Facebook, or "How Can You Really be Friends with All These People?"

Facebook has spread over the Internet with the infectiousness of a baby's laugh, or the ebola virus, depending on your perspective. Whether you view Facebook as a delightful way of connecting to old friends and reaching thousands of people quickly or as an inane and overrated waste of time, it's no longer possible to ignore its impact. Facebook is used to rally, to fundraise, to spread news. Many businesses and organizations have started using Facebook to advertise or raise awareness. And, of course, millions of people spend time on Facebook every second of every day.

F.A.Q.

What is Facebook, really?

Facebook is a social networking site. That means that users can create profiles and follow the profile of their friends, communicating with friends and acquaintances both new and old. Originally, Facebook was a way for college students to stay in touch with their high school friends. Then, high schoolers started creating Facebook profiles, and now people of all ages are on Facebook. This can get awkward when kids find out that their parents have Facebook accounts.

The movie The Social Network is an interesting, fictionalized account of the creation of Facebook.

What do people mean when they say they get "sucked into" Facebook?

It's dangerously easy to waste time on Facebook without realizing it. You can get caught up in chatting, reading friends' posts, looking and pictures, and playing games, and suddenly realize that several hours have gone by. As in everything, moderation is key.

South Park made an episode making fun of this aspect of Facebook (video contains some swearing):

Can anyone see my Facebook profile?

That depends on your privacy settings (found under "Account" in the upper right-hand corner). You can make your Facebook profile viewable by anyone, or just by your friends, or just by your networks, or just by friends of friends. You can adjust settings so that people you don't know can only see your "limited profile," which includes basic info but keeps things like wall posts private. Teenagers often adjust settings so that their parents can only see their limited profiles.

Why do people complain every time Facebook's format is changed?

Mostly, because they get used to the old format and don't like change. Facebook periodically fiddles with the formatting, altering the look of the site and moving where links are found. Sometimes the complaints are warranted (like when the new format is harder to navigate), and sometimes not (the most objected-to changes one week may become new favorite features the next).

and the big question,

Should I be friends with students on Facebook?

Most teachers I've talked to say no. It's not very professional and it can get too personal. You might learn things about students you didn't want to--or shouldn't--know. Many schools and universities have policies forbidding teachers from being Facebook friends with students. However, many teachers that I know are willing to "friend" students on Facebook after the students have graduated. At my university, professors and teaching assistants aren't allowed to be Facebook friends with students while the students are in their class, but are free to friend students once the class is over. Also, many retired teachers like to keep track of former students on Facebook.

My advice would be to make sure students can't friend you or view your full profile while they're in your class. If students ask about it, let them know it's your (or the school's) policy not to friend students. After they leave your class or graduate, you can become Facebook friends with them if you like. Definitely consider friending former students when you're retired--I hear it's a great way to stay in touch!

Facebook Basics

Profile - A profile contains a picture, information about the user (birthday, relationship status, favorite movies, etc.), a status, and a "wall" where friends can leave messages.

Friends - Being friends with someone on Facebook isn't the same as being friends with them in real life (IRL), though some people have trouble making the distinction. You can be Facebook friends with your actual best friends, your acquaintances, classmates, friends of friends, siblings of friends, people you only know online, famous people, and people you don't know at all. The average person has far more Facebook friends than real, close friends, though some people do limit their Facebook friends to their actual friends. Some people consider their number of Facebook friends some kind of status symbol (even though they're probably only friends with about 30 of the people on their friends list) and compete with others to see who has the most friends. When one has 100+ Facebook friends, it's helpful to create lists of friends, so you can easily check these lists to keep track of your close friends. "Friend" serves as both a noun and a verb on Facebook. Making friends with someone on Facebook is "friending" them.

walls - Each profile has a "wall" on which friends can write, leaving messages, pictures, or links. Usually, wall messages are brief ("Happy Birthday!" or "Glad you made it to the party on Saturday!") Sometimes, people message back-and-forth, creating wall conversations.

status - a description of what you're thinking or feeling. This appears at the top of your profile after your name. Facebook status updates are much like Twitter updates in that they're brief and often frivolous. You can tag people in your status.

