Facebook
Most people today have a Facebook page. Me, well, I depend on it. I get up, fix breakfast, get the kids ready for school, and check my Facebook page. I seem to be unable to cope with beginning my day without checking my page. I have found this to be my daily "newspaper". I throw out a bit of information when at school or church with my friends and they inquire as to where I heard that. My response is almost always "Facebook"! The word Facebook is used daily as a noun, verb, adjective, etc. It's part of our everyday conversation. My personal facebook page can be reached here
https://www.facebook.com/kelli.c.shoemake?ref=tn_tnmn.
It's extremely important for educators to know that facebook is public unless specified! I have read so many teacher friends' page and wonder how they ever became a teacher. Not only is it public, it is a permanent record and can be used in court. Employers use Facebook when hiring new employees. If you don't want someone else to know, don't use a social network to announce it!
I don't personally have a Twitter account, but I found it a lot harder to start than Facebook. Most Hollywood stars, athletes, singers, etc have a Twitter account and many people, many more teens, love to follow their favorites and keep up with their lives.
I think some of these tools, when used privately could be very useful to educators. We could use it to keep up to date with parents and school employees. Parents could see what their students are achieving daily their classes and also gives them a tool of communication privately with the teacher through messaging.