Social networking, inappropriate conduct and making friends: constructing online identities within teacher and student relationships in the age of Facebook

Abstract

The rise of social networking sites has led to youth receiving many cautions from those with power and influence about the perils of posting images and text online that may rebound on them when later seeking employment, for example. In this sense online social networking is often seen as a young person's activity and thus a space that may benefit from adult wisdom. This construction of the problems associated with social networking of ignores the extent to which social networking is now being used by many adults in position of influence to sell their message, business or educational wares. This shift in who uses social networking has thus created new problems in terms of how adults may potentially abuse and misuse the medium. This paper will look at the evolution of the regulation of social networking in the teacher-student context. There are now many guidance documents which seek to control and govern the use of social networking by teachers to ensure that 'appropriate' distance is kept between teachers and students. The dilemma is that such guidance must tread a line between protecting professional boundaries while also allowing educators to exploit the benefits of new forms of communication. The question is whether such regulation contributes to the creation of false identities and perhaps paradoxically leads to an environment where people are risk averse and afraid to learn about new ideas.