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What other social networks are you using as an individual?
Do you use social networking professionally? Twitter, etc.
Does your school have a social network policy?

Have you heard about Diaspora? It is something like Facebook, and the newer Google+ shares many features of Diaspora* (sometimes written with an asterisk, sometimes not.)

 

A few things that separate D* from the others is: controlled privacy, open source, federation.

Diaspora users set up “aspects” which determine which posts will be shared with members of that group. Things posted can be made public, but they can easily be kept restricted…to a group of classmates, a grade cluster, a school, a district.

Diaspora is a free software project.
Diaspora is in the early stages of development, “alpha”, though I’ve heard it is soon to go to beta status.

Diaspora can and will be federated. That means your school can/will be able to install a pod of their own, controlling it, inviting participation from faculty/students. It might be possible to establish a federation that was district oriented, town linked, education only!

The whole issue of sharing with students is a big thing in district/principal’s offices. Could Diaspora be part of the solution, easing districts into the modern world without plunging into the very uncertain waters of Facebook, etc.?

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

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