It's finally the end of the year for us (we're on the dreaded quarter system). I submitted grades and am now finally able to check my FaceBook page to see what I've missed in the lives of my friends. I am puzzled by the number of "friend requests" from students. I use FaceBook primarily to keep up with family and friends (many of whom are in my home country; none of whom are my students). I don't use it to 'friend' random strangers or colleagues. When I was a student, the last thing I wanted was to continue communication with proffies during the summer. Nor did I want them privy to the intricacies of my life.
Q: So I'm curious: how do YOU use FaceBook? Do you accept friend requests from students? If so, what has your experience been? If not, why not? Have you used it in classes? If so, how? And what has been your experience?
I never, ever friend students. Not even Ph.D. students, though I will friend them after they receive their doctorate. Undergrads have to graduate before I'll consider it.
ReplyDeleteHere is why not: I actually don't want to violate THEIR boundaries. Sure, I don't want them peering into my private life, and so on. But I also think that someone in a position of power can reveal TMI or get too buddy-buddy in ways that make the people working "under" them uncomfortable. I just like to keep things professional while the professional relationship is unequal.
In classes? No way. Facebook is not a habit of mind I need to train them into, whereas reading the long sentences of Henry James or slowing down enough to hear the sounds of a poem are. I'm open to instructional technology, but have found that much of what it purports to do can be done with less time on my part in low-tech ways.
I'm leaving my school for a better position. Because my phone number, email address, etc. will all at least change once if not multiple times in the next few years, I've encouraged students to add me. I do use it to share pictures and keep up with family and real friends, but I also know that I'm not going to shut down my account any time soon. Students who I approve are those who might very well want letters of recommendation from me in the future and given that I have a common name it will be a good way to find me.
ReplyDelete@My Little Proffie - just a suggestion, but maybe LinkedIn is better for that purpose?
ReplyDeleteI will friend former students who have graduated (or when one of us has left the school in question), upon their request (i.e. I will not initiate a facebook relationship). I am upfront about this when students ask--often in class--and it's been quite common that on graduation day, I find several requests in my inbox. I have not had anyone "friend" me before then.
ReplyDeleteVia facebook, I've been sent e-mail-like messages, asked for letters of recommendation, tagged in various posts about the field I teach in, seen wedding and birth and graduation announcements, and have been tagged in photographs of Gustavus Adolphus's horse and a cartoon about OODA loops. (I think those last two were mainly to ensure I saw the images. . . at least that's what I tell myself.)
I have blocked a former student who became too friendly or stalkerish. I rarely comment on my students' posts--unless it's something that I might comment on professionally (e.g. I may comment on a news link, but not on their beach vacation pictures).
I have had a facebook account since within a year of its launch. I'm comfortable using it, and am happy with my decision to "friend" former students of mine.
I wonder what Katie thinks about this issue....
ReplyDeleteI rarely get friend requests from my college students, and if I do I just ignore them. I'm an online adjunct, and I don't know or trust those students, nor do I care about their private lives.
ReplyDeleteI do occasionally friend some of my high school students, as long as they've graduated. I'm selective about who I say yes to, (I never friend them, I only respond to their requests) and they seem to be very responsible about the content of their pages, so I've never had any problem with it. I direct a school activity, and many or our alumni like to come back and join us for events. It's an easy way for me to send out last-minute information. Plus, they're kids that I like and know very well, so I enjoy reading from time to time about what they're up to (internships, choices of academic major, travels, etc.)
@Frog and Toad, your last paragraph is beautifully stated. It's a shame that those of us who share your view sometimes have to fight very strenuously against the "more is always better" approach to technology in the classroom.
I "friended" two former students on FB because they were good guys to know and I'm no longer at their school. No students at my current institution of higher larnin' have asked, though.
ReplyDeleteOh, Mythie-poo, you know the answer...why do you even ask? ;P
ReplyDeleteWhen I first began using facebook, I friended a few current students grad students, none that I would ever teach again. It's never been a real problem and I've enjoyed learning about their non-academic interests. I don't friend students anymore.
ReplyDeleteOnce, being connected to a grad student did help me professionally. His status updates showing that he was sloppy drunk told me that he wouldn't be available to teach my students' 8 am lab session the next morning.
As a rule, I don't accept friend requests from students until they've passed beyond the realm of my control. Further, I keep the security fence nice and high around my facebook page -- since couple of students complained in online evaluations that I appeared to take a grim pleasure in catching plagiarists (true dat, as the kids say).
ReplyDeleteI once wandered into a facebook discussion about me. I did enjoy (see "grim pleasure" above) the shocked response when I made my presence known.
An old RYS Facebook item.
ReplyDeleteI don't accept facebook requests from current students; I use facebook as a place to socialize.
ReplyDelete@Bookartist Yeah, linked in probably would be more appropriate, but I'm pretty lazy about it. I never log in, I never update, and I like keeping all my social networking in one place. There's nothing about me on my facebook that I'd be uncomfortable having an employer see, so there's nothing there that I'd be uncomfortable having a student see. I'm also too bloody lazy about it to go hunting down their tmi on there as well, so it works alright for all of us.
