So I joined Facebook. I signed up a couple of weeks ago and have not taken the time to upload a picture yet. Three invitations were issued to close friends and those dear hearts were kind enough to "friend" me. Since then, I've also been "friended" by folks I haven't seen in years.
Already, I feel like I'm back in junior high and wondering if this is the day you're supposed to wear the sweater with the "V" on the front or on the back. Are we pinning pants this week or not? In the end, I hated all those social pressures and would just wear what I wanted to wear. Facebook is little bit like that for me. Am I being witty enough? Did I choose the right picture? Who is this person? Do I know them? ARGH--what a time and energy drain! I have a Linkedin account for professional things and even with that, I hate making the decisions of whether or not I "link" with people. Last week I received a request to "link" with a woman who isn't a very nice person. Do I link with her because we have mutual friends? If I say no, will that lead to an uncomfortable conversation at an upcoming cocktail party? ARGH!
I'll continue to work with Facebook and even post a picture. My college class is having a reunion this year. I put together a wiki for us to use, but have since learned from the college, that they prefer for us to use Facebook for these things. It was the recent graduate who works in the alumni office who emailed me with the news. On a positive note, two his office mates who are further up in the leadership were introduced to wikis via our class page and were even willing to give them a try!
About using Facebook at school . . . my superstar librarian friend put together the Myspace page for HCL. I talked with him about schools doing such a thing, but because of the parameters of school and other concerns, he advised against it. This spring, I revisited the idea with some of my library kids. I asked them if they used Facebook or Myspace. Most had Facebook accounts. I asked them if they would use a school library Facebook page as a a way to get at the online resources the school provides. Their faces held looks of confusion (apparently the school and personal worlds were about to collide) and they told me they wouldn't. "You already taught us how to find those things. Why would we use Facebook for that?" Why indeed, though I do think it's a brilliant use of social networking by the public library system to connect with kids--meeting them in "their space."
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3 comments:
Search for Micwalker on FB and add me as a friend!
I have gone through some of the same thinking using these social network sites. Having conversations with people quite publicly does make you wonder who you want linked to your site. Not replying to an invitation to a friend...what does that say to that person? I ran into that with a parent. She invited me to be a friend and I never replied. She later emailed me a long email apologizing and saying how it wasn't anything more and....so, I replied and told her how I even don't use my facebook. Her invite was the first of two in about 4 months. She felt much better then. All that from me not accepting your invite.
Sara - Thank you once more for your heartfelt honesty. Last year sitting at a lunch table a colleague explained that they deny some request to be a "friend". I remember at the time thinking isn't it more a connection? Anyhow it does bring one back to junior high memories that are best left in the dust bins of my mind.
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