Facebook

[Trevor Jenkins]

I was recently made aware of someone who spent all their work time using Twitter, Facebook, and other social networking sites rather than doing any work for which they were being paid. When Internet access was taken away from them their mobile phone was increasingly seen on the desk whenever managers were around.

I was involved in the "forensic" investigation team setup to discover what commercial information they mave been leaked. Although there was none (in those Twitter feeds or Facebook walls that we found) a simple tally of the timing of posts demonstrated that the individual concerned had had no time to do any work ... it was all spent social networking!! Employment was synonymous with unlimited free Internet access.

As too numbers there were reports in today's Guardian newspaper here in the UK suggesting Facebook may have reached its zenith and numbers are beginning to fall.

Twitter and Facebook make interesting sources of textual communication for inclusion in corpora but as a selection criteria of suitable PhD students I would be very wary. But that's more a topic for discussion over on CORPORA-L than here.

Regards, Trevor.

<>< Re: deemed!

Sent from my iPad

On 16 Sep 2011, at 22:26, "Richard J Senghas" <Richard.Senghas at SONOMA.EDU> wrote:

> A both/and solution may be useful.  While I don't use Facebook myself (at least, not yet), it is clear that a very large number of people do, especially among the populations likely to include potential Ph.D. students.  The broader the outreach, the greater the likelihood of finding the most suitable applicants, which in the end is better for all of us, no?
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> -RJS
> ======================================================================
> Richard J. Senghas, Professor            | Sonoma State University
> Anthropology                             | 1801 East Cotati Avenue
> Human Development Program                | Rohnert Park, CA 94928-3609
> Richard.Senghas[at]sonoma.edu            | 707-664-3920 (fax)
> 
> On Sep 16, 2011, at 2:01 PM, Kathy H. wrote:
> 
>> I agree with Trevor.  
>> 
>> Kathy
>> 
>> Personally, I don't do Facebook (or any of the bandwagon social networks). For me it isn't "easier", email is sent to me without me having to do anything, Facebook (and the others) require me to actively go to their website. It's push versus pull, in technical jargon. So it isn't easier because these things demand that I make a conscious decision rather than simply relying upon an automated system sending me messages.
>> 
>> Regards, Trevor.
>> 
>> 
>> On 16 Sep 2011, at 02:45, "Anthony Chong" <anthonychong at LIVE.COM> wrote:
>> 
>> hey, it would be nice if we do have facebook group. easier :-D anyone know about this?
> 
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