So I stumbled across the following article on the Chronicle.com regarding the “generational character” of youthful professors who use Facebook as a platform to extract their subconscious and share random rants about the uber-importance of their existential existence. It stated that Reiko Ohnuma, a South Asian studies professor at Dartmouth (and an individual who quite possibly excels in both erudicity and sarcasm) could have saved herself, and the College, some embarrassment by either
1.) limiting her use expressive comments that were either inflammatory, inappropriate, or easily misinterpreted in her Facebook status messages,
or
2.) understanding the technical intricacies and details of privatizing ones facebook profile and sub-networks.
The latter recommendation is what so ferociously intrigued me. How do we inspire those with some degree of institutional authority (faculty, staff, or otherwise) to learn more about the consequences of establishing an online identity. If incidents such as these begin to become more of a public relations problem, rather than a concern about free speech (and free thought on facebook status messages), then my next would ask “What exactly would a Facebook 101 class look like?”
More specifically, what are the most salient learning objectives that faculty and administrators must attain when managing their place in the social-network nebula?
I’d love to see what folks have to offer!
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