Social Networks

    I have used a couple different social networks over the years.  The first one I was a part of was Myspace and I got that when I was in high school mostly because all my friends had one and it was the new thing to do.  This was just a fun way to see information about friends from school or I used it as a way to keep in contact with people I went to camp with.  When I got to college I stopped using Myspace because it seemed like it was being used by younger and younger kids and alot of the stuff you could do on there started to not interest me.  So I did get a Facebook and I am from Michigan so it is a great way to stay in contact with my friends and family who still live up there.  Facebook is much less kidish than Myspace and I still have my Myspace account just cause I never canceled it but now that I have Facebook I see no need to use Myspace.  This has been a great and fun tool for me to use and I really enjoy the social networking, but only with people I already know and never with strangers. 
     I don't really know what the 21st century role of social networking will be in education, but I think that the use of social networks will continue to increase so educators should prepare.  It seems that children are getting into the world of social networking younger and younger these days and so teaching students the proper ways to use these networks are important.  There will always be the issue of predators and cyberbullying, but it is just our responsibility to prepare them and try to set them up for success.  There are also social networks out there that can be set up for just your school and can be monitored by the teachers.  I do not think this will prevent them from getting outside pages of their own, but it will hopefully be able to teach them responsibility when using the internet.  Socail networking will just continue to grow over the years so adapting to this and using it to help the students and teach them will benifit both the learner and teacher.