like, liking - To "Like" something on Facebook is to show approval of it. You can "Like" a status update, post, note, picture, or link. There is no official “dislike” button, to the annoyance of many.

pictures - You can share pictures on Facebook in a variety of ways. If you want to share multiple pictures, you can create albums. If you want to share individual pictures, you can post them to your wall or a friend's wall. You can view albums or you can view pictures of a specific person.

tags - You can "tag" people in a picture, note, or status update. This alerts them that you mentioned them. Tagging is helpful in pictures because it shows who is in the picture and even highlights individual faces if you hold the mouse over their names.

notes - Notes are sort of like journal or blog entries. You can write about anything in a note, though most people tend to write about their thoughts and doings, or fill out silly surveys. You can tag people in notes to let them know you mention them or want them to see what you wrote.

groups - You can join groups on Facebook, which have their own special group profiles where you can share information and messages. Some groups actively organize events and discussions. Some groups promise to take action once they reach a certain number of members (ex: donating money to a cause, giving a baby a ridiculous name). A lot of groups, though, are mostly for show or for the lulz; people only join because the group has an awesome name. For example, I'm in a group called "I'm a Fermata -- Hold Me."

poking - On Facebook, you have the option to "poke" friends. All this does is notify them that you have poked them and asks them if they'd like to poke you back. This doesn't really have a function. It's basically the online equivalent of annoying someone by repeatedly poking them in the arm with your finger. Sometimes, people get into "poke wars," where both parties refuse to stop poking, so they just poke back and forth for months.

Facebook stalking - Looking through all the details of someone's profile to find out more about them. This can be harmless or creepy. You may simply be catching up on a friend's life. Teenagers often scope out people they have crushes on via Facebook. Some people, though, obsessively read every single item on someone's profile, notes, pictures, and wall posts, and then it gets rather creepy. Fortunately, you can always un-friend or block someone so they can't see your profile any more.

applications - These are optional, fun features you can add to Facebook. Applications can range from a cat macro sharing system to a game of Scrabble. The most common applications are games and quizzes. One of the most popular games right now is Farmville, a game where you tend a virtual farm, growing crops and collecting animals.

chat- Facebook chat works like any instant messaging system, allowing friends to type messages to each other instantly while logged into Facebook. You can switch the settings on Facebook chat so that only certain friends can chat you, which is useful when you want to avoid getting sucked into conversations with chatty acquaintances.

becoming a fan - Somewhere between Liking and joining a group for something. More often than Liking and groups, becoming a fan often refers to a specific organization or product. There has been talk of Facebook removing this feature, but right now, it remains.

How to Use What You Know About Facebook in the Classroom:

You probably shouldn't use the real Facebook website, as it's hard to monitor content, and many school computers have the site blocked. You can, however, refer to Facebook and do activities using a Facebook profile template.

For example, students can complete character biographies as Facebook profiles or Facebook feeds. They can create bios for fictional characters, historical figures, or even personified concepts. For some fun examples of fictional Facebooks, see the Facebook feed of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and the Facebook profile of Spock from Star Trek. Learn how to create a blank Facebook template from a real history teacher here. (His blog also has good info on teaching technology). You can, of course, simply have students write as though they're on Facebook without the fancy template, but I do think it's more fun when it really looks like Facebook.

You can also take a look at some Facebook groups and refer to them in discussion. If you're a music or science teacher, you might mention the group "I'm Glad Pluto's No Longer a Planet; It Makes Gustav Holst's Suite Complete." And I think all Chemistry teachers should be familiar with "Carol never wore her safety goggles...NOW SHE DOESN'T NEED THEM." Band, orchestra, and choir teachers will appreciate "People who DON'T clap between movements."

Just search "grammar" under Facebook groups and you'll see a huge debate going on: "Grammar Police," "Good Grammar is Hot," "Grammar Sucks," "Good Grammar is Oppressive," "I correct your bad grammar in my head while you're speaking," "The Elements of Style Sucks," "Facebok Shuld Halve Spell Check," and more.

And of course, there are education groups on Facebook, too! I'm part of the National Council of Teachers of English Facebook group.

Next entry: Twitter, or "Do Tweets Make Us Twits?"