Communication = Social Networking

Many of us are familiar with Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace. Now Google + has added to the mix. I, like many others, joined Google + and took the tour so we could really get to see what all the hype was about. I have to say that I actually liked it a lot better.
Social networking has gotten a lot of attention lately due to its role in the school systems both from students and staff. I know in Omaha Public Schools, there have been a few staff members that have been reprimanded due to the content they had posted on Facebook. As a result of this, many districts have had to place guidelines within contracts or staff handbooks stating what is appropriate when dealing with social networking. I know that in some districts such as Creighton Prep, you are not even allowed to have a Facebook page if you are an employee. Is that fair? I don't know. What I have found is that many staff and students have gone beyond the boundaries of what is ethical when it comes to social networks. Google + could be placed within the same bucket as the rest. I will say the one aspect of Google + that I found to be a positive was that you could place your friends into "circles". These circles allowed you to interact with people in different ways. For example: you could have a circle that only had your students in it. This circle then would only be allowed to see what you wanted them to see according to what was posted to that circle. Another circle could be friends where you could place people that you had more of a personal relationship with. I believe this feature would allow people the "personal space"' that many people believe they should be entitled to. I agree that teachers should be allowed to have a personal life and be able to post pictures and comments relevant to what they do outside of the school day; however, it is also a fact of our job that we are held to a higher standard than others. Is that fair? Probably not, but it is something that we all knew when we decided to become teachers.
Another aspect of Google+ that I liked was the chat rooms. Instead of being able to enter a chat room and just type, it was a lot like Skyping. It was a great way to be able to chat with your friends but also have a face to face conversation.
Finally, I liked the option for Smartphones. If a group of your friends were trying to figure out where to go to the movies and you were sending texts to different people, you could download Google+ to your phone and actually have a conversation with all of them without having to send 5 different texts. I thought that was a cool application.

Overall, I really thought that Google+ was trying to develop a social networking site that was more ethical than the ones that we currently have. It seemed to me that the site was really trying to take into account the privacy issues that are currently at the forefront and work through them. I would recommend at least touring Google+ and seeing what you think.