what we post – and the internet is not a private domain.

Which brings up another point – as an educator, or boss, do you allow your students or employees to be your Facebook “friends”. Do you really want them to know what is going on in your private life? Or perhaps should these people have two accounts, one for professional use and one for personal use? Perhaps it can be used as a teaching tool...

So before we laud the wonders of social networking, let’s remember that there are two sides to everything, and with the good, comes responsibility to make sure there is no bad.

For some interesting FB statistics, check out this article on Facebook.