Oh my (space)! I set up my account with no problems, "friended" my daughter who has a myspace account, then searched my name for fun. Awesome result: 23 "Kim Kruegers" including some guy who's "currently incarcerated" popped up! He's looking for friends if anyone (else) is interested! :) This is the thing with social networking sites: ANYONE can join. Let the user beware.
I've already got a Facebook account; many protolibrarians in grad school are heavily into Facebook. It's silly & fun, though I can't forgive them for taking Scrabulous (a Scrabble-like game) off the site. Darn copyright infringement!
I've also already got a LinkedIn account, though I don't use it much. As a "professional network", it's stodgier & doesn't have the fun games etc. that Facebook does. Call me immature, but I want my "Scramble" game!
There was a semi-cranky article in the Chicago Tribune recently written by a younger (than me) person who hated social networking sites. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/nationworld/chi-talk-ahmed-facebookjan10,0,4787965.story
He bemoans the sites as encouraging superficiality and narcissism.
Don't these kind of complaints surface with every new technology, especially those associated with young people? Radio was going to be the death of reading and conversation, then TV was the demon, now it's the Internet.
Personally, I think new technologies can add to communication options, rather than replace them. My kids are both fanatic Facebookers, but they spend plenty of "real time" with other kids as well. Technology just offers another fun way to connect and keep up with one another. My 2 cents!
I enjoy facebook! I got hooked on Word Challenge and Geography Challenge while I was home after Christmas. As result, I now can identify the flags of many countries, including the more obscure ones like Nauru. Who says social networking sites don't have educational value? I can also attempt to keep up with my kids, or at least with what they're willing to post for the public to read.
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