Sunday, July 29, 2007

MySpace.com

For the first exploration, I will do MySpace.com. I am going to explore the power of MySpace.com as well as the technological features and educational uses of MySpace.com.

MySpace.com: An Introduction

Myspace.com is reported as used for "social networking". MySpace quotes themselves as:
"
Create a private community on MySpace and you can share photos, journals and interests with your growing network of mutual friends! (MySpace.com, 2007)"
This site certainly does that, however there are somethings that are hidden here which will be discuss in the power section of this essay. Also, I would like to challenge the true privacy of MySpace.com which will be discussed in the educational and technological issues.

The Power of MySpace.com

The power of MySpace.com is that it connects everyone with everyone. When a user logs on they have a directory of just about everyone they can look up and can request as friends. Now in order to be friends on MySpace.com, the other person you request must also add you as friends.

When you start a new MySpace site, it starts intially as a public site. Meaning that everyone in the world can see the site. However, certain security settings can have site set so that only your friends can see it that you have invited or you accepted their plea for invite.

Students use this more for a social outlet then they really do for deep educational discussions. Students can find other people who share the same music, movies, and interests. Clicking on the groups section and typing in your interest can find you many people who claim they share the same interest as you. These group pages work as a sounding board for their topics of coversation. The conversation is a mix of educationally productive material and not educational conversation. However,


The Technological and Educational Uses of MySpace.com

So how private is MySpace? Certain hackers have been able to find their way through the privacy settings and were actually viewing private profiles. This site actually discussed a few ways the hackers have found around the privacy and why they have been fixed.

http://askbobrankin.com/view_private_profile.html

The author states it is a cat and mouse game of hackers finding holes and MySpace covering the holes. In the comment section of these blogs, I was actually finding the people who would like to know how to bypass privacy settings come anywhere from concern parents all the way to people using copyrighted material as their profile photos.

Educational uses are very hard to come by when it comes to productivity. A journal article asks the question: "
How do we empower and protect our students in an environment that increasingly excludes us?" (McLester, 2007). The McLester article (which I will link below) tells us ways to go about answering that question.
http://www.techlearning.com/showArticle.php?articleID=196604312

Please consider the opinion of the author of the above article about MySpace:

"
It is interesting to note, though, that for every student I spoke with—and these were all serious and successful learners—MySpace and its ilk represent the polar opposite. To them, these sites are the core of their daily lives, providing essential connections, collaborations, and ongoing communications. They are a one-stop shop for both school and social purposes—to connect about homework, organize study groups, or find out where the party is. MySpace is both the good and the evil, depending on where you stand. Finding a way to bridge this new generation gap will be our next big challenge." (McLester, 2007)

I think that McLester is trying to convince people that MySpace is not what people are overhyping to be, it is just where do you stand on it. So my question to the blog world would be where do you stand on it? I kind of agree with McLester, with the addition that everything must be handled on a case-by-case basis.

The Curriculum Review takes another side of this issue, actually calling MySpace "Invaders" and list ways to tell administration to deal with these "Invaders" (Curriculum Review, 2006).
http://ezp.dyndns.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ754947&site=ehost-live

Leading a Discussion:

As future tech decision makers, where do you think MySpace's place will be in the schools?

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