Will you be my Friend Exploring Virtual Social Networks

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Will you be my Friend?Exploring Virtual Social
Networks

• Rebecca Johnston
• Library Media Teacher
• Redlands East Valley High School

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First Some Terminology!
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A "social network site" is a category of
websites with profiles, semi-persistent public
commentary on the profile, and a traversable
publicly articulated social network displayed in
relation to the profile
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Some other stuff to know about

• Web 2.0
• Web-based services
• User Created content
• Interactive web
• Mashups
• Content from more than one source combined into
  an integrated experience
• Del.icio.us

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My Space - History

• Six degrees of Kevin Bacon

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Look at Popular Social Networks

• NING - Create your own social network
• See Library 2.0
• Friendster
• Xanga
• Bebo
• Classmates
• Facebook
• Twitter
• List of social networking websites - Wikipedia,
  the free encyclopedia

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Blogs

• The Dear Diary Factor!
• Mashable a blog about MySpace
• Wikis

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Why is it so popular?

• Customizable/artist friendly
• Dating Scene
• Many services on one site
• IM, Mail, Blog. music, video
• Access to a Huge audience
• Hanging out

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Many little worlds

• Individual users
• Bands and musicians
• Business and marketers
• Films and film makers
• Comedians
• Clubs and organizations

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From Danah BoydWhy Maintain friends Online

• 1. Actual friends
• 2. Acquaintances, family members, colleagues
• 3. It would be socially inappropriate to say
  no because you know them
• 4. Having lots of Friends makes you look
  popular
• 5. Its a way of indicating that you are a fan
  (of that person, band, product, etc.)
• 6. Your list of Friends reveals who you are
• 7. Their Profile is cool so being Friends
  makes you look cool
• 8. Collecting Friends lets you see more people
  (Friendster)
• 9. Its the only way to see a private Profile
  (MySpace)
• 10. Being Friends lets you see someones
  bulletins and their Friends-only blog posts
  (MySpace)
• 11. You want them to see your bulletins,
  private Profile, private blog (MySpace)
• 12. You can use your Friends list to find
  someone later

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Privacy and Safety

• Cyber bullying
• Predators
• Hooking up and Friends with benefits

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Hands On MySpace

• Lets roam the space

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Set up an account

• Use a valid email address
• Enter an age
• Home vs profile

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Profiles

• Edit profile
• View profile
• Change account settings
• Private vs Public Profiles

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Finding Friends!

• Search
• Browse
• Groups
• Find your school

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Adding Friends

• Friend requests
• Top Friends

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Communicating on MySpace

• Instant messages
• Mail Center
• Comments
• Bulletins

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Blogging MySpace

• Create your own blog
• Subscribe to another persons blog

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Decorating your space

• Adding Photos
• Adding music
• Adding video
• Adding HTML

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Pimp MySpace

• Profile editors
• Create HTML code
• Copy and paste HTML to your profile

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Technology Director, Jason Johnson

• "Teen blogs are not about the technology -- they
  are about feelings of belonging and being loved.
  They are about trying on different personalities.
  They are about someone who feels isolated
  connecting with others who share their interests
  or insecurities. They are about all the same
  things that have existed for hundreds of years,
  hidden in notebooks and scribbled on bathroom
  walls and whispered over telephones. The content
  of MySpace.com bears discussion, not obstruction.
  It is where some schools and parents are looking
  to better understand and aid their children and
  students. Our dialogue should teach them to use
  the site effectively and about what they can hope
  to accomplish with it." (The Case for Social
  Networks)

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Works Cited

• Boyd, Danah. "Friends, Friendsters, and Top 8
  Writing Community Into Being on Social Network
  Sites." First Monday 11 (2006). 17 Mar. 2007
  lthttp//www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue11_12/boyd
  /index.htmlauthorgt.
• Goodstein, Anastasia. Totally Wired What Teens
  and Tweens are Really Doing Online. New York St
  .Martin\'s Griffin, 2007.
• Hupfer, Ryan, Mitch Maxson, and Et. Al. MySpace
  for Dummies. Hoboken, NJ Wiley, 2007.
• Magid, Larry, and Anne Collier. MySpace Unraveled
  a Parent's Guide to Teen Social Networking.
  Berkeley, Ca Peachpit P, 2007.