Making Social Network Sites Work for You

Most people, by now, have a social networking account. Whether it’s Myspace, Twitter, Ning, or Facebook we are all out there “connecting” in the virtual world. Social network sites (SNSs) are a great way to stay in touch with family, friends, colleagues and business associates. No longer are SNSs only for staying abreast of the latest happenings in our social lives. More and more people are turning to SNSs for professional purposes.

Visit almost any SNS and you will find the opportunity to join groups, “follow” users, or become a fan of everything from your alma mater to finding a cure for cancer to watching people’s lives fall apart via their Facebook status updates. The options are limitless. And if you do happen to find a niche into which no one has tapped, you can even create your own group to fill that void.

You might ask, “What’s the point of all this? Isn’t it just a huge waste of time when we could be doing something constructive in the real world?” It’s true many people use SNSs as a way to just pass the time, but there are many ways that you can make social network sites work for you.

One great example is Diigo. If Delicious and Ning had a baby, it would look a lot like Diigo. Diigo describes itself as, “... a powerful research tool and knowledge-sharing community” (www.Diigo.com). Aside from all the nifty researching tools such as bookmarking, highlighting text, taking snapshots, adding notes and saving PDF or Flash information for any website, this site is an excellent way to stay connected to the latest and greatest news and information within your field.



So, let’s say your in the field of education and you want to find ways to integrate technology into the classroom. Simply type “classroom technology” into the search bar and before you press enter, you will see the following prompts:



Now you have the option to choose to search your library of bookmarks, search the community library, find individual users who match the keywords, search google or find groups that are interested in your topic. By choosing to find groups interested in classroom technology, you can now choose from the 476 groups that match the keywords such as:



Here’s where the social networking comes in. Once you gain access to your desired group, you can begin sharing ideas, websites, begin a topic, comment on posts and even conduct research surveys.




For a more personal touch, Diigo also allows you to follow other users which builds your network, find and add friends or personalize your profile with interests, personal websites or blogs and a photo.




As a future educator, I understand that there is rarely enough time during the school day to connect with colleagues. Diigo enables us to share resources, research areas of interest, organize what we find and brainstorm and problem solve with others in the field of education and beyond.