Ning

The idea of creating your own social media site is intriguing.  This would be a neat idea for certain interest groups. For instance, I kind of liked when "The Facebook" was only for college students.  All members had that common link, and it was easy to find and make friends with similar interests.  I think it's nice that my family members and coworkers can now have a Facebook page as well, yet, it does limit what you can share because there is a wider range of audience.  Having a Ning site with a focus of what members share about could be a great way to socialize and learn from fellow teachers, while keeping personal social networks to your closest friends.  

I explored the "Museum Resource Network" Ning page, the and the "North Carolina Wildlife Federation" and since I teach young children, I explored the "Club Penguin Page". The Museum Ning was very cool.  It was full of very vivid pictures and videos.  The "North Carolina Wildlife Federation" site was very neat too.  I liked that both Nings had volunteer information and upcoming events.  I also liked that although both were geared to specific jobs in museums or a wildlife field, teachers, or parents would also benefit from the site in order to educate children.  "Club Penguin" was a lot of fun to explore.  I think it would be a great tool to help teach typing skills.  The chat rooms were a little confusing because it was difficult to see how kids know where to meet their friends to chat.  (its very easy to accidentally walk away from other penguins to a new room.  Some kids that were chatting were also typing some teasing things to one another.  I thought that may hurt the confidence of young students.   Exploring these sites definitely broadened my horizons as to what social networking can do.