A centre of expertise in digital information management

www.ukoln.ac.uk

Introduction To Facebook:Opportunities and Challenges For The Institution

Brian KellyUK Web FocusUKOLNUniversity of BathBathEmailB.Kelly@ukoln.ac.uk

UKOLN is supported by:

http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/meetings/bath-facebook-2007-08/http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/meetings/bath-facebook-2007-08/

This work is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 licence (but note caveat)

Resources bookmarked using ‘bath-facebook-2007-08' tag Resources bookmarked using ‘bath-facebook-2007-08' tag

Aims of this talkThis talk aims to provide an introduction to Facebook by looking at what it is and how it is being used.The potential of Facebook to support various activities within the institution will be explored, together with potential problem areas.The talk will lead into general discussion.

Aims of this talkThis talk aims to provide an introduction to Facebook by looking at what it is and how it is being used.The potential of Facebook to support various activities within the institution will be explored, together with potential problem areas.The talk will lead into general discussion.

A centre of expertise in digital information management

www.ukoln.ac.uk

2

Contents

• Introduction• What Is Facebook?• Examples of usage• Facebook: the opportunities• Facebook: the challenges• Questions• Discussion

A centre of expertise in digital information management

www.ukoln.ac.uk

3

About Me

Brian Kelly:• UK Web Focus: a Web advisory post• Involved in Web since January 1993, when he

helped establish Web service at the University of Leeds (possibly first institutional site in UK HE)

UKOLN:• A national centre of expertise in digital information

management• Funded by JISC and MLA to support the higher

and further education communities and the cultural heritage centre

• Located at the University of Bath (Library L4, Wessex House L5 plus home workers)

A centre of expertise in digital information management

www.ukoln.ac.uk

4

About You

How many of you:• Make use of Facebook for professional

purposes?• Make use of Facebook for social

purposes?• Have heard about Facebook and want to

know more?• Are new to Facebook?

What do you hope to gain from this session?What do you hope to gain from this session?

A centre of expertise in digital information management

www.ukoln.ac.uk

5

What is Facebook?Facebook:

• A social networking Web site

• Had the largest number of registered users among college-focused sites with over 30 million members worldwide

• Ranked between top 10–20 Web sites

• Seventh most visited site in the US

From Wikipedia

A centre of expertise in digital information management

www.ukoln.ac.uk

6

Note that I provide public information, but not personal details

Getting Started

When you register you can provide information about yourself:

• Personal details

• Contact details• Interests• …

A centre of expertise in digital information management

www.ukoln.ac.uk

7

Your Profile Page

Here’s an example of a profile page:

• Your details• Access to default

applications • Access to applications

your addedFacebook could be used as a personalised portal to various applications

A centre of expertise in digital information management

www.ukoln.ac.uk

8

Your Profile Page

Here’s an example of a profile page:

• Your details• Access to default

applications • Access to applications

your addedFacebook could be used as a personalised portal to various applications

And here’s how others may see your profileBoring isn’t it!

A centre of expertise in digital information management

www.ukoln.ac.uk

9

It’s a Social Network (1)

The strength of Facebook is when it is used as a social network. Here people can see:

• My updates to my Facebook account

• Applications I’ve installed

• Groups I’ve joined

• Photos & videos I’ve uploaded

• Blogs posts I’ve written

• Messages I’ve sent & received

• …

A centre of expertise in digital information management

www.ukoln.ac.uk

10

It’s a Social Network (2)

Here’s the page of a former colleague (now at Eduserv). This is valuable to me:

• Spot friends in common

• Keep informed of Andy’s professional interests (of interest to me)

• Keep informed of Andy’s discussions with others

• …

A centre of expertise in digital information management

www.ukoln.ac.uk

11

Student Use (1)

Example of groups subscribed by a student:

• Student society

Facebook seems to be very popular for use withStudent union societies (nb is this a threat to similar services provided on Student Union Web site?)

Facebook seems to be very popular for use withStudent union societies (nb is this a threat to similar services provided on Student Union Web site?)

A centre of expertise in digital information management

www.ukoln.ac.uk

12

Student Use (1)

Example of groups subscribed by a student:

• Student society

Notice how the issue of local versus global Facebook groups is being discussed. Would a local-only group act as a barrier to student alumni?

Notice how the issue of local versus global Facebook groups is being discussed. Would a local-only group act as a barrier to student alumni?

A centre of expertise in digital information management

www.ukoln.ac.uk

13

Student Use (2)

Example of groups subscribed by a student:

• Student society• Social

Facebook is popular for various social activities – especially for keeping in touch over summer

Facebook is popular for various social activities – especially for keeping in touch over summer

A centre of expertise in digital information management

www.ukoln.ac.uk

14

Student Use (2)

Example of groups subscribed by a student:

• Student society• Social

Note that Facebook provides access to videos and photos – a way of providing seamless access or a bandwidth hog?

Note that Facebook provides access to videos and photos – a way of providing seamless access or a bandwidth hog?

