It happened on Facebook. . .

In 1995, before Facebook, Myspace, Ning, Think.Com, etc, Robert Putnam wrote a book titled, “Bowling Alone.” In great detail, Putnam described and explained the decline of social capital (the connections among individuals) in US since the 50s. He described the reduction in all forms of in-person social intercourse upon which Americans used to found, educate and enrich the fabric of their social lives. Perhaps most importantly, Putnam described the decline in civic and civil engagement. I thought of this book after reading our assigned readings because I think it would be interested to know what Putnam views are on social networking and how it is effecting social capital and societies contribution to civic engagement. Furthermore, should we now view and modify the definition of social capital because of social networking.

Among my students’, there is a lack of civic engagement and thinks like volunteering and community service are viewed as punishment rather than a contribution. Perhaps this is a generational issue or the way we teach our young people about civic engagement and civic responsibility. I am not too sure. However, I found that the best conversations starts were the ones that began with, I saw this on Facebook or my friend posted this on Google+. Those phrases grasp their attention and draw interest. From there, we have had fantastic conversations about our government, laws, rules, politics and current and community events. Also, when I invited students to participate in a day of community service and high school exploration forum via a Facebook invite, more than 70 percent of our 8^th grade class participated. In pervious years, less than ten students attended. Unfortunately, within my school, social networking sites are blocked. Both students and teachers have limited access to websites and browsing networks. Although it has been proven that social networking sites such as Facebook spark attitudes and behaviors that enhance public life and civic action, help young people develop as individuals (identity), enhances communication and interaction and allows for collaborative learning and exploration, many people continue view it as a negative and distracting contributor to learning. Perhaps students and those in favor of implementing social networking into their curriculum and classrooms’ should make a Facebook page saying otherwise.

Sharon