Social Networking sites have had a lot of success. They are great for public relation companies and for upcoming artists to get their names out in the industry, but now they're also being used for educational purposes. I think using a social networking site for educational purposes is a good idea, as long as it can be applicable. I don't see how having a facebook will benefit students or the teacher, because it's mainly used for chatting and keeping in touch with old and new friends. But I do see how using Delicious could be very useful. With Delicious you can read articles and watch videos that other people have found and post ones that you think others may find interesting. I also think the site helps save time, because you don't have to spend hours searching for all these websites, they are there for your taking.
I can see a lot of good that can be applied to the social networking sites, but they will only be successful if students participate or else it's just there. I think student participation is key, because that's what makes a social networking site, a social networking site; none of these websites would be successful if no one participated in them.
In conclusion, there is a lot of good and bad that goes with social media, but it all depends on how you get others involved and how you use it.
Excellent point - social media is useful and productive because the people in your network (or the class's network in this case) use the tools effectively, thereby creating a knowledge web. None of us are as smart as all of us (teachers included!)
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