The Lewin article, When Teacher's Go Wild on the Web, really brought up some good points about professionalism and the new era of social networking.
What hit me hardest is the fact that in a few short months, I will be students teaching at a high school in the area. This article was an awakening to me and caused me to ask myself if my Facebook profile was how I want to be represented to other people. Being a teacher means being a role model. It doesn't mean hanging out at the bars until 2 am or doing stupid things where your students, or better yet your students parents, can see you. After reading the article I went and looked at my Facebook account and honestly, there are things that I wouldn't want my students to see about me. Not that there is anything bad, but there are things that just aren't very professional.
This brings in the discussion that I addressed in my last blog entry about professionalism. We will all face it when we enter the real world and leave the fantasy of college. How do we want to be seen by others. As a joke? Or as a professional?
I think that the whole reason for both of these articles is to make everyone rethink how they act on the internet. It is a lot easier to understand that you are being rude when you talk to someone in person, but the internet is just pictures and words, so it is easy to forget that there are real people behind them. If people can master good internet conduct, they can probably become more thoughtful and have more empathy than people who have talked to others their whole lives.