Social Media

What counts as social media? How might you use social media in the classroom? Do you feel that social media sites should be used for educational purposes? If so, which ones? Are there some sites, like perhaps Facebook, that should be for socialization only? Why or why not?


I believe that any website that has millions of users that can communicate in any way is a form of social media.  All of the websites that I have programmed into my computer are websites that I use to communicate with my friends, family and teachers from the past.  There are many ways that I could use social media in the classroom. I think that this would be a very effective way to communicate with the generation of students that we are teaching today.  I could use them for class discussions at home over readings or something we talked about in class that day.  I could use social media sites for keeping students updated with new assignments or keeping them up to date with grades.  I feel like social media sites could be used for educational purposes but it depends on the students, school you teach at, if you feel it is appropriate and what content you are putting online for the students.  I believe that teachers and students could communicate appropriately on google+, facebook, twitter and potentially pinterest.  On the other hand, I could see how people would think that Facebook and Twitter should be kept to socialization only because of the background purpose of being social and reconnecting with people.  There are so many pros and cons to whether they should be used for education or for being social but I believe that it should be the school or teacher's decision to do so.