I think the hooplah is all overblown. So professors are human: this is news?
I've never understood the fascination with social networking online. I have zero interest in MySpace, Twitter, FaceBook, Zoom, LinkedIn, etc.
File under "M" for Misanthropy?
Except I recognize the value of networking in and of itself. I just don't really understand the appeal of the online version for the Academy . . .
I am a bit confused, Belle. Law professors everywhere have plenty of information about you through this blog. I do not see how you can worry now about TMI. (Even if you shut this blog down before you go on the market, you are easily identifiable). This is your own social network site.
I like you and your blog. So I do not see it as a bad thing.
Fair enough. I've always said that this blog has been a wonderful benefit for expanding my network, as it is not easy for grad students to "get out there."
Thanks for reading and the kind words--it's reassuring!
I think that Facebook makes me nervous because of the pictures thing, even if the only pictures I have are of me hiking and being otherwise wholesome.
Belle,
The "social networking" and Web 2.0 are buzz words for things a lot of people were doing way before MySpace and Facebook. They just had the know-how and the control over their info.
There was a glaring example, however, of just how much control a lot of these sites have over what get released about us. As uninterested as you were in the Spitzer case, no one seemed to pick up the fact that, when photos of Spitzer's callgirl were released, it was MySpace who received credit (and I would LOVE to know if money changed hands) for photos that were taken from her "personal" profile.
Better yet, are MySpace and Facebook archiving these things? Can photos you remove still accessible by MySpace and Facebook after the fact?
Maybe it sounds like paranoia, but I don't recall reading anything in the "Terms of Use", so who knows? And just because I'm paranoid...
Then again, I have no plans to be involved in a sex scandal - and the things I post are relatively mundane. But when our personal identities start becoming capital for investment opportunities for OTHER corporations - when our personal identities start becoming tradable commodities that we don't have control over - that tends to make me a little .... nervous - at least, much more nervous than what some student might see.
WRT Facebook, I believe you can change privacy settings so only certain people can see that you've been tagged in photos.
I've also considered deleting my Facebook and MySpace profiles; however, what has stopped me thus far is the simple fact that I like to know what is going on in my friends and closer acquaintances lives that they feel comfortable sharing with the world at large, or at least their circle of friends within the social networking site. When you see a status message saying, "my cat died" or "I'm feeling blue" you can take the few seconds necessary to send some words of encouragement and support to a person who needs it. Similarly, you can share in joyful occasions.
I also feel, although it may be somewhat self-defeating, that if any of the information I have on my profile prevents me from getting a job or an interview, it's probably for the best. Both my facebook and myspace profiles are very conservative, and I go in and delete comments from my friends that are left after their passwords have been phished. If my simple presence on those social networking sites concerns a potential employer that much, I don't really care to contemplate what other personal-time freedoms they will try to infringe upon.
As for my future students, I haven't decided how I will handle friend requests from them, yet. But, I do enjoy checking in on my professors who have profiles every once in a while to see how things are going. It's somewhat less intrusive than just dropping by for a social visit during office hours.
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