Kate - could you link the Age article you told us about yesterday?

I saw the same thing as Cara, but in the Sydney Morning Herald, in an article called "Kids to parents: get out of my face(book)".

I was thinking about the way in which massive social networking tools like Facebook now host so many different user cohorts that they can no longer have an entirely coherent social ambience. Parents could just as legitimately say: get out of my professional networking site. The point is, does any group have a natural right to be there that justifies the exclusion of others? What about the college generation for whom it was originally designed? Do they have first-in-best-dressed rights?

What this apparently troubling social hybridity reminds me of is one of the earliest Chat applications, the somewhat infamous Internet Relay Chat. To use this for teaching, as I did in the mid 1990s (because it really was an excellent tool), you had to wade around through channels of porn traders and sexual subcultures, as well as completely over the top trollers and flamers, to find a quiet spot to meet, and you also had to find a friendly sysop to keep an eye on your channel and protect you from hacks, and you had to think up a channel name and a username that were appropriate for teaching but didn't instantly attract a bunch of mad nutters looking for a date.

I think perhaps we need to get over the idea of privacy with the internet, and just accept that it's a heterogenous public domain, like the street. These "get out of my ... ' approaches seem to me more resonant with belief in private property, or territory as something that can be opened and shut.

That said, it's also not like the street, precisely because of the number of people who don't use it, as Cara pointed out. The implications, Cara, of your remark about being astonished by people who don't use it suggest that social networking is becoming like mobile phone use for a particular generation -- this has major implications for older workers, I suspect.

Kate

Evening everyone,

Everyones posts about facebook, work and social etiquette are really interesting. Kate the point you raised about the difference between having friday social drinks with your boss and having them as a facebook friends is a really interesting one. There are definate differences. I havent had a job yet that offers Friday arfternoon drinks but I would assume that although this would be a much more relaxed and casual environment then the work office, you still would act with a certain level of professionalism in front of your boss. It seems that with facebook however, the social etiquette is much 'rougher', with people posting drunken photos of their mates and writting as if no-one else can read it. In response to the point made about facebook and helping with a career, i totally agree with Cara (i think it was you) about facebok actually hindering your prospects of getting a job. I know one of my mates specifically removed photos because she is applying for grad jobs and didnt want prosective employers snooping at her site.

Oh, and I really like being able to call my teachers by their first name. I dont see it as disrespectful, I see it as establishing a stronger relationship with your teachers which I think is really benefiting as a student - My favourite subjects have always been the ones where I have a good relationship with a teacher, and if anything it motivates me to do better. I think there is nothing worse than doing a subject where you know the teacher has no idea who you are.

Anyway, I know Im re-iterating what others have already pointed out but I thought Id share my thoughts. Have a great night everyone! Ps I love these smiley faces, they're so entertaining!

hello just a really quick post as I have a tonne of work to get done! I just wanted to comment on how Kate was saying that parents are just as likely, or have just as much right, to say "get out of my networking space" - a very true point. Although I think the main issue is that with Facebook, 'friends' is a two-way street - both people have to consent to the relationship (unless you have a public profile, in which case anyone can access your site!). The prevalent circumstance I think is that parents are requesting their children as 'friends', and not so much the other way round. This is the same for bosses - and in both cases people feel obliged to add despite the fact they may not really want to.

My parents aren't on facebook, and I probably wouldn't add them even if they were. But you can't easily say no to your boss!

And we often go to Friday drinks at my office, and I have a great relationship with my boss - but yes there is always a certain level of professionalism there (eventhough I do stretch it at times!) that would be lost if she were to be my friend on facebook.

I'll stop there because I'm starting to think we have just about covered everything to do with Facebook conventions already! And also i'm worried that I will no longer even have a job if I keep doing uni stuff at work!!

Have a great rest of the week. I apologise if I am a little incognito during the next few days as I have so much work to do, and an essay that gets released on Friday at 4pm and is then due on Sunday at 4pm - so I'm not expecting to have a very good weekend!

Cara