Social+Networking+-+What+Is+SN+Assignment

Assignment #1 What is Social Networking?
Expected time to complete written assignment: 10 minutes

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After you have attended the webinar and read the blog pages about social networking, your individual homework assignment this week is to contribute to a list of Pros and Cons about the use of __social networking media__ in a faith formation context. ======

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** Please sign in, select the "Edit" button, and add your thoughts below. When you are done, be sure to click on "SAVE." I have added the first bulleted item to get you started. ** ======

=PROS =
 * Social Networking is where the young people are - and we need to evangelize them where they are!
 * I believe some of the pro’s of social networking are greater contact, input, and feedback from other people on a wide range of topics, so one does not get stuck in one’s own limited outlook. Social networking also has a great potential for ministry and evangelization.(SP)
 * Considering how busy people are today, I can imagine social networking offering alternatives to people who would like to learn more about their faith, but who cannot make designated meeting times. I also see how social networking can make people in our myriad real-world circles visible to us as people of faith and possibly open to faith sharing and evangelizing. (madeleine)
 * Social networking can create study groups for faith formation from wider areas than local areas. Likewise the study groups can be created around specific topics that may interest people from across the diocese, or even in another diocese or country. The limits of space and time can be overcome more easily.
 * Young adults are the largest group using social networking and the group the Church reaches the least, so using social networking would put the Church where the young adults are rather than expecting them to come to us.
 * The ability to meet people from all over the world like never before and consider new perspectives. (PJT)
 * It permits people who may never have met who have vastly different interests to mix and mingle about their experience of faith and to be exposed to others' explanations of theirs. (Andy)
 * Social Networking is a relatively quick and rather efficient way to get information out, share faith and ideas, see what others are saying on the same topic, and gather information. (JH)

=CONS =
 * Cyberbullying could be a threat
 * Some of the con’s are that social networking can be addictive, can take over one’s life if not controlled with discipline and discernment, can publish a false image of the writer that can mislead others, and can be used for immoral or prejudiced content that can harm others (SP).
 * Taking the place of human contact could make social networking a threat. Nothing is so sweet as a hug. Also, because the formation of cliques is common to social networks, I can imagine some folks feeling alienated, not only from friendship with people, but also with God. That would need to be guarded against. (Madeleine)
 * Because people tend not to be as honest in their dealings with others on social networks, and people in general know this, this attitude can negatively affect how people view the use of social networking in a faith formation context.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Using social networking for faith formation cannot replace face-to-face experiences because that would exclude the people who general attend programs in their parishes. A melding of both is needed.
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">The same ability to meet people around the world can also become a frustration because the need emerges in the relationship for personal encounter. Otherwise, there seems to be a limitation cap on the interaction.(PJT)
 * <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Meeting people from around the world brings interesting assumptions which are sometimes different because we live in different countries with different cultures and different practices. My culture is a specific thing and someone from India, for example, will have a variant cultural experience and set of expectations. I have had that experience in which both we got to talk out the differences and also where the other party got angry and stormed off. (Andy)
 * Social Networking is full of opinions, experiences, and stories - all potentially based on misinformation - and without the "non-verbal" cues that help us ascertain whether people are being sincere or even attempting to be humorous, it could be misleading. (JH)

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