Facebook

When this project first started, I opened a Facebook account. I had looked at MySpace, but hated it's messy layout. Facebook seemed tidier. My daughter was desperate to open an account on one of those two sites, but I was not willing to allow her, without really understanding what it entailed myself. So, there I went.



The first week that I had my account, I re-connected with a couple of classmates from highschool, which was fun. Then suddenly, nearly every member (including my 74-year-old mother) also signed up for accounts. Then, acquaintances from other on-line social networks that have undergone some changes, reconnected as well, and I found myself spending more time than I like to admit, catching up with all of them.



I finally allowed Siobhan to open an account after school let out for the summer. I've had sufficient time to learn the ins and outs of privacy settings, and she is instructed that we must remain "friends," in order for her to continue.



I still see some huge pitfalls with this very entertaining website. If a kid "Friends" most of their classmates, and then sees that there is a meet-up somewhere, to which they have not been invited, that will be a very sad moment. If somebody writes something nasty on somebody else's wall, every friend they have will see that, reflecting badly on possibly everybody that reads or partakes in that conversation. I have also learned that it is possible to "block" somebody, which can cause terribly hurt feelings. My teenaged niece puts such random posts up that it litters my wall, and makes no sense. I think she is having a private conversation and doesn't realize that where she puts it makes it public for all 700 of her friends. Another relative put up some highly private (in my opinion) information about herself that I felt would damage her reputation and possibly come back to haunt her in job searches. She too has hundreds of "friends," so even though not everybody has access to her information, I believe that she may be putting herself at risk.



My privacy settings were set so high, that nobody could find me; in fact when my daughter signed up, between her privacy settings and mine, we could not find each other, by e-mail or name. At the moment my privacy settings are a little looser, and I have had a few friend requests since. Once I feel like I've connected with the folks that I might like, I will lock it down tight once again.



For now, if you want to find me, look for "Wilma Gyswyt Flanagan." I have filled out all the profile information and followed all the steps on "The Extra Super Bonus Set" of the Learning 2.0 project.