Last night, I wrote a post about Google's potential role in creating a serious Facebook alternative, given its experience individualizing its Apps products for educational and business domains. There was an important takeaway from an educational perspective, though: Facebook is no longer even worth considering for use in education other than for publicity and outbound communications that need to reach a wide audience. The privacy concerns simply overwhelm any potential benefits of social learning. It's time for an alternative and it's time that we demand that social media not only meet our needs but meet their own potential in personal, business, and educational markets.
Sure, I think that Google will probably end up providing us with exactly such a service, tied into its Apps/Docs model. However, when it comes down to it, I don't care who provides me with an alternative to Facebook. I care about a fairly limited set of requirements:
If Facebook is useless to teachers and increasingly problematic for students, parents, and practically everyone else on the planet, then it's time to move on. It's also time for a bit of irony. Why don't you join a small group on Facebook called "Iām Actively Seeking a Facebook Replacement." I did. The next great platform is out there. Maybe it will be Ning, although I'm not really feeling it.
But whether it's Ning, or some incarnation of SharePoint from Microsoft, or Google's Buzz 2.0 (no, that doesn't really exist, but the name seems apt, doesn't it?), it's time for a social media platform to emerge, displace Facebook, and finally provide the social media tools that schools, businesses, and consumers need to take interaction and collaboration to the next level. Join the Facebook group and help us find something better. Bask in the irony for a bit, if it helps, follow Jason Perlow's advice while we continue our search for alternatives, and be ready to jump ship when it appears.