Social Media | Nicola's Learning Log

During the school holiday I have been trying to catch up with my own professional readng online and was really pleased to discover this fabulous Facebook guide for parents. It’s up-to-date, clearly written and goes straight to the detail of what parents want to know when they kids join the big FB. Its especially good because it suggests working in partnership with your children -for example, getting them to show you what the privacy settings are!

“Facebook use is very individual, which is why the No. 1 safety tip is “Talk with your child”. Don’t believe everything you read or hear about youth in Facebook, including in the news media, which often presents a very negative picture. Adults who don’t understand about social media sometimes think of using Facebook as a single activity to which young people can get “addicted” If they’re addicted to anything when using Facebook, it would be their school friends or social experience. But even two children of different ages in a single family can use Facebook very differently”

What a relief to find such a commonsense approach

I’ve enjoyed watching a number of my colleagues on Twitter complete a project to take a photo a day for 365 days during 2010. Some of them were motivated by the desire to improve their skill as photographers. For others it was a quick and easy way to make a daily record of their lives.

As a failed diary writer I was reluctant to join in as I wasn’t sure whether I would find the time or effort to continue and complete the task. But surely committing to taking a photo a day must be easier than writing a journal entry? And joining a community doing the same thing will keep me motivated won’t it? So for 2011 I’m in and have joined a group on Flickr using the #2011PAD to post their photo’s on Twitter. Here’s my first picture entitled On the Threshold. Time will tell whether I complete the challenge….