The big friends request debate.
I got a ‘friend request’ from gentlemen whom I met briefly at a conference. My approach to Facebook is to use it as a place to cultivate relationships:
- of people I know
- have been introduced to by trusted contacts
- or built up a relationship through other social spaces
*moving to the other side of the planet makes this platform a lot more important medium than normal.
I explained my reasoning to said guy of how I use this platform as a more personal network and also gave him links to this blog plus my Twitter as alternative ways of connecting.
Was interested to receive his take on how he thought “false psychology to disconnect the personal from the professional” and how it was a very old way of thinking.
For me, it’s not about privacy but more about intimacy.
Just as the media landscape continues to evolve so does our use of the many platforms available to us. People forget we can decide how we use them. We can define its uses.
How do you decide to use your social spaces? Do you? Is this thing on…?
Good call DK, just because you are on there doesn’t mean every contact has to be able to access every facet of your life. I too have personal contacts and work contacts, separate social media accounts and cell numbers and am quite picky about who gets access to what. It’s your life and what you choose to share with whom is your choice, not their right.
We should be able to use our various SM spaces in different ways, for different audiences and different purposes. Just as in ‘real life’ we do not always party with the same people or all our friends, neither should we share all information with all contacts. This is something we aim to teach our students through digital citizenship, being selective about what is shared and with whom is a good premise to start with. We always have the right to say no!
Leslie Bradshaw’s idea of translucency resonates with me http://slidesha.re/Lc77Ly – the idea that not all is laid out for all to see, discretion in sharing whilst maintaining honesty in interactions.
Great to hear this type of thinking is being discussed with your students and thanks for the validation.
Checked out the slideshow and introducing the idea of ‘translucency’ – looking forward to chatting about it more when I see you next month :-)