Online Networking Websites
Bruno Mori
11/17/05
Online Networking Websites
Being an international student, I have never seen or signed-up for facebook websites or anything related. Therefore, facebooks didn’t affect my life as a student here at the USA. In Brazil, the facebooks are not as popular as in the USA. Maybe they are looked by a student to make an alumni meeting, but nothing else. There is not a big action during photo day as well. However, facebooks are a way that should be used to create connections between people inside a university or school.
I think it is a good idea to have professors in face books. Professors can work as connectors between students. They can make students remember about classes taken identifying other students on the facebook. Students and faculty relationships will increase too. It is very nice to meet with a professor many years later to show the achievements that you have done. The professor will be proud that he helped it to be accomplished.
Online networking communities such as Orkut can work as facebooks not only between students/faculty, but also between friends or anyone that wants to be part of the networking web. I am a member of Orkut an online network community for a long time, and I had lots of experiences with it.
When a person is exposed to a website like Orkut anyone will be able to create avatars like in other place on the Internet. I don’t think the idea of having an avatar or false identity in a profile is very important in a network community. There is lots of information about a person given-off in other ways. For instance, a person can be a member of a board in Orkut called “MSU”. There is a reason for this person to join this board. He can be a student, faculty or someone that likes MSU. Having lots of boards in your profile gives off what you like to do.
Others may not want to have avatars on these networks. They may want their friends or friends of friends to add their profile to their network. Therefore, real information will be put. In my opinion in most profiles, real information is given. The concept of privacy in my opinion is not an issue. Avatars can be created for these purposes if you want to someone to add you; the thrust in a “friendship” is the most important thing.
Online networking sites are a very good way to meet people that you would never meet (again). After joined Orkut I could go to boards from of many different topics. One of the boards that made me think that networking sites are amazing was my daycare’s board. I couldn’t believe that there were some people that I had gone to the same daycare as me in the same year. I could have found many of my little friends there. Networking websites have the ability of finding people that you have related in any period of your life.
Works Cited
Donath & boyd, "Public displays of connection"
http://www.danah.org/papers/PublicDisplays.pdf
posted by DaLua @ 8:08 PM
2 Comments:
I've never been to Orkut, but it sounds a lot like facebook. I did just go to their homepage, and I like the idea that a member has to invite you. It gives a sense of community and the fact that all the people on Orkut know eachother somehow. I agree that Profs should get on facebook. I hadn't really thought of how they could link students together. They definately could help by getting a student who needs help in their class in contact with someone with a 4.0.
I agree with stephanie when she said that proffesors could link students together for help in a class or projects etc. Bruno made some good points about social networking sites. I think that sites like Orkut are better examples of social netowrking sites than facebook. Myspace for example has more users and more functionality because it is not confined only to students of certain colleges. Bruno was right that most people do not use avatars in a social networking situation the real purpose is to make friends or in Brunos case reunite with kids he went to daycare with.
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