Tutorial six: The internet and online communities

http://www.facebook.com/

Facebook is a free-access social networking website. Users can join networks organized by city, workplace, school, and region to connect and interact with other people. People can also add friends and send them messages, and update their personal profiles to notify friends about themselves.
Retrieved May 12, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook_(website).

Facebook's mission is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected.Millions of people use Facebook everyday to keep up with friends, upload an unlimited number of photos, share links and videos, and learn more about the people they meet.
Retrieved May 12, 2009, from http://www.facebook.com/

You can become a fan of something or join a group where you can discuss your common interests with others in the group. There is a Facebook Occupational Therapy Association group where theres is a common place for fellow OT and OTA students and professionals to meet! Feel free to share stories, exchange information, discuss fieldwork, and make connections. Keep in touch with classmates, post job opportunities, or any other information. The more we can bring those studying and working in the OT field together, the more we can do to move the profession forward. Retrieved 28 May 2009, from http://www.facebook.com/groups.php#/group.php?gid=2206760359

However there are some potential ethical issues that could arise from using facebook, who has access to your information, who can see the pictures from your private life, especially the ones you don’t want anyone to see. Also do you really need to add people to your ‘friends list’ that you only meet once.
There are some benefits to using facebook , you can keep in touch with friends overseas instantly, there is not cost involved in using the website, you can do it from the comfort of your own home (providing you have internet). However I thinks its more fun to see your friends face to face and chat about what you have been up to, rather than knowing the going ons of their life from a website.