"More and more, social media is becoming a part of our daily lives. Just today, Mashable is out with a report that says Pintrest (which is less than a year old) is the #3 social network in the U.S. This report mentions that the amount of monthly traffic Facebook receives is seven billion page views, and Twitter receives 182. Again, these are just U.S. statistics. If we were to look at the numbers worldwide, I would guess they would be much, much higher.
But it isn't just adults who are moving more of their lives to online spaces. In a recent Pew Internet survey, 73 percent of all teens used social networks daily. The most popular of these is Facebook; however, Twitter, Myspace and even LinkedIn are not far behind.
And it isn't just teens. The #1 social network for kids under the age of 13 is Club Penguin. It is visited more times each day than the New York Times. "
"A new study by Millennial Branding, of 4 million Gen-Y Facebook profiles from Identified.com's database of 50 million, uncovers that Gen-Y (ages 18 to 29) is inadvertently using their profiles as an extension of their professional personality, even though they are socializing with family and friends. 64% of Gen-Y fails to list their employer on their profiles, yet they add an average of 16 co-workers each to their 'friend' group."
"Does your employer / Institution have a policy for the accepted use, by staff, for how they can use Social Media (Twitter, Facebook, SlideShare, YouTube, WordPress, etc)? Is it limited to how you can use it for work, or in work, or does it cover your usage outside of work and how you talk/post about what you do at work? Are you allowed to use images/logo of your employer/Institution in your work?"
"For most young people today, engagement with new digital media is a routine aspect of life. Through computers, mobile phones, and other handheld devices, youth can blog, tweet, participate in social networks like Facebook, play massive multi-player games, use online information sources, and share videos, stories, music, and art they've created. Important skills and knowledge can be gained from such activities, but there are also risks. For example, young people may only rarely consider what it means to be an ethical, socially responsible "citizen" on the Internet.
Our Space is a set of curricular materials designed to encourage high school students to reflect on the ethical dimensions of their participation in new media environments. "
Important to know when managing online spaces and places. This could also be a good activity for students to check what they actually have up on Facebook.
"Now, Erin Olson, an English teacher in Sioux Rapids, Iowa, is among a small but growing cadre of educators trying to exploit Twitter-like technology to enhance classroom discussion. Last Friday, as some of her 11th graders read aloud from a poem called "To the Lady," which ponders why bystanders do not intervene to stop injustice, others kept up a running commentary on their laptops. "
The idea for this page is to build a 'best of the web' reading / watching list for school leadership regarding using social media for school advancement. Rather than talk about how great social media is we're using social media to build this reading list.