Scholars Link Up With Facebook Data

According to Ms. Ellison in the article, "On Facebook, Scholars Link Up With Data", one important finding using data collected from Facebook, is that students with low self-esteem and low satisfaction with life accumulated "weak ties." These are non-family members and people they meet who are not close friends. I don't know what information was gathered to help Ellison determine which students had low self-esteem or a dissatisfaction with life, but one thing I know to be true, at least for myself, is that when I tend to feel depressed or distressed, I usually don't choose family members to talk to. Sometimes it helps to get another perspective from someone I don't know and who does not know me. So, I can relate to what Ellison is saying because family members and close friends have most likely already seen me in this state, know the reasons why I'm feeling depressed, and can only offer the same advice they've given before. Also, they tend to be overly critical. Other people, however, are in a position to give me "new perspectives and opportunities."

Ellison also shared what she said others might think a trivial bit of data known as "triadic closure": whether one's friends are also friends of one another. Considering the fact, as Ellison pointed out, that a 2004 study in The American Journal of Public Health suggested that "adolescent girls who are socially isolated and whose friends are not friends with one another experienced more suicidal thoughts," I feel, in the case of students who are in a depressed state, the "friends" on Facebook should be real friends of one another. Sometimes strangers, especially the ones who prey on weak people, will use this depression as an opportunity to take advantage. Real friends will use their time on Facebook to encourage and provide help through tough moments. And those tough times will come for all of us.

Facebook Marketing

Youtube is remarkable. During the video I learned some other aspects of using Facebook. As a matter of fact, I took the opportunity to view some of the other videos pertaining to Facebook's use. Since I'm still new at using Facebook and have not had time to thoroughly play around with it, the video was actually a way to market Facebook as a useful tool for connecting with friends, and networking as a means of not only communicating with them, but also keeping tabs on what they've been up to. Also, one of the other videos did mention that "bosses" were prohibiting their staff from using Facebook so the narrator showed some ways that it would be advantageous for its use in the business sector.

Employers want to be restrictive about letting their staff use tools like Facebook because they don't want them to waste time on the web. Technology is here and it's not going anywhere. Employers should work with their IT departments to find ways to embrace this new technology and make it work for them. Facebook has been in use for a while now and it has proven to be a powerful tool for communicating. I think employers should try to see the positives and ask "How can this techonology help our business?" It might just give them an edge over their competition. In today's economy, who wouldn't want to be ahead of the pack?

Zuckerberg: Another Bill Gates

It's amazing how students can sit in a dorm room and create such incredible tools for advancing technology. I didn't realize Facebook was so new, only a little over two years old and has grown to be the "social phenomenon" that it is.

It seems Mark Zuckerberg's goal was to take the users of MySpace and lure them over to Facebook. With the experience I've had with Facebook so far, I think his problem is that Facebook seems to be for a more mature user. From what I have seem of sites that teens create on MySpace, there's a level of excitement and beauty. The teens love to decorate the pages with all sorts of photos, backgrounds, and flashy things. I haven't seen that in Facebook. But since I'm new to it, I have yet to experience all that Facebook has to offer. The teens love MySpace and that's all I hear them talk about. They enjoy viewing pages their friends create.

Turning down 1 billion dollars?! I know I would have taken it, and whatever Yahoo decided to do with Facebook would be their business. However, Zuckerberg proved he is serious about the product he created and is willing to hold out for the right buyer who can make his dream a reality and make his baby, Facebook, all that he wants it to be.

Facebook Face Off

The Internet is a powerful tool. It is unfortunate that people use it to slander and bad mouth individuals. I think the comments the students made could have been kept to themselves in a private conversation and not made public. We all have, from time to time, had classes that we hated. It may or may not have been the professor's fault. I have had such a class. However, I didn't blame the professor. I felt she was a brilliant person who loved the subject she was teaching. But I felt the class was taught in such a boring manner. I did not do well in this class. But when I thought about it, I didn't blame the professor for my shortcomings. I turned it around and asked what I could have done to get a better grade.

I felt the University was correct in disciplining the students. Students should exhibit proper conduct when representing or speaking about the school in public. However, I do have to agree with one comment that was made, "I think that the group shouldn't have affected a mature educator confident in her abilities." Students will say nasty things. But if an educator really knows her/his subject, it shouldn't matter what people say. They either like the class or they done. We must work to do whatever it takes to get through a boring course. We are there to learn.