Jarice Hanson

Introduction: The Facebook Phenomenon

From its humble beginnings in 2004 on the Harvard campus to over 800 million active users world-wide, Facebook has been both evolutionary and revolutionary as a communications network. Many students today cannot remember a time before Facebook; they have integrated social networking into their daily activity, and only when they become aware of their behaviors do they question whether they control Facebook, or whether Facebook controls them. How has a social network diffused throughout the world at such a rapid rate? Why do people feel the need to compulsively check Facebook, and how does one’s identity on Facebook affect their relationship to others, either in the cyber-world, or in face-to-face situations? In the selections in this special issue of Telematics and Informatics, authors have examined how Facebook has contributed to new ways of helping people connect to what matters to them, through the Internet. In these pages, readers will find critical analysis of the impact of Facebook as a distribution medium and as a form of communication. Authors suggest that Facebook provides community, a surveillance system, an architecture that has both limiting and delimiting characteristics, and that Facebook can be a surveillance system that overturns traditional ideas of who is being watched by whom. Philosophically, Facebook provides exposure and expression, as well as structuring attention to one’s identity and one’s use of the network. In each case, the authors suggest that Facebook is ‘‘like’’ many other distribution forms, but at the same time, it has unique characteristics that will undoubtedly shape its future, and the future of Facebook users. The idea for this special issue grew from the October, 2010, Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR) Conference in Gothenberg, Sweden, where scholars from many nations gathered to further explore digital communication in all of its forms. Participants began to see the political power of Facebook emerging, and within months, the Arab Spring presented itself as a case study in using Facebook for political mobilization and social change. Though Facebook is only in its adolescence, the organization seems to grow by leaps and bounds. The essays in the special issue where chosen because they contribute unique insights into the way Facebook is used, and the way it has begun to change social behavior. The authors capture Facebook’s unique characteristics and historically situate their positions to provide an understanding of the impact of Facebook, and the way it has the power and potential to change the way we do things. They may capture the Facebook phenomenon at a certain time in history, but they form an important part of Facebook’s collective history. As the organization evolves, more insights and experiments will undoubtedly ensue, but when all is said and done, Facebook remains a unique communication and social phenomenon.

Bridging goals and social reality: approaches to making technology and education compatible

Abstract Throughout the formative years of learning how to use instructional technology and programs for education, questioners neglected to bring educational goals and objectives into line with social realities, such as the economy, historical specificity, and cultural components. By examining the literature in the field and addressing what is now known about the attitudes, behaviors, and use patterns of students of differing ages, we can create a more socially responsible educational policy that addresses a variety of issues in a more fluid, yet dynamic way. The effectiveness of using programs and instructional technologies can better be evaluated by looking at the interplay of the various actors and issues within the educational context. This article summarizes early literature on the effectiveness of interactive programs and distance learning. It discusses how these terms have been grossly misused, thereby obfuscating the real issues that influence instructional practices. Profiles of young students, college-aged students, and adult learners demonstrate how, under what circumstances, and for whom, instructional programs and technologies can best be used.