Social Media: The big 7

I know this article is a couple years old, so I apologize to those who read it if the information seems obvious or outdated, but the projections and analysis of what Facebook is fascinates me. It is quite true that hindsight is 20/20, so when the author (Jessi Hempel) made mention to the addictiveness of this social network that has more than come to pass. As a member of the “Facebook Army” I must admit that not two to three hours pass in between checking status updates and picture tags. But who would have predicted the prevalence of smart phones even from 2009 until present day?

The article talks a lot about the expectations of the network’s founder Mark Zuckerberg. The former Harvard student toyed around with a few different websites. When he landed the model that was desired, Zuckerberg chose to forgo the remainder of his schooling to pursue what would become the social media hub of the world. An interesting watch that closely parallels this story is entitled “The Social Network”. A pretty good flick I might add. As brilliant as Mark is as an intellectual, his story was reenacted by professionals because let’s face it his acting skills are not are on a lower level. (See Saturday Night Live for proof!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fG2cfLJKUvw

Believe it or not, the article recorded the red headed step child of social media, Myspace at 130 million users! This was two years prior, remember. I believe Myspace us down to something like30 million members now. Sometimes an effective gauge for success is the lack of success had by others in an industry, case in point Facebook and Myspace. Other predictions planted in Hemple’s article include the possibility of Microsoft purchasing Facebook and sometime in the future. Yeah…… about that. I think Tom, our first (forced) friend from that other network, has a better shot at retrieving his 100 million lost users than Facebook selling out.

http://money.cnn.com/2009/02/16/technology/hempel_facebook.fortune/index.htm

On a more recent note, Twitter along with other social media outlets, has become popular with the college classroom, and not just with the students. Teachers are now conducting assignments that involve the posting of students’ work via Tweets. Whoa wait a second! Is it just me or did everyone who possessed a laptop and mobile device with means of communication keep that on the low during class? This could be a wonderful thing! In an article titled “How Twitter in the Classroom is Boosting Student Engagement” it is realized that with such large classroom sizes and so little time to involve active participation, Twitter allows teachers and students to connect and get involved in discussions. With larger classes, inevitably fewer people contribute their input which kills momentum for important discussions. With tweets responding to subject matter and providing insight, more students are able to be involved and feel like a part of the group learning process.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WPVWDkF7U8&feature=player_embedded

 

As much as I feel that this is a revolutionary means of participation and discussion forums, I do have problems with the obligation of all students adapting to Twitter. Maybe I am old school in thinking that students should have a choice as to how they participate in the classroom. But I’m sure there are exceptions, there always is.

Being new to Twitter myself, I feel the need to become more capable and familiar with it to weigh in an accurate opinion or theory of what is and is not effective. I do love learning about new things in technology, but mastering them before they evolve is the hard part!

This article was written by Greg Ferenstein

http://mashable.com/2010/03/01/twitter-classroom/