Thing # 22: Explore Social Networking

I said that I would never have a MySpace or Facebook account. I know that I will never have a MySpace account. A lot of the students that I know at school have them, and I know that I would rather keep what they have on their accounts a mystery, than look them up. Some things are just better left alone. It is kind of like the old saying "don't ask questions that you don't want answers too."

I also thought that I never would want a Facebook account, but I had too many of my friends send me invitations, that I finally caved in and signed myself up. I did create a profile, and invited several of my friends to be "my friend." I did not download a picture. I hate pictures, I have always hated having my picture taken. My mom would get so mad at me when I started teaching school because she knew that teachers took school pictures, but I never seemed to bring any of them home. The reason being that I would destroy them and just tell her that I never had them taken. I am sure that she knew that I was not being truthful, but I couldn't bear to tell her that I hated having my picture taken. However, I thought she would have gotten the hint a long time ago when I would also volunteer to take pictures of them so I wouldn't have to be in the picture.

Back to the story of my Facebook experience, after having my facebook account for a few months now, I have had students who have graduated from Poteet invite me to be their friends. I did draw the line when current students that I know at Poteet invite me to be their friends. If they are willing to wait until after they graduate, then that will be fine. I also draw the line and invitations from parents of students. I will also admit that I did have a former student invite me to be "their friend" and I declined the invitation more than once. I didn't know for sure if facebook would show the "invitee that I had declined their invitation or not. I don't want to hurt any one's feelings, but I wasn't totally confident that this person would not post messages that I would want everyone to see on my wall.

I would like to point out that some people on facebook need to learn some social networking etiquette. I mean really, do you think that any one really cares what you cooked for dinner, that you did laundry, and you laid on the couch all afternoon because you had a headache? I think not! If you post things like that, you need to GET A LIFE! But maybe you don't have a life because you're on facebook all the time. I find this simply annoying and don't even bother reading what they posted. I have enjoyed getting to hear what former Poteet students are doing and seeing pictures of their families. I always comment that even though I am not getting older that they sure are.

I will also admit that I did post a comment on my wall that I had spent Labor Day weekend in San Francisco and that I ate cheesecake on top of the Macy's building at the Cheesecake Factory. And I did brag that I had to wear long sleeves and a light jacket while everyone back in Dallas was feeling the heat of over a hundred degrees. One of my coworkers and friend commented that if I posted a comment that I was relaxing on the beach when I go to Hawaii over Thanksgiving, that she would personally knock the holy crap out of me when I get back. I told her that she needed to be happy for me and that she too could go to Hawaii if she made travel arrangements. Somehow that commented didn't seem to make her any happier about the situation.

I am also very surprised that facebook has not sent me a cancellation notice since I don't utilize the social network that much. I even hate to admit that I forget that I have a facebook account. Maybe I will have more things to post on my wall when I do come back from Hawaii. Right now, I am not too sure that people really want to read that I spent an afternoon with my dog Zack at the dog park. Yes, I do cook, clean, do laundry, and a whole variety of things. I even take a nap from time to time, but I really don't think that people want to read about it. I do try to have a life even though as a teacher, we do spend quite a bit of time at the school.

I tried really hard to see if I could use either one of the sights for educational purposes and decided that it wasn't going to happen. The only thing that I could tie facebook and myspace to was that students need to keep in mind that once something is posted on these sites, that they need to really think about what they are posting. We all know the story of the former University of Texas football player who was released from the team for posting an inappropriate comment. I also think that some people who use myspace or facebook think that the sites are the next big thing to the Jerry Springer show and choose to air their dirty laundry. So as a teacher, I wouldn't even want to risk using either one of these social networking sites to teach a student a lesson.