MySpace/Facebook

SAVING FACE WHILE PROTECTING MY SPACE
Presented 5/2/07 by Mark D. Light ~ 4-H Educator for Allen County OSU Extension

Pros of MySpace/Facebook

• Great place to advertise your student organization events

• Good way to meet people across campus that have similar interests to you

• Share pictures with friends

• Birthday reminders

• Keep in touch with alumni and high school friends

• Personal messages

Cons of MySpace/Facebook

• Students who leave campus do not have to leave facebook.
• Open to over 15,000,000 people
  Fake information or profiles – President
• Continuous changing user agreement
  Faculty, Staff, Coaches have access too
• Can’t sue Facebook or force them to remove someone’s content
• Anyone can copy information off your site
• Facebook is now open to high school and non students

Questions to ask yourself

• Are you comfortable with the kinds of things others might find online?

• Is everything you’ve posted in line with values and good representative of you?

• Is there anything a supervisor, coach, faculty member might find questionable?

• How will you react if someone draws something like this to your attention?

Edison Policies

• Edison does not have a current policy for or against Facebook and MySpace but does have the following

• Computer Usage Policy
  1. Each student is held accountable for his/her own actions while using ECC electronic communications or computing facilities.
  8. Student misuse of Edison computing facilities or network resources can result in disciplinary action in accordance with the Student Code of Conduct.
  9. Viewing obscene or pornographic material on Edison computers is prohibited.

• Endangering health or safety

• Sexual Harassment Policy

• Prohibited Behavior and Activity

• Edison Administrators probably do not go out looking for violations, but have to address things that are brought to their attention

Posting

• Be prudent about what you post.

• Remember that faculty, coaches, staff, and even future employers (using alumni contacts) can examine Facebook and MySpace profiles.

• Take advantage of privacy settings that permit only friends to take a peek.

• Keep removing old content and pictures.

• Remove old groups.

• Post events that are open to the public, but not ones that you would want police to show up to.

Profile

• “Visible only to friends”

• Do not list cell phones

• Do not list your address where you live

• Consider leaving off your last name

• Do not list sn or other information that link you to websites or personal information

• Use an icon versus a picture of yourself.

For More Information

• FACEBOOK
  Name: Mark D. Light
  Networks: Ohio Northern Alum '96 Columbus, OH
  Fields: Civil Engineering College Student Personnel
   

• MySpace
  http://www.myspace.com/allencounty4h
  http://www.myspace.com/allencountyfair
  
  
  Mark Light – Allen County 4-H Educator OSU Extension Specialization in Online social networking light.
  42@cfaes.osu.edu  419-222-9946