Do Your Students Use Facebook.doc

Do your students use Facebook? Do you use Facebook with your students? Does your school have its own Facebook page? According to this CNN Report, 1 out of 6 people worldwide uses Facebook: “That’s roughly 1.23 billion active monthly users.” There are a lot of other interesting stats in this report, as well as key moments in Facebook’s own Timeline. You can use this report as a starting point for a classroom discussion about Facebook. Below you will find some suggested discussion questions and activities that can be used in conjunction with CNN’s “By the Numbers: 10 Years of Facebook” infographic. If you have your own ideas for discussing this Facebook milestone in class, please leave a comment. 1. Share Share a link to the CNN infographic with your students. Allow students to use mobile devices or computers to access the graphic. 2. Review Vocabulary Review any vocabulary that you think your learners may need help with. For example:  

co-founder spawn

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class action suit

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debut

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aggregate

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roll out

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public offering

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revenue

Alternatively, you could assign one word above to each pairing, and have your students teach a word. Or, ask your students to choose words they want to review from the report. 3. Discuss Place students in pairs (or small groups) to discuss the following questions: 1. Are you on Facebook? a) If yes, how long have you been on Facebook, and why did you join? b) If no, why aren’t you on Facebook? 2. What part of this infographic surprises you? 3. Why do you think the photo of Michelle and Barack Obama is the “most liked”? 4. What is the most important change Facebook has made in the last decade? (See sidebar divided by years.) 5. Why do you think Disneyland is the “most checked-in” location? Do you use this “checkin” feature on social media networks? Why or why not? 6. How do Facebook users in your native country compare to other Facebook users in the world? 7. How do you feel about the advertising on Facebook? Do you buy things from Facebook? 8. Are you concerned about your privacy when you use social media networks like Facebook? 9. How long do you think you spend on Facebook (or other social media networks) each month? Are you above or below the average? Why?

10. How do businesses make money through Facebook? Which types of businesses do you think are the most profitable? 4. Look Back (Optional) Facebook has put together a short video of memories for each Facebook user. Invite students to share their personalized “A Look Back” Facebook video with their classmates. Did Facebook choose good photos and milestones to highlight? (Ask students to watch their own videos first, to make sure that they are comfortable sharing the content.) Students can discuss how their own Facebook habits have changed since they originally became users. Are they more active or less? Do they share more pictures or videos? Are they lurkers?