Faculty on Facebook?

My goals for today are to: a) clean my desk (at home), b) pay bills, and c) think of an additional research idea. For some reason, the "faculty on facebook" focus just caught my attention as I sifted through the research material in my home office.

I often cut special articles from my weekly subscription to the Chronicle of Higher Education and organize them in a folder. I found an advertisement for lap desks from the Library of Congress and an article.

This article, "For Professors, 'Friending' Can Be Fraught'" by Sara Lipka, really caught my eye. My professors are joining facebook and are befriending their students. Being the millennial that I am, I have chosen not to venture in that direction. Since I actually look like an undergraduate student, I do not want to be perceived by the students and the faculty of my institution as a "young" professor. By the using the term "young", I mean to allude to the fact that many young professors do "hang out" with their students and consequently have problems controlling their classroom. As a result, I am just friends with the people from my former institutions.

Facebook can be beneficial for team building outside of the classroom environment, but I do not want to become "too friendly" with my students. In addition, I promised all of my students that I will not look at their facebook profiles, because I do not want to have my "in class" image of my students tarnished by information they choose to broadcast about themselves.

I may wait two to three more years before joining the online social networking websites that feature my current institution. Every millennial does not want to embrace the full capabilities of online social networking (i.e. - me).

By the way, I will definitely keep my blog updated on new articles that I find to supplement my research!

MillennialProfessor

Faculty on Facebook - Beneficial or Detrimental?

I finally had a chance to read last week's edition of the Chronicle of Higher Education today! On page A18, there was an article titled, Facebook Lets Users Search Library Stacks. So, I did what any millennial would do and I accessed the article on the chronicle.com website.

Two Thumbs Up!
I added the JSTOR and WorldCat application to my facebook profile. They are WONDERFUL! Being the prolific academic in training that I strive to be, I added my favorite book of the moment - "Write to the Top! How to be a Prolific Academic". I am too excited about sharing my reviews of the book with others through the WorldCat application.

The Advantages and Disadvantages of Looking Scholarly
The only negative aspect of adding the profile is that I will look "scholarly" in front of my friends from high school and undergraduate school. However, I did add a few of the professors from my former institution so I think that I may look "scholarly" in front of my colleagues. Well, I conclude that "looking scholarly" pays the bills.

Some Articles about Faculty on Facebook
Crossing Boundaries: Identity Management and Student/Faculty Relationships on the Facebook - http://www-static.cc.gatech.edu/~aforte/HewittForteCSCWPoster2006.pdf

“Faculty Attitudes and Behaviors Regarding Scholarly Communication”
http://osc.universityofcalifornia.edu/responses/materials/OSC-survey-summaries-20070828.pdf