New in Facebook: Private Family Groups
Popular social networking site Facebook, which recently had to re-redesign the changes made to the users’ homepage, has more news from the “change” department: you can now set up a special, private group for you and your family. And in keeping with the “change” theme we’ve got going on here, it seems that the way in which Birmingham City University understands education is changing as well as it is giving UK students the change to get a Masters in Social Networking.
Starting with the family groups, here are the bits and pieces that you need to be made aware of: group activity is kept confidential, your family-related activities will not end up in any stream; the group functions just as any other Facebook group; you can invite family members that have since now resisted the temptation to join the social networking site. As a matter of fact, it all looks as a clever scheme on Facebook’s part so as to draw in even more users.
There are two reasons why I made this claim:
1. Reports from a while back stated that parents would set up their own account so as to better track the actions of their offspring(s). Dealing with your mom keeping tabs on your activities and showing up in your contacts list might be a hard pill to swallow, so getting her to join a private family group would be a preferable alternative. She’s still keeping tabs on you, just that your family-related activities remain conveniently out of your friends’ view.
2. People that took their privacy very seriously refrained from setting up a social networking account and posting much of their confidential data online, not to mention that staying in touch with a member of the family via the social networking site was pretty much in plain view. Facebook’s family groups are completely private, making it a tempting option.
In related Facebook news, if you have £4,400 to burn you could get a Masters Degree in Social Networking and show off your Facebook expertise - that would make mom happy, woudn't it? “It’s not for freaks or IT geeks. The tools learned on this course will be accessible to many people. It will definitely appeal to students looking to go into professions including journalism and PR,” explains course convener John Hickman.
Starting with the family groups, here are the bits and pieces that you need to be made aware of: group activity is kept confidential, your family-related activities will not end up in any stream; the group functions just as any other Facebook group; you can invite family members that have since now resisted the temptation to join the social networking site. As a matter of fact, it all looks as a clever scheme on Facebook’s part so as to draw in even more users.
There are two reasons why I made this claim:
1. Reports from a while back stated that parents would set up their own account so as to better track the actions of their offspring(s). Dealing with your mom keeping tabs on your activities and showing up in your contacts list might be a hard pill to swallow, so getting her to join a private family group would be a preferable alternative. She’s still keeping tabs on you, just that your family-related activities remain conveniently out of your friends’ view.
2. People that took their privacy very seriously refrained from setting up a social networking account and posting much of their confidential data online, not to mention that staying in touch with a member of the family via the social networking site was pretty much in plain view. Facebook’s family groups are completely private, making it a tempting option.
In related Facebook news, if you have £4,400 to burn you could get a Masters Degree in Social Networking and show off your Facebook expertise - that would make mom happy, woudn't it? “It’s not for freaks or IT geeks. The tools learned on this course will be accessible to many people. It will definitely appeal to students looking to go into professions including journalism and PR,” explains course convener John Hickman.
