Facebook Mistaken Identity is a Big Problem

True to form I found something to write about already.

The Toronto Star today is reporting about a young graduate student from Ryerson who has been come the centre of a mistaken identity problem through Facebook. It seems that an Ontario cabinet staff member was reported to make an unfavourable comment this week in an email. That person has since left her position (reasons not completely known). However, poor Aileen Siu, the graduate student, has had to bare all the backlash from that comment. She is receiving hate emails and slanderous comments through Facebook. Someone(s) have taken it upon themselves to track down a woman who happens to have the same name, is appx. the same age, and lives in the same town as the staff member.

I'm so surprised that anyone would go to this length to intimidate someone first of all, secondly that they don't make sure they are addressing the right person is completely irresponsible. The people that are writing to to Aileen (the graduate) should be ashamed of themselves as they are now no better then the original person that allegedly made the improper comment.

Be Careful How You Use Facebook

I recently had some friends concerned about photos they had posted of them from other friends. The issue was around the fact that although the photos may have been just showing a fun weekend, coworkers of the concerned friend may see them on Facebook and not interpret them in the light manner they were intended.

Facebook is just like any other internet tool . One, regardless of their age, should take careful consideration as to what you "put out there" for the cyberworld to see and who you allow access to see it.

CBC News was reporting yesterday that Oxford is using Facebook as a way to discipline students. It seems that after exams there is sometimes the unsanctioned custom of "trashings". This involves dousing classmates in foam, eggs, and flour. A campus misdemeanor that is drawing fines to the students. Officials are searching through Facebook for photos that capture any of the activities and emailing students with the fines.

As if often the case, the tool is not the problem, but how we sometimes utilize them becomes an issue. Some schools have completely banned Facebook on the basis that threats and derogatory remarks have been made against fellow students and teachers. This Oxford case seems like some harmless fun, but does go against the rules of the university. It helps to point out to the masses again the need to protect your privacy. Make sure you use the features established within the tools to allow only your friends to see your information. Sometimes a better rule to live by is not to post info/photos/comments that can put yourself or others into harm or offend.

How does one use Facebook for learning?

My new e-friend Cammy, suggested to me that she wanted to find a way to use Facebook as a learning tool. Since then I have been thinking about her idea and wondering just how does one use Facebook for learning. So far for me and my friends it has only been, just as intended (I think), for fun. We share photos, news, messages, and miscellaneous nonsense. Mostly nonsense. As for learning from one another on it, so far I've learned several things perhaps I shouldn't post on there and embarrassing photos of you will surface periodically.

I'm sure there could be some seriousness to the network. You certainly can create groups that truly are driven by a purpose and I belong to a couple. I've also come up with the idea that it could possibly be used for online class work by having students connect with one another and using it as an "offline" discussion area for class/group work. When that element of interaction is missing from an online many facilitators try to find a way to compensate for that with discussion boards within the learning platform. I have always found these to be very dry and I lose interest in my fellow classmates quickly. A Facebook network may be a way to get the class to interact more continuously in a fun manner outside of the elearning platform.

I'm open to any other ideas and suggestions for utilizing this particular social network tool.

Is Facebook a Class above MySpace?

The BBC reports on a study from PhD student Danah Boyd from the School of Information Sciences at UC Berkeley that:

Broadly, Ms Boyd found Facebook users tend to be white and come from families
who are keen for children to get the most out of school and go on to college.
Characterising Facebook users she said: "They are in honors classes, looking
forward to the prom, and live in a world dictated by after school
activities."
"By contrast, the average MySpace teenager tended to come from
families where parents did not go to college, she said. Ms Boyd also found far
more teens from immigrant, Latino and Hispanic families on MySpace as well as
many others who are not part of the "dominant high school popularity paradigm".

I'm not really surprised to find that teens tend to do what their friends do. Adults do it as well. We're each doing this now as we read one blog advocating an idea or tool. "Hey if Yada Yada says it's good then it must be." Or at least I'll check it out. The fact that users can be generally characterized to use one network over another; yeah that was a bit of a stumper.