Social+Networking+Description

So, here is an interesting twist of events. The bad boy of Web 2.0, social networks, looks poised to possibly become the favored son. How is that possible, one might ask, when we've been regaled for the last few years by all of the terrible things that MySpace has wrought?
 * Social Networking**

First, it's important to separate the platform from particular uses of it. MySpace is an early example of social networking. It is not the only use. What social networking software does very, very well is allow a new user to come in to a collaborative environment and feel comfortable. Again, it's helpful to go to Wikipedia for a definition: "A **social network service** focuses on the building and verifying of online social networks for communities of people who share interests and activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others, and which necessitates the use of software. Most social network services are primarily web based and provide a collection of various ways for users to interact, such as chat, messaging, email, video, voice chat, file sharing, blogging, discussion groups, and so on." As you can see, a social network is actually a //collection// of Web-based tools.

Second, MySpace is actually a very good example of something--how readily users adopt social networks. 120,000 or so new blogs are created every day, which of course seems like a lot. However, 375,000 new people join MySpace a day. If blogging is like walking on stilts, and using wikis is like riding a unicycle, then social networks are like driving a car. Easy, fun, powerful, and with lots of "bling!" Users come in such numbers because the software is easy to use, and seems to satisfy some interesting "human" needs by allowing the kind of self-expression that we would normally associate with our physical spaces. I often remind people that when my generation was growing up, the room in our family home was where we tried to physically manifest the things that were important to us--what posters we put on the walls, the music (albums, of course!) we owned and played, the books we read, what kind of toys or sports equipment or stuffed animals we had. Youth today decorate their social networking home page in much the same way, with almost all of the same elements!

Third, the idea of being able to create your own social network is a pretty new one, and makes a lot of sense for education. Ning is probably the most popular and useful of a growing number of programs that allow you to create a social network around anything (class, school, family, sports team, and even events, like a wedding). This is a new trend that will give create control and confidence in the social network as an educational tool. (Disclaimer: I do consulting work for Ning.)

Now, there are two compelling reasons to look closely at using social networking in the classroom. First, it's like teaching drivers education. Social networks are becoming so pervasive, both in youth and adult culture, that an argument can be made that learning to navigate them well is part of becoming a responsible citizen. Second, they can be very effective at producing constructive dialog and output. My classroom 2.0 site--a social network for educators who are using Web 2.0 in the classroom, which has grown much faster than anyone (including me) expected, and which is surely why I was asked to write this article--is a fascinating case study in how helpful the social network can be in education. Educators from all over the world are talking to each other about how to be better educators. Someone with no previous experience using Web 2.0 software can easily ask a question, or make a comment, or post an opinion, and within minutes or hours (and sometimes day), somebody somewhere replies to them, or helps them, or points them in a particular direction. It's pretty amazing to watch people and ideas grow and flower within a discussion on the site,.

Are social networks ready for classroom use yet? Oh, ever so close. Some open-source platforms (look up "Elgg" and "Drupal" if you're interested) are being implemented with custom security controls, but currently require a little too much technical expertise for the average educator. But there's a growing realization that social networks can be significantly helpful for students as well, and expect to see classroom-friendly, security-conscious versions cropping up very, very soon.