Communication while on Spring Break

Spring break is a time for college students to leave campus and relax with friends.  Some students choose to go home, others go to a beach destination like Florida.  Other students may even choose to do a service trip and help a community in need.  During this time friends may be separated but will still be in communication with one another.  Twitter and facebook are forms of social networking that can keep friends in contact while in different parts of the country, or even the world.  During this break I went home to Massachusetts but was still able to talk to my friends who were in Aruba.  I was able to do this through facebook chat.  This forms of networking is quick and easy and allows for private conversation. 

One of the issues that parents have with this form of networking is that it is so private and in some ways public, when it comes to the information that is on a profile, that it is hard to monitor.  If your child is on spring break they can be telling their other friends anything they want, such as, where to meet, what to bring, and what can be expected.  Twitter on the other hand is a little safer. 

With twitter, all you have is a status update.  There is no instant messaging or private messaging that can be done.  In addition, anyone can see your statuses and therefore students would me less likely to put private information on their Twitter that they don’t want others know.  I did not have a Twitter until this class and I still only use my Twitter for the English assignments.  However, I do look at the tweets of other friends on occasion.  The tweets lately have been all about spring break and how they miss the beach and the sun.  I would always prefer to talk to my friends in person and find out how their spring breaks were in person, but if I don’t have the time, checking up on twitter or facebook is a good way to find out if they had a good time or not.  In addition, it allows for a good conversation starter.  By commenting on a picture or status you start a new sort of conversation than you maybe could have had if it was just in person.