Sometimes we professors pride ourselves on not doing the things that “others” do. For a long time, many professors would brag that they didn’t own a T.V. They were above that. I admit that I’m secretly proud that I own only one T.V. and I don’t live and die by it. I’d much rather live life than watch it.
Sometimes professor-parents pride themselves on not letting their children do the things that “most” kids do or brag about providing their children with constant learning experiences that will make them smarter. Okay, I also admit that I like to expose my daughter to lots of cultural activities and travel. However, I’m happy to say that I don’t pressure her to be a brainiac.
In the early 2000s, I remember some of my professor friends (okay, I was one of them) working very hard to avoid using a cell phone. We did not need to have cell phones because we didn’t have them in the past and they were a distraction. “We don’t need to be accessible all the time.” I now love my Blackberry.
The newest thing for professors to “avoid” doing is Facebook. I hear it all the time. “I don’t have time for that.” “I don’t get it.” “I don’t want my students knowing anything about me.” “What’s the purpose?” You can’t imagine the number of blank stares I get when I bring up Facebook in a conversation with faculty.
I have a confession. I like Facebook. Why? I’ll tell you. I enjoy connecting with my students in a more personal way. I like the idea of being seen as a real person rather than just a scholar. I also like knowing a bit more about my students lives — it helps me to understand and relate to them better. I like sharing my blog posts (both here and those I do for Diverse Issues in Education) with my students and those young people around the country. I also like connecting with other faculty member around the country and hearing about their scholarly and personal lives — it humanizes them and we could all use a more frequent brush with humanity in these times. Facebook bridges the scholarly and personal for me and I like that.
For those who worry that Facebook is a distraction, it probably can be to those faculty who are easily distracted. But for those faculty members who are disciplined, Facebook can be an interesting and creative way to interact with students and colleagues — a method of communication that, in many ways, breaks down some of the status barriers between faculty and students. If I still haven’t convinced you, try this: I get some of my best research and writing ideas from reading the posts of my students and colleagues. They keep me thinking, challenge me, and inspire me daily.
11 Responses to A Confession: I Like Facebook
ex_lit_prof - June 21, 2010 at 10:41 am
I completely agree with what you say about wanting to be “seen as a real person rather than just a scholar.” Before I left academia, that was something I deeply yearned for. I wanted to step down from the lecture podium and talk with students about literature on a more human, personal level. Although at the time I neither used Facebook nor kept a blog, I now do both. Read about my journey at http://www.the-reading-list.com
don_heller - June 23, 2010 at 5:48 am
Good points, Marybeth. Anything can be a distraction from “real” work, whether it’s Facebook, ESPN.com (okay, for me, it’s RedSox.com), the New York Times, or even reading the Chronicle. I agree about the value in getting to know our students (and since we both teach grad students, it’s very different than undergrads) in a different way, and letting them also see that we as faculty have a life outside of the campus.
11156003 - June 23, 2010 at 8:27 am
I’ve been using Facebook for a couple of months. I’m not technologically illiterate, but I find that a good deal of it is not that intuitive. Apart from that, I’ve been pleased that it’s reconnected me with some people I knew in high school and haven’t been in touch with for more than 40 years. Still, my iniitial sense that if a person is not a also a “friend” in the more traditional sense, having them as a “friend” on Facebook doesn’t make that much of a difference.
ksledge - June 23, 2010 at 8:31 am
I have a block set up on my browser that allows me up to 15 min a day of the Chronicle and 5 min a day for facebook. I actually joined facebook in its infancy not too long after I graduated from college. So it’s not something I had to decide to join (or not) as a teacher, seeing as I was already a member. I accept friend requests from my students, but I never initiate a request myself because I don’t want them to feel pressured to “friend” me and give up their privacy. Only a very small percentage of my students find me on facebook, though. I make the vast majority of my personal connections with students in office hours and elsewhere, and I still feel like my students usually see me as a person they can connect to.So here are my questions–does the author “friend” students herself or accept friend requests only? What percentage of her students are her friends on facebook?
thboll - June 23, 2010 at 9:03 am
I don’t accept friend requests from students while I have them in my class. After they are done with the semester and they are interested, then I allow it.I don’t want any possibility of one student thinking–erroneously–that another student got what he/she perceives to be a break or special treatment or a certain grade because the student was a “friend” on Facebook. I don’t go out and seek “friends” among my students.I talk about my life outside of the classroom while in the classroom–before, after or during class. The syllabus also requires one face-to-face conference with me during the semester.
mgasman - June 23, 2010 at 5:19 pm
For those wondering, I do not “friend” my students — I DO accept their friend requests. I note this in my classes. I don’t want them to feel pressured to be my FB friend. I don’t mind if they friend me and are in my classes. I always keep in mind that what I say on FB could be viewed by anyone. Thanks for all the great comments. Marybeth
molly78128 - June 23, 2010 at 6:38 pm
Thanks for this. In some cases, Facebook actually _saves_ me time. Time spent writing formal emails to colleagues, time reading news outside of my field and, most often, time spent learning about aspects of culture that I can then bring into my classes. As I teach Women’s Studies and English, culture often makes its way in to the discussion, and being literatue of popular culture enhances classroom topics by hooking students in.
don_heller - June 23, 2010 at 7:50 pm
Marybeth — I do the same regarding friend requests. On my work webpage I have the statement: “Students: Please feel free to friend me on Facebook (click on the badge to the left); I have a policy of not requesting friends with current students, but would be happy to respond to a friend request from you. If you are not a student of mine, please drop me a note with your request so I know who you are.”
studycommittee - June 25, 2010 at 5:51 pm
Leave it to you higher ed types to form concrete policies about who you do and don’t friend on Facebook and under what circumstances its ok etc. . . its possible you’re missing the point. Or maybe it’s me. Cheers
11174426 - June 29, 2010 at 5:10 pm
I have created two facebook accounts. The first one is a personal one and the other is professional one.On my personal one, I only have a handful of family members… No, I do not accept any one’s request just because he went to high school or college with me or graduated that year as I did… I only have close family members and friends. I know people who have 800 friends… Okay, how on this BLUE EARTH are you going to keep in touch with each and every one of 800 friends.On my profesional one, I do not “friend” any one. If a student chooses to, they request me to add as a friend. Even though I teach in Maryland, I have students from OR and NE where I taught previously….In that account, we talk about general issues… Since for all of them, they are using only one personal account, I do not comment onto their personal livee.. I just comment on my wall on recent interesting news or funny news in my field or even applications of my fiend in their every day lives….. They see that I am still connected, they connect with other students through my network and yet we all know that there is a very fine line between a personal and professinal relationship.Raza_______________________Raza Khan, Ph.D., P.D.Sciences FacultyCarroll Community CollegeWestminster, MD
nakliye - July 4, 2010 at 7:15 am
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