15th Jan 2008
i guess i have finally reached a certain age…
Dr. Phil today is about girls who post pictures of themselves drunk and passed out as a part of a Facebook group that I think is called something like “30 reasons to call it a night.” I’m not surprised that this group exists, nor that people post pictures to it (for some reason, I think this particular group is just girls, which ups the dangerous Internet angle Dr. Phil and other shows like). He and other people are trying to convince some of the members of the group that posting their pictures could cost them their job, among other things.
And I have to say I agree. I know MySpace and Facebook began and are ostensibly sites for teens and those in their twenties. I can understand students who see these spaces as for play, for connection and networking. But Facebook, in particular, is tied to who you actually are and any information about you on that site is public. Period.
No, it shouldn’t matter to your employer what you do in your personal life — but posting on public sites (which Facebook undoubtedly is) makes the personal public. And when it comes to teachers, even having an online presence can put school districts off hiring certain people. I have to recommend to my students to take down their pages, or to make them private. This is the world that we live in — the line between personal and public twists and turns so much that sometimes it gets lost altogether.
Yes, I have a MySpace page and a Facebook one. Those were conscious decisions, given my research interests in the ways new technologies impact literacy practices today. I use Facebook much more often because it is an actual community, spans many different physical locations, and lets me communicate with friends all over the world — literally. But I don’t post pictures that are objectionable (see the story about the Oregon mayor whose photos of her in lingerie on Facebook have surfaced). And I don’t go looking for my students. If they want to add me as a friend, that is great and I will add them.
And yes, I don’t read their pages regularly — because, depending on their year and personality, they may or may not want me to know what they’ve been up to. : ) But Facebook keeps you updated through the home page and I’ve even been told about conversations and posts about how much reading I assign in my classes. Personal and public, student and teacher.
It’s a brave new world.
You make some great points. I saw this episode of Dr. Phil as well and had a similar response. As a researcher studying teachers who blog, I have faced many of these concerns about the “brave new world”. Thanks for your coherent and timely thoughts.