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"All too frequently, someone makes a comment about how a large number of Facebook Friends must mean a high degree of social capital. Or how we can determine who is closest to who by measuring their email messages. Or that the Dunbar number can explain the average number of Facebook friends. These are just three examples of how people mistakenly assume that 1) any social network that can be boiled down to a graph can be compared and 2) any theory of social networks is transitive to any graph representing connections between people. Such mistaken views result in broad misinterpretations of social networks and social network sites."

The usage of these technologies in learning processes is not a fad, it is just a normal reflection of the evolutionary development of internet. Our students like YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, ect. and spend much time in these virtual places. The informal learning based on Web 2.0 exists and functions like a "university in shadow" with possibilities of a borderless digital learning environment. So, why don't the educators present the power of social media for learning and better strategies for its utilization?

by Laura Garton, Caroline Haythornthwaite, and Barry Wellman