it's one-stop shopping, since social networking sites are really just aggregates of Web technologies we've all grown accustomed to using. You typically get started by creating a profile page where you can send and receive email and instant messages, post and view photos and videos, write blog entries, participate in forums or discussions, and share documents, thoughts, and ideas.
Mark Pesce's blog post"...these educational institutions assert that the lectures themselves aren't the real reason students spend $50,000 a year to attend these schools; the lectures only have full value in context. This is true, but it discounts the possibility that some individuals or group of individuals might create their own context around the lectures. And this is where the future seems to be pointing...."
"...The network is acting like a universal solvent, dissolving all of the boundaries that have kept things separate. It's not just dissolving the boundaries of distance - though it is doing that - it's also dissolving the boundaries of preference. Although there will always be differences in taste and delivery, some instructors are simply better lecturers - in better command of their material - than others..."