Torch

Issue date: 3/26/08Section: News

Social networking sites, such as Facebook and Myspace, are slowly changing the dynamic between students and professors.
According to Alexa Internet, Inc., a Web site that provides information on web traffic, Facebook.com has 64 million active users worldwide. And on Sept. 11, 2006, Facebook opened itself to all users - not just college students. As a result, anyone, from businessmen to lawyers to college faculty members, can join the site.

Since then, according to Alexa, Facebook went from being ranked 60th in web traffic to sixth.

Professors across the country have taken advantage of Facebook, including numerous St. John's faculty members. For example, speech professor and debate team coach Stephen Llano has been using social networking sites for years and found out about Facebook in 2005, when a student in his class delivered a speech about its growing popularity.

"Right after I joined, the kids in the class all 'friended' me," Llano said.
The ability for professors and students to be friends on facebook and see personal information about each other, according to Llano, is not a bad thing.

"There's been a definite pragmatic change: I now write more recommendations for people," Llano said. "I corresponded with a student who I taught years ago at the University of Pittsburgh, and it's thanks to Facebook that she was able to contact me so easily."

According to Llano, Facebook can be a useful tool in developing a "mentoring relationship" between professors and students. For example, Llano uses Facebook's group and event applications to generate interest in campus events. He also noted that various applications - such as ones that allow students to share notes - can be beneficial for students.

"There must be a way," Llano said, "to conduct a classroom experience through Facebook that's outside the box."

St. John's English professor and accomplished poet, Lee Ann Brown, also has a Facebook account and feels that an increased personal relationship between students and professors can help in the teaching process.

"I like when my social life intersects with my other life," said Brown, who has been a Facebook user for the last four months. "Since I'm a poet, a lot of what I do relies on events and collaborations, so Facebook can help with that."

Brown noted that she felt the best professors she had in college were the ones that treated her as a peer. Something like Facebook, she said, can bring students and professors together and help put them on the same level.

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