A centre of expertise in digital information management

www.ukoln.ac.uk

15

The Opportunities

Facebook provides great opportunities for the Universities:

• It’s popular• It’s easy-to-use• No need for in-house development or to purchase

software• Useful for staff and post-graduate students too• We can easily integrate our resources into

Facebook (e.g. RSS feeds, blogs, etc.)• It can provide alternative access to our services

cf. MyNewport portal which took a day to port to Facebook

A centre of expertise in digital information management

www.ukoln.ac.uk

16

What Others Are DoingMyNewport:

• VLE/portal used by staff & students (course material, news, blogs, forums, etc.)

• Facebook app allows students to access to MyLearning resources

• Allows students to create their own personal learning environment in a platform other than the University’s

Facebook targeted as it’s the fastest growing communityIf the users like idea but want to work in another environment then that is fine

See info on UK Web Focus blog& Michael Webb’s (IT Services director at Newport College) blog

See info on UK Web Focus blog& Michael Webb’s (IT Services director at Newport College) blog

A centre of expertise in digital information management

www.ukoln.ac.uk

17

What’s The Downside?

Various concerns have been expressed about:• Privacy (is Facebook a private or public space?)• Is Facebook a space for students or for all?• Is Facebook a closed environment?• …

Various concerns have been expressed about:• Privacy (is Facebook a private or public space?)• Is Facebook a space for students or for all?• Is Facebook a closed environment?• …

A centre of expertise in digital information management

www.ukoln.ac.uk

18

The Challenges (1)

Facebook can provide challenges for the institution

IT Service departments, for example, are always liable to face criticism

These days as well as User Group meetings and online forums, users can create their own discussion groups

A centre of expertise in digital information management

www.ukoln.ac.uk

19

The Challenges (2)

How should the departments respond?

• Read the posts to gain feedback on areas in which improvements may be needed?

• Join in the discussions

• Ban such discussions / people who make inappropriate comments?

• Ignore the groups

A centre of expertise in digital information management

www.ukoln.ac.uk

20

The Challenges (3)

Note though:• Departments may find support being provided on the discussion groups

• There will always be criticism

Do our (fee-paying) students have a right to watch “crap on YouTube” What if this slows network down? How does the university engage in discussions on this topic with the students?

Do our (fee-paying) students have a right to watch “crap on YouTube” What if this slows network down? How does the university engage in discussions on this topic with the students?

A centre of expertise in digital information management

www.ukoln.ac.uk

21

Other Issues

There are also challenges for individuals

What if this group I’ve joined isn’t about nos. of UK Facebook users, but a BNP support group?

A friend has joined a group which advocates violence!

Note that Facebook isn’t a local University service, so it can’t easily be banned. Is this were we need education (for staff as well as students)?

Note that Facebook isn’t a local University service, so it can’t easily be banned. Is this were we need education (for staff as well as students)?

A centre of expertise in digital information management

www.ukoln.ac.uk

22

You Can Manage Your Privacy

You have control over the information others can see about you

A centre of expertise in digital information management

www.ukoln.ac.uk

23

You Can Manage Your Privacy

You have control over the information others can see about you

But how many users change the default settings?

And what about what Facebook can do with your information? Note that Wikipedia provides useful information on Facebook’s terms and conditions

And what about what Facebook can do with your information? Note that Wikipedia provides useful information on Facebook’s terms and conditions

A centre of expertise in digital information management

www.ukoln.ac.uk

24

Terms & Conditions

Have you read the terms and conditions?

A centre of expertise in digital information management

www.ukoln.ac.uk

25

Terms & Conditions

Have you read the terms and conditions?

It’s good that they comply with the Safe Harbor Agreement

A centre of expertise in digital information management

www.ukoln.ac.uk

26

Terms & Conditions

Have you read the terms and conditions?

It’s good that they comply with the Safe Harbor Agreement

But how might Facebook reuse your information?

A centre of expertise in digital information management

www.ukoln.ac.uk

27

Terms & Conditions

Have you read the terms and conditions?It’s good that they comply with the Safe Harbor AgreementBut how might Facebook reuse your information? And how might they share it with others?

A centre of expertise in digital information management

www.ukoln.ac.uk

28

Terms & Conditions

Have you read the terms and conditions?It’s good that they comply with the Safe Harbor AgreementBut how might Facebook reuse your information? And how might they share it with others?And what’s their policy of changing their policy, security, etc?

A centre of expertise in digital information management

www.ukoln.ac.uk

29

What Do My Friends Think?

A question I asked on Facebook: Facebook: (a) institutions need to engage with it as our students like it or (b) its their social space; let's leave it alone?

Responses from my Facebook friends, 1 Aug 2007

Responses from my Facebook friends, 1 Aug 2007

A centre of expertise in digital information management

www.ukoln.ac.uk

30

Some Thoughts

Facebook:• We can’t ignore it!

So should we:• Leave it for students to use as they see fit?• Allow departments to use as they see fit?• Make formal use of it?

In all scenarios how should we:• Address privacy concerns for the students (and

staff)?• Address the issue of whether the university should

respond to criticisms?• Address our needs to protect the integrity of the

institution? • Provide advice, training, etc. on best practices?

A centre of expertise in digital information management

www.ukoln.ac.uk

31

Questions

Any questions?