ReplyDeleteI've friended 2 former students, because they had become friends, and after they had graduated. I use Facebook for keeping in touch with actual friends, and I keep the security wall as high as I can, and plug it as best I can whenever Facebook devises a new way to out us.
ReplyDeleteOK: to add to the mix, what about colleagues and chairs/deans? Would you add THEM to your FaceBook mix?
ReplyDeleteColleagues from elsewhere, sure, some of them - the ones who have become friends. Colleagues from my own institution? Good God, no.
ReplyDeleteAt least not from my own department.
ReplyDeleteI am friends, both in FB and real life, with many of my department colleagues. I'm sorry to spread some sunshine around here but my colleagues make my otherwise mediocre position enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteAny Facebook stuff with people you teach seems needy to me. I just don't know what I'd have to share with a 19 year old. And the LAST thing I want my colleagues to see is me and the wife in our new pool.
ReplyDeleteWe have been encouraged to use social media, such as FB, to "keep in touch" with students. I use my college email address for this purpose. I never, ever, send a friend request to a student, but if one discovers me and sends me a friend request, I accept.
ReplyDeleteI am also "friends" with my dean and other admin types at the institution.
Needless to say, I am very cautious about what I post on FB.
I created a Facebook page for a class, and was very disappointed. Haven't done it since. (I suspect I just did it wrong). Only asked once by a student and I told them, nicely, that I didn't "friend" students.
ReplyDeleteI've 'friended' one coworker from my school, but I make it a rule not to put anything on Facebook I wouldn't be willing to show my mother or the FBI so it's not like he'll see anything embarrassing, except for a certain fondness for 80s hair-bands.....
I have accepted exactly two requests from former (graduated) students. One is a thoroughly nice guy who has risen above where my colleagues thought he should belong. Bully for him! I'm proud to be his FB friend. The other is an ultra left wing God hater who uses FB as his personal political forum. Reading his status updates challenge my sensibilities. But I don't unfriend him since my father always says that it's important to know what the other side is thinking.
ReplyDeleteAs long as they have graduated I'm willing to accept a request as long as we had a "relationship" (ie met in office hours, discussed future plans, had a smile and wave acquaintanceship).
Students? No, no, no, no, NO. Never.
ReplyDeleteFirst, you never know whether they still have connections to your current students and when you might make a tiny mistake, or whether they'll become offended by something you might say. Second, I honestly don't want to know what the vast majority of my students do or think recreationally outside my classroom. Also, being in the midwest, most of them do not share the majority of my world view.
Facebook is my personal space for being silly or angry, just letting go and being myself, completely and without holding back. I share that with my friends (and a few relatives) from high school, my undergrad, and current friends, a few of which are my colleagues.
I have Facebook friends who are current and former students as well as current administrators and current and former colleagues. I teach at a SLAC where this is quite common (actually, I'd say it's the norm). I don't ask my students to be friends, but I will accept their requests generally. I don't think it hurts any of us for my students and me to see one another as actual people.
ReplyDeleteHaving said this, I'm always aware of what I post: no drunken pictures, no bad-mouthing students, nothing I wouldn't want my former minister to see (she's also a Facebook friend). I often post news articles related to the areas that I teach, and sometimes students actually read them and comment on them!
Oh, it also helps me to call bullshit when they try to give me lame excuses. I can see what really happened on their posts!
Am I the only person on the planet who found Facebook to be a bust?
ReplyDeleteSeriously, most of the people I'd like to re-connect with do not belong to Facebook. I had one friend who chatted with me frequently, but the whole thing seemed like a chore! Now we just e-mail each other instead when we need to share (or talk about what we read/wrote here).
Thank the Almighty no students ever found me when I was on there. Most of them probably never learned my name to begin with anyway!
I am friends with colleagues and with former students. I'm with Beaker Ben--I have some amazing colleagues I'm glad to be friends with, both on and off campus. As far as former students go, I never friend them. They must do the asking. And there are some I ignore.
ReplyDelete1) Facebook = No students. My FB page is locked down tightly. I use it for friends & family only. In fact, there are only three colleagues at my institution that I'm friends with on FB.
ReplyDelete2) Linked In = Yes students, Yes colleagues. If they request a link, I accept. I am not active on Linked In, but my twitter feed keeps content fresh at Linked In.
3) Twitter = Yes students. I encourage students to follow me, as I maintain a professional presence in an industry on twitter & I tweet content appropriate for advanced students. However, I do not follow back for a variety of reasons, including FERPA, but I keep students who follow me on a private twitter list.
I'm no Luddite...but I'm not on Facebook. Period. I have many professional reasons for not doing being there, related to both my full-time gig and my adjunct role.
ReplyDeleteI've lived at the same address and had a listed phone number since Clinton's first term.
Anybody who really wants to get hold of me can figure out how to.
Meantime, Mark Zuckerberg can enjoy the personal data of others...data he doesn't need to figure out how to mine...since half the civilized world is handing it over to him voluntarily:-)
I've sent friend requests to a number of former professors. Only one said no. I know that's because he developed feelings for me and is playing hard to get...which I personally think is very unprofessional on his part.
ReplyDelete